Ferry keeper vanishes as shrinking door traps him with phantom drivers
Eddie counted 137 foghorn blasts as the powerless ferry drifted through fog, each one linked to a rescue. Then the watertight door began to shrink.
Eddie recorded 137 foghorn blasts after the ferry lost power, even though someone had cut the horn's airline. He was the nightkeeper on the lowest vehicle deck. Seawater slid beneath parked cars as the ferry drifted through fog.
Eddie wrote every blast in the logbook beside the name of someone rescued from a wreck. The newest name was Denny. Eddie found him alive inside a delivery van that had filled halfway with water.
Fresh ink and a shrinking door
Then fresh ink appeared beside it. Eddie, next survivor. That morning, the deck's watertight door had measured 2 meters high. It was 1 meter wide. Now Eddie could barely get his shoulders through. He checked it again.
The new measurement was 73 centimeters. Another blast shook the cars. The door narrowed.
Escape from the vehicle deck
Denny climbed through first. Eddie turned sideways, but the frame pressed against his chest. Behind him, headlights switched on one by one, showing drivers sitting inside vehicles that had arrived empty.
Denny pulled. Eddie fell through as the door sealed to the width of a hand.
The final log entry
At dawn, the ferry reached port with no damage and no missing passengers. The foghorn log had one final line. Eddie survived. The keeper remained below.
