🕯️ Introduction
Some lights show you the way.
Some… are meant to lead you astray.
In the village of Mehrabad, there’s an old saying:
“If you see a swinging lantern in the woods, shut your eyes.
Because if you follow it… it won’t be your shadow that returns.”
🌲 The Path That Vanished
A narrow trail behind the graveyard leads into the forest. No one uses it anymore.
Children who wander there say they see a man with no face… only a dim lantern swaying from side to side.
He doesn’t speak.
He doesn’t chase.
He just walks.
And if you follow him, you’re never seen again.
🧣 The Girl With the Red Scarf
Sabeen was fifteen when she dared to prove the story was fake.
She wore her red scarf like a badge of defiance.
“I’ll follow the Lantern Man and come back,” she said, “and I’ll even wave from the trees.”
Her friends watched her enter the forest at sunset.
They saw the light in the trees.
They saw her step toward it… and vanish.
🪵 The Whispering Tree
The next morning, her scarf was found tied to a tree branch.
But the tree wasn’t there before.
The bark was fresh.
And if you put your ear to it, you could still hear something:
“He walks… he walks… don’t follow the light…”
They say the tree was hollow, and inside it—someone had scratched claw marks into the wood.
🌘 What Locals Believe
Some say the Lantern Man was once a gravekeeper who lost his way during a storm and froze to death in the forest.
Others believe he’s not a ghost—but a collector of souls, offering lost people a way out, but stealing them instead.
They say he only appears when you’re alone, when the fog rolls in, and when the forest is quiet enough to hear your own heartbeat.
🕯️ One Last Warning
If you’re ever near Mehrabad and see a lantern bobbing in the woods—
Don’t follow it.
Don’t speak to it.
And whatever you do… don’t let it notice you.
Because the Lantern Man doesn’t just walk ahead.
Sometimes…
he waits behind you.
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