Winter Madness

It was the year 1800, and a lighthouse stood tall on a barren cliff in Canada. Two lighthouse keepers, Wilhelm and Matthias, were German immigrants who had been tasked with the duty of manning the lighthouse for the winter. They were effectively cut off from the rest of the world until the ice thawed, with no means of communication to the outside world.

As the days passed, Wilhelm and Matthias settled into their new routine. They had stocked up on warm clothes, food, and matches to last them the winter. They spent their days tending to the lighthouse and its surrounding equipment, and their nights were spent playing cards and reading books. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, until Wilhelm began to hear strange voices.

At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but soon he realized that the voices were real. Wilhelm's personal belongings started disappearing from where he had placed them, only to reappear in strange spots - like the catwalk or dangling beneath the spiral stair knotted in brown twine. He confronted Matthias about it, but Matthias denied having anything to do with it.

The situation worsened when Wilhelm started to have vivid nightmares about Matthias trying to kill him. He would wake up in a cold sweat, convinced that Matthias was plotting against him. Wilhelm became increasingly paranoid, always on guard and unable to trust Matthias. He felt like he was losing his mind.

One day, Wilhelm found his diary open on the kitchen table, with certain pages missing. It contained personal and private information, which only he knew about. He was sure that Matthias had read his diary and taken the pages. When he confronted Matthias, he found the missing pages in Matthias' pocket. Wilhelm was furious and didn't know what to do.

As the weeks went by, the situation between the two lighthouse keepers grew worse. Wilhelm's mental state deteriorated rapidly, and he became convinced that Matthias was trying to convince him to kill himself. Wilhelm had always been the more reserved of the two, and Matthias had often teased him about it. But now, Wilhelm was convinced that Matthias was trying to drive him to suicide.

With so many months until spring, Wilhelm was terrified of what Matthias might do to him. He knew that he had to take matters into his own hands. One night, while Matthias was asleep, Wilhelm crept up behind him with a heavy rock and struck him on the head. Matthias fell to the ground, bleeding profusely.

At first, Wilhelm thought that Matthias was dead, but then he heard him groaning. Wilhelm was beside himself with guilt and regret. He knew that he had gone too far, and that he would never be able to live with himself if Matthias died.

He tended to Matthias' wound as best he could, and waited anxiously for him to wake up. When Matthias finally did wake up, he was confused and disoriented. He had no memory of what had happened, and Wilhelm told him that he had fallen down the stairs.

For the rest of the winter, the two men lived in an uneasy truce. Wilhelm was wracked with guilt and Matthias was afraid of what Wilhelm might do if he found out the truth. When spring finally arrived, and the ice began to thaw, Wilhelm and Matthias were rescued by a passing ship.

In the months and years that followed, Wilhelm was haunted by what he had done. He never forgot the guilt and shame that he felt, and he was never able to fully trust anyone again. Matthias, on the other hand, never found out the truth of what had happened that winter. He moved on with his life, never realizing the danger he had been in. The lighthouse on the barren cliff still stands today, a silent witness to the tragedy that unfolded so many years ago.