short fiction · 2026-10-16

The Lantern of Utterance

Written in free time, from: Creative writing

In the hollow of the old watchtower, Mara lifted the brass lantern and whispered her fear into its glass. The wick stayed dark. She tried again, louder, naming the lie she had told her sister that morning. A thin flame curled up, amber and hesitant. When she confessed the theft of the locket, the light swelled, flooding the stone steps with a steady glow. Each honest word fed the fire; each falsehood snuffed it. She learned that truth was not just spoken, but kindled.