At last, she came upon a quiet place
where the wind hushed itself,
and the earth breathed slowly.

Here she set down her last lantern,
the flame trembling
like the last note of a song
that did not wish to end.

She sat beside it,
her hands folded upon her knees,
her eyes searching the sky—
not for rescue,
but for rest.

The world would not remember her sorrow,
nor the way she hid it in laughter.
Yet perhaps,
just perhaps,
someone would follow her light
and know they were not forgotten.

She smiled then, faintly,
not of joy,
but of release.

And as the lantern’s glow faded into the arms of the night,
she whispered to herself—

“Loneliness was my shadow,
but hope was my companion.
If I depart,
may I depart with both.”

And so, the flame bowed,
the night closed its hands,
and the Forgotten’s Lanterns
were carried into eternity.