The Lantern Keeper - Part 2 (Courage in Silence)

The night outside had deepened when Arjun placed the first lantern back on the counter. Its faint glow lingered, like an ember refusing to die. The old woman said nothing, only studied him with eyes that felt impossibly ancient.

Arjun cleared his throat. “Was that… real?”

Instead of answering, she turned her head toward a darker corner of the shop. There stood another lantern, taller than the rest, wrapped in intricate patterns carved into its metal frame. Unlike the first, this one did not flicker gently. It pulsed, almost like a heartbeat.

“It waits for you,” the woman said, her voice dropping low.

Arjun hesitated. Something about this lantern unsettled him. The carvings on its surface seemed to shift when he wasn’t looking, like symbols rearranging themselves. His hand trembled as he reached for it, and the moment his fingers touched the handle, the flame inside roared to life.

The shop vanished.

This time, he found himself in an unfamiliar place—an endless hallway, dimly lit by torches that burned without heat. The air was heavy, thick with whispers he could not understand. The walls were covered in shadows that moved though nothing stood to cast them.

At the far end of the hallway stood a figure cloaked in darkness. Arjun couldn’t see its face, only the outline of its body—still, silent, waiting.

He took a step forward, and the whispers grew louder. They weren’t random anymore. They were words, sharp and poisonous.

You are weak. You have failed before. You will fail again. No one truly listens to you.

Each step felt harder than the last, as if the words pressed against his chest, draining his strength. His instinct was to argue, to shout back, to prove the voices wrong. But the memory of the boy and his father from the first lantern tugged at him. He remembered the lesson—silence was not weakness.

So, Arjun stopped walking. He closed his eyes. He let the voices surround him without answering, without fighting. His breath steadied.

Slowly, the whispers began to fade. The shadows on the walls shrank, retreating into themselves. The cloaked figure at the end of the hallway dissolved into light, leaving behind only the echo of silence.

The lantern in his hand dimmed, and once again he was back in the shop.

This time, the old woman leaned forward, her voice carrying a weight that chilled him. “Courage is not in drowning the noise. It is in standing still until the noise loses power. Remember this, Arjun. The third lantern will not forgive hesitation.”

Arjun’s heart pounded. The shop felt colder now, the lanterns watching him as though they too were alive. He tightened his grip on the second lantern, unsure if he was ready for what awaited in the final one.

To be Continued...

#life #flashfiction #shortstories #suspense