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.

Saturday, the dock smelled exactly like she remembered. Theo was already there, older but grinning the same crooked way. He rolled out a yellowed map weighted with stones. "Half the supplies are still in my uncle's barn," he said. "Stone, timber, even the old lamp. We just need hands and a few weeks." Mara traced the penciled lighthouse and felt eleven again.

They worked side by side for three weeks, hauling stone and arguing about angles like no time had passed. On the final evening, Theo set the old lamp in place and Mara struck the match. The light swept out over the water, steady and gold. Down in the village, people stepped onto their porches to look. The lighthouse they'd promised at eleven was finally real.