Lantern

     A lantern swung about in the wind after a thunderstorm's wrath struck a small, sleepy village. Clouds obscured the stars while rivulets of fallen rain trickled and tumbled through the streets. Somehow, despite the water and wind, a flame still flickered in the lantern. The hatch on the side, cast open by the wind, left the flame exposed to wicked winds and torrential downpours.
     However, in the midst of the storm, a villager was awakened. In his nightclothes, he walked into the street and latched the lantern shut. With a hand on the pole supporting the lantern, he watched the sky as the clouds dissolved into a black, starlit void.