A Universe Away

Episode 1

The Lighthouse

Callum was ten the first time he dreamed of the lighthouse — two skies stitched together at a seam of pale light, a sea that never got closer no matter how far he walked.

A girl was already sitting on the steps, like she'd been expecting him.

"You took long enough," she said.
"I don't know you."
"No," she said. "But you're late anyway."

She told him her name was Iris. She said she dreamed of this place every single night.

He laughed it off — just a dream, he figured, the kind you forget by breakfast.

He did forget. The next night. And the next ten after that.
But she didn't.

And the night he finally remembered her — really remembered, whole and unbroken — her whole face changed, like he'd handed her something she'd stopped hoping for.

"You remember," she whispered. "You actually remember."
He had no idea yet how many nights she'd been waiting for that sentence.

The lighthouse waits.