the lone lantern

 

       It’s a foggy night, far from the noises of the city. A nice quiet village on the banks of the river, Litmus. They named the village, Seopi looking at its calmness. Moreover, it is not a village a hamlet with a few settlements. The people are simple farmers and fisherman. The village I call is filled with lights and happiness. The young and the children helped their parents in the morning in the fields and catching the fishes. In the nights, they sing, eat, dance and drink. The lights were on in the homes, as they talks all the night and it went on.

      It was the time, when the world is at war. Answering to the call of nation, the young prepared to leave to the battle, along with them the lights left, the parties are gone and soon the darkness entered. They went to the bed early, having nothing to talk only to weep. They sleep but are always awake with horrible dreams.

   “Killi, I promised your mother, I put you safe,” said Thorin, sitting on a chair in a tiny hut facing his only son, Killi. “ and you did it, father… all these years, you stood on your word. But now, it’s the time I need to leave and join my friends in the war” interrupted killi packing his luggage. “Boy, you are asking me to let you go for the war? It is a war son, not a poker game I wave at you while you leave. It’s a war…,” shouted Thorin. “Father, I know what a war is, I read about it” killi replied. “You might have read about the bravery, the victory they print in the books and paper, but not the bloodshed you see there. Kid have you ever seen a man crawling among the dead catching his leg that just got shot, what do you expect from a soldier running towards him, looking into his dead eyes let him get a sip of water from his bottle? Then you are wrong, he takes out his riffle and shots him in his eyes. This is what I seen and not written in the paper you read.  Do you know the last words of my captain when he is dying in my hands, he asked me looking into my eyes ‘do you have one proper answer why are we here?’ for which I have no answer, kid that is war.” Told thorin. “Father, you may not get your answer. But today, if I won’t leave then I haven’t done anything to know the answer. I will live here as a coward all the time and I don’t want to be. Please let me leave” Killi asked his father with tears in his eyes. Thorin stood in silence, hugged his son carrying his luggage to the other end of the bank in his age-old boat he got from his ancestors “the lone lantern”. They added silence to ripples in the water, none of them speaks. In their silence, they reached the bank.

  Killi got down the boat, unloading the luggage and stopped hearing the voice of his father. “Killi you are son of an ordinary boatman, who rides an old anscestorial boat for living and what all you do there that doesn’t bring any change in the country you are fighting for. I made a promise to your mother, I keep you safe and I want you to make me a promise that you will return to your poor old father,” Thorin told in a deep saddened voice. “ I give you my word father, wait for me here daily with a filled oil lantern an indication for me that you are still here for me, if the lamp is off remember I won’t be coming” replied killi. “yes my son, I won’t let the lamp put off” Thorin told. As Thorin looking his son walking, killi disappeared in the darkness.

  From the night, Thorin lit the lantern and and waits for his son on the banks of the river. The days are running, moths are passed, the seasons are challenging but the old man stood for the word given to his son. Ages passed the light in the lamp glowing brighter sometimes and dim few times with the same oil. Thorin filled the oil everyday and waited for his son in the dark cold nights. The only warm he has is the light from the lantern, which is his hope of his son return.

  Years passed, the teens who left the village returned as men. They brought many stories and tales along with them. Thorin asked about his son but he never got any answer to his question. One night, when Thorin was asleep there was a sudden rush in the atmosphere with heavy wind and the light in the lantern has been put off. For a second, Thorin thought it was the end of his life, but hurriedly he has lightened the lantern, he was back to his senses again. A week later, when thorin was looking for his son, he found a young man William, Killis friend in the service coming towards him. He gave a box to Thorin which killi sent. “Father, I found my answer. Thanks for waiting for me. Now it’s time for you to leave,” written on the top with a medal in it. William informed about the death of killi. Thorin shouted at William, ignored his words, and continued waiting for his son.

  Days are passing, Thorin is getting worse. His health spoiled miserably. William started checking him regularly and insisted him to accept the truth but Thorin never cared William and continued to look for his son. One evening, William was leaving for the town he took Thorin's boat to cross the river. The day William found a different Thorin. The old man spoke a lot about his son, the happiness he enjoyed with him, the sadness in his absence. When they reached the bank, William asked Thorin to leave and do not wait there in the night to which Thorin replied smilingly, “ I waited all these years and I can wait for this one night”. William left with a smile on his face.

  The night, it was raining heavily. The winds are too high. Thorin was unable to hold himself to the extreme temperatures, the boat was moving, the lantern was shaking and fell into the river and the climate was back to normal. Early in the morning when William returned, he found Thorin dead in cold. He conducted all the rituals for the funereal. He found that his boat was missing at the time of funereal, thinking that someone has taken it, he paid his last tribute and left.

 That night when William went to the bank of the river, he found the boat the old man used with a filled oil lantern glowing as a sun with the rays falling on the boat reflecting the name “THE LONE LANTERN”

By

-ksvk