The envelope showed up on a Tuesday, sea-blue and soft at the corners. The handwriting belonged to Theo, Mara's best friend from when she was eleven. Twenty years of silence, and now one line inside: "I found the map of Saltreach in my mom's attic. The lighthouse is still unfinished. Want to build it?" Mara sat down hard and read it three more times.

Mara grabbed her phone before she could talk herself out of it. The number on the back rang twice. "You actually called," Theo said, like he'd been holding his breath for days. "Saturday. Meet me at the old dock. Bring boots." Mara laughed for the first time in weeks and said yes.

When Mara reached the dock, Theo wasn't alone. A girl about nine stood beside him, arms crossed, studying Mara hard. "This is Birdie," Theo said. "My daughter. She's the reason I finally opened that attic." Birdie held up a folded paper boat. "Dad says you two were going to build a real lighthouse. Were you lying?"

"We weren't lying," Mara told Birdie. "We just ran out of time." Birdie thought about that, then handed Mara the paper boat. "Then finish it. I'll help." Over the next weeks the three of them built together, Birdie passing tools and naming every gull. The day the lamp lit, Birdie cheered so loud the whole village heard her.