Guide at the cliff.

She watched the top of the hill from the dock. A figure walked up to the edge and waited.

The figure stayed until it was dark, until the lighthouse turned on. Then she would leave, walking slowly away from the edge.

One day, a ship arrived—one of the old ones, with large sails, carefully maintained. As she walked along the dock looking for the captain, she noticed the same figure carved in wood at the front of the ship.

When she asked the captain about it, he told her a story. A sailor had returned too late after the woman he loved fell ill. He took up a chisel and began carving her likeness on every ship he was commissioned to build.

Every ship that carried her carved figure never got lost, and no one on board ever fell sick. It became a good-luck charm. Sailors would only work on ships that bore her image.

To this day, the figure guides ships to shore, still waiting in the same place.

After finishing work, she made her way up to the cliff. The sky was turning red, and just as she began to lose hope of seeing the figure, she appeared.

Up close, her dress moved without wind, and her hair floated as if underwater. Then the figure raised her arms in front of her and began moving her fingers.

As she watched, a gust of wind came from the side. With each movement of the figure’s fingers, the wind shifted.

The sky darkened as the figure continued, her fingers moving back and forth like she was playing a harp.

Just before the sun disappeared, the figure wrapped one hand as if around her wrist and pulled with the weight of her body.

A sudden gust of wind pushed her back, nearly knocking her to the ground. Far on the horizon, a ship began to take shape—barely visible at first.

The figure turned and walked away. Behind her, the lighthouse beam followed, and when it touched her, she vanished.

She watched the ship follow the light and approach the shore, wondering if anyone else had ever seen the figure before.