A COLLECTION OF SHORT TALES

The Lantern On The Mountain

At a time not too long ago, on a mountain quite treacherously high, lived a curious little boy and his hardworking father.

His father was of the grumbly nature. Not at all rude but certainly a man of few words. He had spent his youth building the cottage that sat at the near-top of this treacherously high mountain, and after the boy's mother passed away he decided to stay there and raise their child on his own.

It was a challenging and modest way of living that meant work started in the early hours of the morning and only stopped after the last light had left the sky, but it was the only life the little boy had ever known.

Aside from growing and harvesting their own food, maintaining and repairing their own house and collecting and storing their own water, the two also had another very important job, a job that the father had long been doing on his own, until...

'Son,' the father grumbled just moments after the little boy had washed his hands for the day.

Judging by the tone of his voice, the boy knew his father was about to ask him to perform a chore of sorts. But the sun was low and the stars were nearly out...?

'Yes Dad?' he asked.

The father pushed a collection of objects across their tiny, weathered kitchen table and towards the little boy. 'Take this lantern and walk to the peak of the mountain. Climb up the tallest tree until the branches below you bow and threaten to break. Fasten yourself with this rope, if you must, but once you can't climb any higher, take this hammer and this nail and hang this lantern on the highest point.'

'But, why?' the boy immediately questioned. 'Dad, it's nearly dark and the snakes will be out...'

'Son.' His voice was gruffer now. 'Do as I ask and do it now.'

With a reluctant sigh and arms heavy with objects, the little boy began the task at hand. His eyes searched for the clear path to the peak while his feet reluctantly followed.

'But how am I supposed to know which tree is the highest...?' he grumbled to himself as the path began to steepen.

He was so focused on grumbling and gruffing that he didn't notice the enormously large trunk in front of him.

'OOF!'

When he collected himself and his objects, he realized how enormously large the tree actually was!

It stood like a tower over him, casting a darkness of it's own across the valley below. But if he had concerns of how he would climb his way up this enormously large trunk, they immediately disappeared when he noticed footholds had long been carved all the way up the trunk.

It was like following the clear path to the top. It was clear that the trail up this trunk had been followed many times before. Except, unlike the person before him, the little boy could climb even higher. It wasn't until he'd nearly reached the top that he heard the familiar sound of wood cracking.

He fastened himself to the sturdy trunk, using the rope his father had given him and began enacting the next part of his task. Below him, he could see a dozen other rusty nails driven deep into the wood of the tree. Some were bent out of shape, others couldn't hold a piece of string.

The darkness began to close in around him as he secured one last hit of his hammer against the rusty nail he was given. He hung the lantern proudly and admired the brilliant light. Beneath him and at the foot of the mountain he saw other little lights and possible lanterns gleaming below.

Is that why Dad insists we light this thing? He wondered as he followed the dark path home.

'How'd you go son? Hanging nice and bright?' his father asked as he walked through the door.