Sweep, Sweep, Wink

Shhh, went the sea. Shhh, shhh, shhh. Amara was a small bear cub with round brown ears and a soft black nose. She stood at the lighthouse window with both paws on the sill. Down below, the water went shhh on the stones.

Mama stood right beside her, warm as a blanket. Tomorrow Amara would go to the little daycare by the harbor, the one with the green door and the toys in a big basket.

Suki the puffin would be there. Suki had a beak like a stripe of orange peel, and she laughed with her whole round body.

'What will we do there?' asked Amara. 'You will look closely,' said Mama. 'And you will find things out.' Amara's tummy felt wobbly, like a little boat. Just a little.

'Will the green door be open?' asked Amara. 'Wide open,' said Mama.

'Will you come back?' she asked. 'At pick-up time?' 'Always,' said Mama. 'Always at pick-up time.'

Then the lighthouse light swung past the window. Sweep, sweep, wink. It lit the sea all gold, then it slid away.

'Where does it go?' asked Amara. 'Watch,' said Mama. So Amara watched.

Away it went. Back it came. Away it went. Back it came. The beam reached out over the dark water, all the way to the far bell buoy. It laid a long gold road on the sea, then rolled the road up again.

Amara counted the sweeps. One. Two. Three. And on the fourth sweep, there it was, right back at the window. 'It always comes back,' said Mama.

'Away it goes,' whispered Amara. 'Back it comes.' She said it softly, like the sea.

Then, far out, a bell rang. Dong. Dong. 'Who rings that?' asked Amara. 'The sea,' said Mama. 'The sea rocks the bell, and the bell sings.' Amara put her ear close to the glass. Dong, dong, dong.

The light swept by again, and she was right. Away it goes. Back it comes.

Amara looked closely at the sea. Down there, a little boat bobbed along with a lantern on its nose. 'Goodnight, boat,' she said.

In the warm bath, Pop went a bubble. Pop, pop, pop. Mama sat on the floor beside the tub with a warm towel on her knee. Amara had her soft puffin in the water with her. It floated and bobbed and bumped her knee. Pop went one more bubble, right on her nose.

'Is Suki's mama coming back for her?' asked Amara. 'She is,' said Mama. 'Everyone gets picked up here.'

The little round window went sweep, sweep, wink. 'Mama, does the light ever get lost?' 'No,' said Mama. 'It goes, and then it comes back. All night long. It never gets lost.'

'Will there be a window at daycare?' asked Amara. 'A big one,' said Mama. 'You can look closely out of it.'

'Away it goes,' said Amara. 'Back it comes.' Pop went the very last bubble.

Mama wrapped her in her blanket, soft as a cloud, and Amara tucked her puffin under her arm. The moon sat in the window, round and white as a bowl of milk.

Sweep, sweep, wink went the light, right across the moon. Amara yawned a big yawn. Yawwwn. 'The light is like me,' she said.

Amara asked if the moon went away too. 'It hides in the daytime,' said Mama. 'But it always comes back.'

'Hmm?' said Mama. 'It goes away, and then it comes back,' said Amara. Mama kissed her ear. 'And so do I,' she said. 'Every day. At pick-up time. Every single day.'

'Away it goes,' whispered Amara. 'Back it comes.' Her eyes went shut. Then open. Then shut.

The sea went shhh. The bell went dong, far away. The light went sweep, sweep, wink. Amara slept, warm and small, with her puffin and her blanket and the moon at the window.