It was a cold morning on the bayou. I looked outside and noticed the light bulb by the carport had broken. I grabbed a jacket, while taking a sip of my cinnamon beet juice and headed outside to replace the light. A tremor came over me as the chill caused a twinge of pain in my elbow. Signs of an old sports injury protesting the chill.
“An island is definitely on my bucket list.” I thought as an elk greeted me.
“Hi Dave!” I wave at the elk as I struggle to reach the light.
“Oh. If only I were taller.” I think to myself as I see Randall, the neighbor’s son, hopping in my direction.
“Hello, Ms. Marlowe.” he smiles. “You look like you could really use some help.”
“Sure!” I yell. “This cold is really doing a number on me today.”
I handed Randall the lightbulb and climbed down from the ladder.
“Dave really likes you.” Randall pointed out as the overly affectionate elk decides to nudge my cheek as if to give me an Eskimo kiss.
Smiling over Dave’s affection, Randall pauses and says “That reminds me of Ralph.”
Ralph, an elderly man from the Circle, had cared for Dave for many years since he was a youngster and the blizzard left him orphaned and alone in the wilderness. The two shared an inseparable bond until Ralph succumbed to an avalanche while hiking in the mountains after a late snowstorm in March of the prior year. Since that time, I had taken over Dave’s care, a tribute to Ralph, but he was irreplaceable.
Randall changed the lightbulb and I headed back inside, watching Dave stroll into the forest again,
“I wonder where he goes.” I thought.

The next morning, the light was out again.
“If I didn’t know better,” I thought. “Ralph must be up to his tricks again.”
Ralph used to unscrew the light just to get me going. I think it brought him some form of old man twisted humor.
For the next three days, I would change the bulb only for it to go out again and this time, they were burned out, just loose. I thought about installing cameras, but why. Nothing is being stolen. Just unscrewed, even if it was leaving me a little unhinged.
It has to be in some way fate. Ralph is loosening the bulbs to mess with me. Some message from beyond.
Funnier still, Dave had disappeared too. I hadn’t seen him since Randall had changed the burned out bulb. But then, as quickly as he left, he returned but the light still kept going out.

About three weeks – and several light issues later – I saw Dave at my carport and to my surprise, he was unscrewing a bulb with his antlers and this time, he took the bulb with him when he left. I decided to follow him and see where he went. When he stopped, so did my heart. I couldn’t help but cry. Dave had been unscrewing the bulbs to make me think of Ralph and carried this one to Ralph’s headstone. It was his own way of making me think of his good friend and protector and now, shining a light on his friend, one more time.