Lantern Keeper
Lanterns shimmered along the silver lake, their soft glow rising like quiet stars that came to rest upon the earth. Mist drifted low across the water, curling in pale ribbons, while the weeping willows leaned close, their long slender branches brushing the surface with a kind of reverence, tracing delicate lacework in the rippling reflections.
The meadow beyond breathed warmth, its grasses tipped with light as if brushed by unseen hands. They seemed less made than born- earth‑sparks rising from the mist, drifting into a gentle glow, as though the meadow itself had exhaled brightness. Shadows softened, not with sorrow but with a quiet peace, as if the sky remembered how to cradle brilliance.
The lanterns offered only radiance, a presence that belonged wholly to the stillness. A secret light seemed stitched into the deep indigo of midnight. The sky leaned in close, and the lake mirrored back a thousand tiny gleams, as though the world had hidden its constellations here, waiting to be found.
Each shimmering glow carried its own quiet mystery: one pale as dawn’s first sigh, another bright as a sunset’s brilliant gold, and another iridescent as starlight caught in dew, turning its reflection into a second universe—endless, calm, and serene.
Reflections became infinite, tended by nature- a breeze stirring their glow, mist wrapping them close as the heavens leaned nearer. In silence, the lanterns did not resist the darkness; they became part of it, softening the night between stars and water, reminding the world that light is never lost… only transformed.
DRR