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The Lantern Festival (7) : Scientists have been hard at work trying to understand the strange, glowing qualities of the luminescent caterpillars found in the caves by the reservoir. The caterpillars still shrivel up if they are taken out of the caves but their glowing secretions have been processed into an organic paste that can withstand the outside world. The city is selling paper lanterns infused with various seeds. The glow paste is full of minerals to support healthy plant growth without risking damage to the environment; all lantern purchases come with a small packet of activating power that will heat the paste up enough to mimic the effects of a candle without the concerns of flammability. When the glow paste loses its heat, the lantern will return to the Earth and upon the first rain (or any contact with water) the paper will dissolve and the seeds may begin to grow. All proceeds from the lanterns are put right back into the community to support local conservation and environmental protection efforts.
One of the things Peregrine loved the most about the Star Festival was the Lantern Festival held during the main celebration. It was always such a pretty sight to see the lanterns, powered by a glowing paste from weird luminescent caterpillars in the caves near the reservoir, float up into the night sky and drift off to eventually deposit their seeds around the city. Being basically a country boy, growing up on the "horsey" edge of town, he enjoyed projects and such that furthered the spreading of more green, growing things and wild spaces. And it was for a good cause, too.
This year, he planned not only to watch, but to participate as well. The only question in his mind was who should the lantern honor?
He had to think hard about that question. There weren't really any people he'd lost and missed; he lived with his mom Rosie and dad Pete, he didn't own any of the horses at the boarding stable or the race track, all his jockey friends were still alive and riding… He even considered the powered people he knew – and suddenly knew who he could honor with a lantern.
The sun was setting as Perrie trotted up to the stand selling the lanterns. "I'll take one, please," he beamed, digging through his pockets for his wallet. Handed a paper lantern and a small packet of activating powder, he headed for the park. There was a hill there that he felt would be the ideal place to launch his lantern and think about his chosen honorees. This was a great idea!
Climbing up the hill, he sat down on the grass under the lone tree at the top and waited for darkness to overtake the sky. He could be a patient man if he wanted to be; he was certainly patient with horses, neurotic overgrown dogs with hooves that they were. So he sat there on the crest of the hill for a good hour before the sky was dark enough and he began to see other lanterns taking to the night, glowing gently from within as they drifted on the gentle air currents.
Peregrine got to his feet and carefully tore open the packet of powder. All he had to do was sprinkle this on the paste at the cross-bracings of the lantern and it would activate. He did just that, gently sprinkling the powder over the paste substance. Almost instantaneously the paste began to glow and heat up. So cool! Holding out the lantern by the edges along the bottom, he watched the glow increase until it illuminated the paper lantern and cast the embedded seeds in silhouette.
He waited until he could feel the heated air inside the lantern give it lift; stepping out from under the tree, he held it high, then slowly pulled his fingers off the rim to release it into the night. The lantern hovered in front of him for a moment or two before lazily drifting upward into the night.
Closing his eyes, he thought of those he wanted to remember with this lantern. Hania, the first talking cat he'd ever met. Isolde. Little Arthuradel. Guinevere. Kaye. Tristan. And Morgan, the ringleader. The Arthurian Court. He hadn't seen them around for years, yet they were the ones who awakened him as Parsifal and taken him in. Perrie found himself wondering if they were well, if they were safe, and he smiled.
Nothing was ever forgotten.
(wc: 580)
