Born for the lighthouse

Born for the lighthouse

Elliot had grown up wanting to be a keeper; the fact that he lived in a small town outside Manchester in the latter half of the twentieth century did little to (1) ________ the hope. So it was that every job he tried after leaving school left him (2) ________; somewhere deep inside him remained that childhood (3) ________ for life beside the rough coast and working through coastal storms. By the time he was twenty-five, he had quite a sum of money put (4) ________, and surprised family and friends by announcing his (5) ________ to visit remote islands for a few years – something quite extraordinary in his (6) ________ of friends. There were few staffed coastal lighthouses remaining in Britain, he found, and he (7) ________ sailing around northern Scotland. On Orkney, he found veteran keepers – guardians of the northern edge of the continent. Those coastal dreams stirred within him, and by (8) ________ willpower, he convinced a harbour manager to take him on. Soon, he was living out his ambition, and we heard very little from him until ten seasons had passed.