Lantern of Hope

The city died in silence, every street swallowed by shadow, every voice gone.

But one child still walked, clutching a lantern that hummed with warmth.

She moved through ruins where towers bent like broken bones, where screens flickered

with forgotten faces. She wasn't afraid. She placed the lantern beside a withered tree and stepped

back. Slowly, green crawled up its bark. The light pulsed,

spreading through alleys, waking fountains, igniting windows. Birds returned.

The lantern brightened, became a star, then rose higher. Dawn split the sky. People emerged,

blinking, alive again. Hope never died. It just waited for someone brave enough