The Lantern Keeper

The council rewrote the keeper's duties. The lantern would no longer belong to a single person. Each season, somebody new would learn its care and somebody experienced would be allowed to rest.

When Sora hung it above the bridge, its flame was smaller than before. It did not light the entire river. It lit the next stretch clearly enough to navigate.

The ferryman watched from a bench, wrapped in a coat nobody had ever seen him wear. He gave instructions only when asked. Sometimes he slept.

Sora added one line to the second book: A promise can be kept by changing who carries it. That night the lantern burned steadily, and three different hands guided the waiting boats home.