Title: The Lantern That Never Went Out 🎃
On the edge of Hollow Creek stood a crooked house no one dared to visit. Every Halloween night, a single lantern glowed in its window—bright orange, steady, never flickering.
Legend said the lantern belonged to Old Marlowe, the village lantern maker who vanished fifty years ago. He was known for crafting lights that never died, powered not by oil, but by something... else.
This Halloween, curious twelve-year-old Clara decided to see the truth. She crept through the mist, her flashlight trembling. Inside, dust floated like ghosts. The air smelled of candle wax and rust.
Then she saw it—the lantern, still burning, its glass warm and pulsing like a heartbeat. On the table beside it lay a note:
“To keep the flame alive, one must feed it light.”
Her flashlight dimmed. The beam stretched toward the lantern as if pulled by invisible hands. In seconds, her light was gone—and the lantern burned brighter.
Clara’s reflection appeared inside the glass, wide-eyed and silent. And from that night on, the lantern shone a little warmer, a little stronger—because it had a new light within.
Every Halloween since, villagers say they see two shadows in the window now. One old. One young. Both watching.
Stake ID: mrtran
