Lanterns

It was almost time. He had been hiding in the outskirts of Corona, wishing so passionately that he could join the rest of the kingdom in the castle grounds or the large boats that continued to fill with eager passengers. Yet here he stood, a criminal watching from the outside. How he wished to be a part of something as all these people were – to feel at one with others. He thought about how they took their unity for granted – workers laughing with friends and children reaching for loving parents. How undeserving they all were, he thought, because of their ignorance of all they had.

A royal guard passed by just a few yards in front of him. Instinctively crouching lower into the foliage, he saw the royal carriage beyond the line of guards. He wondered about the king and queen. He could never decide between thinking them foolish for never stultifying their hope in finding their daughter and being impressed by their unyielding faith. The fact that they continued to release the lanterns must mean that they never relinquished their nonsensical dream. That's what it was – a dream. He didn't believe in dreams. He'd known since he was a boy that the lost princess would never return.

"To the boats!" he heard a man call. It's about time, he thought. He looked towards the guards again and shook his head, amazed by his own idiocy for coming so close to the kingdom. He had been abroad for months now avoiding the Coronan militia, and returned for the sole purpose of seeing the lanterns. How he was stupid enough to come back year after year for nothing but a meaningless ceremony was astounding, even to him. Nevertheless, he was here and he would not leave until each lantern had disappeared.

He sat among the tall bushes for a few minutes, waiting - aware of nothing but time passing. He couldn't remember when time seemed to roll so slowly. Finally, he felt the crowds hush and he knew that the moment had finally come. Soon he saw the first lantern, the king and queen's, rise slowly above the castle. His heart seemed to stop. He quickly stood to get a better view. Dozens of lanterns soon followed the first. His view was too obscured. He had to get closer.

He went around to the edge of the bushes, looked around cautiously for guards, and ran toward the edge of the open water. He stopped at a secluded dock, and sat with his feet dangling above the sea.

As he watched the first of the lanterns float into the night sky, he decided he didn't care about the king and queen's reasoning for continuing the lantern festival.

Whether they actually believed they would eventually reunite with the princess or because it had simply become a tradition of hope, he was grateful for it. It was the only thing in his life that had remained constant.

A rowboat drifted slowly below him. He looked down and shielded his face from their view, merely out of habit. However, his attempt of concealment proved to be completely unnecessary, for these people weren't concerned about him. As he looked more closely, he could see that the rowboat contained a small family. A little girl sat comfortably on her mother's lap, mesmerized by the magical display of lights. Across from them, a boy sat beside his father – holding the lantern steady as his father held the flame. The boy's father blew out his match and tugged gently at the bottom of the lantern. He nodded at his son and the boy outstretched his arms, released the lantern, and it slowly began to rise into the sky. The child's face lit up in joy and pride. He looked from his lantern to his father, whose expression mirrored the boy's. The man gathered his son into his arms, sat him on his lap and pointed at their steadily retreating lantern.

What would it be like to be in such a family? To belong to someone? he wondered. He looked back at the sky and marveled again at the spectacular scene before him. He began feeling terribly small, thinking about how each lantern belonged to someone who in turn belonged to someone else. Did any of those lanterns belong to someone who felt alone, just as he did?

For the first time he allowed himself to imagine that the lost princess was, in fact, simply lost. What if she was out there somewhere? An unwitting princess. He smiled at the thought. Although unlikely, it was possible that the girl was still alive; unaware of this beautiful celebration meant solely to bring her home. If this girl could grow up with an entire kingdom missing her, there would be no reason not to believe that at least one person could be out there missing him. Somewhere deep inside his cynical mind he believed that one day he would find someone that would finally bring him home.