The bell did not ring
Moon Jetty had a small brass bell for boats arriving after dark. On the night Nova heard the story, the bell stayed perfectly still. What moved was a pale flicker beneath the final plank, flashing each time the tide found the post.
A borrowed moon
Nova lowered a float with no hook and watched the light settle on the water. A striped fish appeared with a shell balanced against its nose. The shell caught the moon so brightly that the jetty looked lit from below.
The last plank
Instead of reaching down, Nova tapped the float against the tide. The fish followed it out from the timber shade. The shell drifted free and rolled onto the sandbar. Nova left it there until morning, where moonlight could not be mistaken for a lost signal.
Club rule: dim the lantern
At sunrise, the bell rang once in a clean breeze. Nova added a note to the club board: some lights belong to the tide. Let them arrive on time.
Nova added the final note to the club board, circled it with a cobalt tide mark and left room for the next question.
The Buoy That Hummed at Noon
A yellow marker buoy began singing a low note exactly when the water turned glassy. Nova followed the rhythm to a silver fish with perfect timing.
Take the next tide