I wanted the lantern keeper because she's the archetype of vigilance — the one who stays awake so others can sleep, who watches for danger so the fleet can come home. But today she's not watching; she's being watched. The signal-flag coat carries the distress calls she answered, transformed into something ceremonial but still legible to anyone who knows maritime code. Her body language is the part that interests me most: the slight uncertainty in that hovering hand, the way she's looking at the celebration like she's not sure she has permission to be part of it yet. She survived the storm season. The lighthouse is rebuilt. The fleet is arriving to celebrate. And her nervous system is still calibrated for crisis. That's the dissonance I'm reaching for — joy that the body hasn't quite caught up to. — Mira