Under the water, just off the shore of the lighthouse there rolled a collection of parts.
It bounced and traveled along the bottom of the ocean picking up little parts of itself from where they lay scattered.
Originally it had left Alistaire's engine and traveled from the lighthouse in to the water. But now it was headed back the way it had come. Soon it would be complete and it would understand it's function.
Until then it just kept rolling on…
Kitty looked around her room carefully. "Well… Let's see…" She phased and dipped her big toe in to the floor.
Suddenly the room fuzzed over and she could see another room superimposed over the one that was there.
"H… Hello?" She asked.
"Y-y-yes?" Came a voice from behind the door. "Hello?"
The door opened slowly and the old mad stuck his head in.
He gasped. "It's you!" He smiled.
Kitty swallowed and nodded. "You can see me now?" She asked.
He nodded, amazed. "And hear you." He said. "What do you want?" He asked her.
She looked deflated. "I was going to ask you the same thing."
He smiled. "I'm okay, thank you." He swallowed.
"Ummm… What … what year is it?" She asked him.
"!982." He answered. "What year did you think it was?"
Kitty smiled and blushed a bit. "Ummm… For me it's … 2005."
His eyes went wide. "No foolin'?"
She shook her head. "For real."
He looked away. "And you… live in my lighthouse … in 2005?"
She nodded.
He swallowed and sat down in one of the now absent chairs. He looked exhausted.
"So I guess I'm… dead … by then."
Kitty looked shocked. "I'm sorry… I…"
"Wait." He said, "Don't leave!"
She paused.
"I… I'm old already." He smiled. "I'd only be older still by then."
She smiled at him kindly.
"So who are you?" he asked. "Did they need to reinstate the lighthouse? Are you the keeper?"
Kitty shook her head. "My friend… and my boss… He's a government advisor. And they wanted to get rid of him and make him quit. So they moved us out here. The lighthouse hasn't been maintained for a long time." She looked embarrassed.
He sighed. "They told me I could live out my days here even though it's been decommissioned. They've a bigger one up the coast that does a better job now." He sighed. "But I love the place… so much."
Kitty smiled. "I love lighthouses too." She said softly. "I grew up in Chicago, in the United States." She smiled. "And one year my Dad took us to Massachusetts… To Cape Cod – and there were these lighthouses, all up and down the coast."
He was smiling, his eyes glowing, as he hung on her every word.
"And my parents talked about how it took so much dedication to live like that… I loved moving in here. It's a perfect symbol for who I want to be."
"It's a lonely life." He told her.
And she had to smile. "We keep different lights." She told him. "Yours was for the sea – a lonely place. Mine is for the people on land."
He smiled. "It sounds like a fine light." He said.
Then he paused. "I don't suppose…" He swallowed. "I hope he isn't lost…"
"What is it?" Kitty asked him.
He hesitated. "I don't suppose you've seen a tiny little ummm…"
"Dragon?" Kitty asked.
The mans face lit up. "Is he…"
"He was here when we moved in." Kitty said. "He keeps to himself but he's here. I've fed him."
The old man smiled. "So… You'll take care of him… After I'm gone…"
Kitty sighed and wanted to cry. "Of course I will. He's adorable."
The old man laughed. "I should tell you… I don't think he's from around here. I saw him fall from the sky one night and land in the water just off the coast. He washed up and I fished him out. He was sick for over a year before he got better. I think he fell from space. Got Earth-sick once he was here and had to develop new immunities."
"Awww…" She looked at him. "And you saved him?"
"I nursed him every day." He said. "And he's been a fine friend since."
She nodded. "I'll take care of him. I promise."
The old man began to blur. "I was always so worried… I couldn't tell no one about him… Don't know what they'd do…"
He began to blur even more. "Was always worried…"
And she could barely see him anymore.
"…like a weight off my … mind" And he was gone.
Kitty looked around. She phased her foot through the floor and nothing happened.
Unfinished business. She thought. He was worried about his dragon.
She smiled and felt herself choking up.
What a sweet old man.
Upstairs, the tiny purple dragon peeked around the corner. One of Forges cleaning robots scurried by and the dragon leapt out of the way.
"…oooo…" The little dragon wrung his hands. "…changes…" He fretted just a bit and hopped on tip-toe down the hall to a small wardrobe.
He swallowed when he reached it and reached out, rubbing the wood affectionately. "… missing you…" The little dragon sighed and reached up with both hands and pried open the door just enough to climb up and inside.
He pulled the door closed carefully and sat back among all the old mans belongings. The little dragon sniffed twice and looked at the man's reading glasses as they sat in the corner. He picked them up and cleaned them on the end of a hanging sleeve.
"…nice now…" He smiled at himself in the reflection and set them lovingly back down.
He followed his own tail around three times and lay down in his normal spot, nose to nose with a picture of his old friend.
The little dragon closed his eyes and smiled – pretending to be laying in the mans lap and letting the smell of the wardrobe remind him what it was like to be that close to his friend.
"…best, best, best friend…" He sighed and drifted off to sleep.
Back in 1982 the old man hauled himself up out of his chair and hobbled out in to the hallway. He whistled.
"Where are you?" He called out.
The little dragon craned his neck out of one of the doorways.
"Come here." The man told him and the little dragon scrambled enthusiastically over.
"You know that ghost lady we've seen?" He said, picking up the dragon and cradeling him in his arms. "Well… She's from the future." He explained. "And if anything should ever happen to me… You're to wait here for her to come and take care you, you understand?"
The little dragon batted his eyelashes at the older man and looked concerned.
"Now, now." Told him "I feel fine. But someday… you might have to wait for her, understand?"
The little dragon nodded solemnly. "…yes sir…" He cooed softly.
"Good boy." The old man smiled and rubbed his belly. "Good boy."
