A LIGHTHOUSE/FRIGHTHOUSE.... OR SHOULD THAT BE DARKHOUSE?
This was a bad experience, not quite what 17,000 writes, but directly as a result of darkness.

When I was a young boy my parents took my brother and me on an outing to the seaside, not too far from where we lived. As we were walking along a pier we came across a tiny little structure. My parents said it was a lighthouse. We stepped inside the door, and all that was inside was a spiral staircase which went up about a third or a half of a *revolution* and then suddenly stopped, and which went down as well.

We immediately climbed up the spiral stair to the top, from where you could see out a great window of which the top of the lighthouse consisted. Because of the age we were, my brother and I (and I think my parents as well!) thoroughly enjoyed climbing up the stair and back down again to the door.

One thing struck me, however. That is, my parents (and my brother as well) seemed to completely ignore the fact that the stairs went down as well. Full of characteristic curiosity, I started down, and before long came across a tiny little niche in the wall, where I think there may have been a broom stored, though I can't remember for certain. Down I continued, and then it became dark ahead of me so I had to turn round and go back up again.

What was down there? I was to have all sorts of fantasies throughout coming years. My parents appeared at the time to be too engrossed in other things to notice the fright which their young son had just experienced. I was too overcome with fear at the time to say anything to them, and they continued to totally overlook the fact that the stairs went down as well as up.

I think if I remember correctly, I did mention something about it to my mum a few days (or possibly a few weeks) later - about how I had gone down as well in the lighthouse but it was dark down there so I had had to turn around and come back up again. Nothing, however, was said in response. Why did my parents remain 100% oblivious to the fact that the stairs went down as well?

This matter was to cause me further confusion. A bit over a year later, my mum took my brother and me to see a lighthouse. We were to be shown around by the lighthouse keeper, my mum having explained to us all about what a lighthouse was. She then told us, "Dad and I have been in a lighthouse before, though you haven't"?

I thought we had all been in one a little more than a year ago. But all that was inside was that spiral staircase. No lighthouse keeper, and no living quarters. Could my mum have forgotten about it, or made a mistake in saying that it was a lighthouse?

I remember going back to that pier at times during later years, but the *lighthouse* (if that's what the structure was) was always closed. Gradually I began to think that maybe it had just been a big coincidence that it had been open that time.

I was still overcome with fright over being confronted by the darkness that time, and a sense of mystery and fear about what could have been down the stair. I had all sorts of fantasies: Perhaps there had been trolls down there. Had I continued down in the darkness, maybe I would have eventually felt myself being attacked and eaten by one.

When I was slightly older, I learnt that Australia was beneath us. Perhaps it could have gone all the way down to Australia? If you ever came across a tower with a spiral staircase in Australia which went up, up, up into the sky, and which became dark, that must be the bottom of the lighthouse.

Could it even have gone down forever?

I had many dreams about it throughout the rest of my childhood. One featured a spiral staircase in a castle which went down as well as up, and became dark. Later in time in the dream, I stood at the top of the staircase, and was able to look down the way. There seemed to be lights marking the spot where it became dark, and it went down, down, down, .... I couldn't see how far.

In another dream I was at an airport, with people from school. 3 of us (myself included) decided to explore a spiral staircase which went down. It became dark, but we kept going. We finally reached the bottom, and searched for an exit from the airport which we knew was there, but were unable to find it.

In yet another dream - a nightmare - I was going down a metal spiral staircase. The further down, the darker it became. Now and again corridors branched off, and these became dark as well. I was terrified because there might be trolls along them and/or further down the staircase.

Not only dreams, but the lighthouse experience even found its way into my schoolwork. One time in class, we were asked to write a continuation to a story about a man arriving in an old, ruined castle. I wrote about how he went down a spiral staircase, which became dark, and ended up getting attacked by trolls and other terrifying creatures. The teacher was so impressed that she read my essay out to the whole class - a real honour, especially as I rarely managed to write stories good enough to warrant that.

Finally, 16 years after the original experience, I had the courage to tell an extremely close friend all about it. It immediately turned on a really bright light (as external viewpoints often do) when he said that maybe down the stair is where the living quarters had been. Either that or there would have been a storeroom or something down there. This immediately put an end to my endless wondering.

To further clear things up, my friend and I went along to this pier, and he explained to me that the structure was, in fact, a lighthouse - a miniature one. Like we thoroughly expected, it was locked. We had brought a torch along just in case it had been open (as a young child, it would never have occured to me to explore a dark place with the aid of a torch). We then enquired with someone about how we could possibly get in, and were told that only the piermaster, who was only around at weekends during the Summer, might possibly have the key.

Next Summer a weekend came along when my friend and I were both free. My friend (who is a keen photographer) brought along his camera with a tripod. Using this he managed to raise his camera up to the window at the top of the lighthouse to take a photo. Afterwards, we were both totally amazed when we saw that the spiral stair did in fact go up and suddenly stop, exactly as I had described.

A few minutes later we found the piermaster. He explained to us that back in the past you used to always be able to go into the lighthouse, but access to it was discontinued after it became a listed building. He did not have the key, but said he used to hang out in there as a kid. With characteristic courage, my friend told him that it looked like the stairs went down as well, to which the piermaster replied that they did. My friend then asked him what happened down there, and the piermaster replied that there was nothing down there - that it just came to a dead end - not far down.

Wow, 17 years later and the mystery was finally solved once and for all! I had two dreams that night which were inspired by the passing of the age of the lighthouse/frighthouse/darkhouse!

Could my parents have automatically known or assumed that there was nothing down there, that it just came to a dead end? Maybe they had even been in before, and that would have explained everything.

My friend, a great poet, has written a song about the experience:

What was down the stair?
It was dark down there!
What was I to do?
It's causing me despair!
What was down the stair?
It was dark down there!
What was I to do?
It's causing me despair!

That's the chorus, and he wrote many verses as well.
(Gandalf, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 21:01, Reply)