David is about to go to secondary school. This bothers him. So, he decides that he must make the most of the remaining summer on his own. He decides, for the first time, to cycle the length of the three-mile peninsula close to his home and visit the lighthouse at its end.

In the lighthouse, David meets a man with a face as round as a plate. When the man learns of David's predicament, he makes him an offer: in the last few weeks of summer he will offer him an alternative to his state-funded education by telling him the origins of the lighthouse.