Extract from Vinny Jones Diary by Denis Vinnik

1970 February 13-th.

Today marks the day of my arrival on the island of peace and solitude. I can’t express enough how glad I was to finally be ashore. Still, I couldn’t help but notice the eerie atmosphere that loomed over the lone island. Something was off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was the fog that was much thicker than at the port, or perhaps it was the complete and utter silence that my mind found uncanny. Still, I collected my bags and shortly after I was marching along the dirty path with mud chunks clinging to my leather boots since the weather was quite humid. The island is small, not bigger than 40 meters in diameter. Still, despite its small size, there is a port for rowing boats, and it was even blessed by a chapel, even though it is really out of shape. The road led me to the opposite end of an island, and there it was, an old yet sturdy lighthouse, standing in all of its 35 feet of glory. Everything inside was dusty, although they told me that it was kept operational almost all-year round. Strange, but I guess that previous lighthouse keeper was just an inert imbecile. There were three rooms and a basement in total, each on a separate storey, connected by a rusty, old stairway. My bedroom is located on the first floor, then the second level is used mainly for storage. The last floor that leads to the gallery holds everything one would need to maintain a lighthouse for a millennium. Still, strangely enough I can’t open basement leading to basement, The key is too big to fit inside the keyhole! Still, I’ve got some supplies on the second floor, so I guess I won’t go hungry for a while? My bedroom looks, well, as a dusty lighthouse keeper’s bedroom does. Pretty cramped, but with all the necessities I could ask for. A furnace to keep my guts full and warm in the cold February nights, a small dwarf-sized bed and an old table with a complementing rotten chair. Even though everything here looks quite antique, but what stands out is a new and shiny radio set standing on the table. I’ve never been interested in radio, really, nor do I think that I will use it for anything but my job. Finally, after scanning the lighthouse from top to bottom, I was met with a blood-curling realization: the dust sitting in every corner and crevice of the beacon won’t clean itself. After what seems to have taken ages everything is cleaned up and now that the furnace is fired up, I think it’s time to go and start the lantern as well. From what I’ve been told It shouldn’t be hard at all to accomplish the task, maybe I should’ve chosen a three-months contract rather than a two-months? Only time will tell!