Ralphie's Light

Medium: Ink and graphite on Arches paper, mounted to birch panel, varnished

Dimensions: 6" x 8"

Long Island, New York

The Story:
The dispute over the water territory located in front of Machias Seal Island has been ongoing for many years. At the heart of the problem is location, being that the island is situated very close to the dividing line between Canadian and American waters. Fishermen have debated over the territory for years, fighting to claim the fish that swim in the waters surrounding the island.
One day, a young fisherman was watching a repetitive argument between his captain and the captain of a nearby Canadian ship. An idea came to him as he listened to the older men debate. Earlier that morning, his younger brother shared a great story about a huge creature roaming the island. His little brother insisted on the story's validity, claiming to know a kid who knows a kid who has an older brother who was said to have seen it, but he knew it for what it was: a myth. However, he also knew that fishermen were suspicious folks, and that any myth told the right way, especially out on the water, could seem real to even the most skeptical members of the crew.
The next time an argument broke out (he didn't have to wait that long, being that this was an almost daily occurrence), he jumped into the debate, quieting everyone else immediately.
“Wait, you all didn't hear? About the dark creature that’s been seen on the island? None of us should get too close to it… especially in the fog. I hear that the creature will chase away humans at all costs. I heard that some ignorant kid went on the island and trampled through a nesting area. Ever since then a creature as tall as that old lighthouse now waits and watches in the fog, making sure that no one will ever disrupt the animals there again.” The older men looked at one another, and after a brief hesitation they laughed. Yet he could tell that a small part of each of them believed him, and shortly after he finished sharing his story he noticed a subtle shift in the direction the boat was headed. As days went by, he noticed that their boat did not get close to the island anymore, staying just far enough to make it nearly impossible to see the small patch of land when there was fog, which was an almost daily occurrence.
On one of these foggy days, he was staring out into the mist at the small rotating beam from the island’s lighthouse when he thought he saw something, some dark figure towering against the rotating light, staring back at him. It must be a trick of the mind, he thought, there is no such thing as big ancient creatures roaming around in the fog. Confident that it was his imagination, he turned away and continued working. But from that moment he was different; he never wanted to admit it, least of all to himself, but ever since he saw that impossibly tall creature in the mist, he couldn’t look into the fog without feeling that something was looking back into him.