Where Lanterns Hang Lower

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To be published by Evanescent Magazine for their 2026 collaborative issue: Close-Knit

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The pupils of a black stray I had seen before peered from a dim corner. Its eyes met mine, and seemed to be the only vibrant thing in town at this hour. The stone of these roads was moist, the air hanging thick from the downpour of rain that had now dwindled to a drizzle. This cat had become lankier, but perkily guided me to another street. It didn’t turn back once, but it must have known I couldn’t resist following as I slowly treaded behind him. 

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The town’s lanterns, dull hues of magenta and violet, seemed to hang lower tonight. I didn’t dare look up, however, fearing I’d somehow miss the cat like a pet loses sight of its owner. Instead of straight, he trotted diagonally, through a cramped alleyway void of the little light that the main streets embraced. Three alleyways later, and his journey, I suppose ours, was far from over. Every now and then I’d make eye contact with men in thick coats and cracked frames, some preoccupied with a cigar and others simply waiting. I couldn’t figure out what the waiting was for. Was it for someone? A train? As the cat and I progressed in our tracks, this niche of passersby all seemed to face forward, until just a moment later I found another man’s back to me. Odd. The cat hadn’t grown any more tired, so I thought I’d play a game. I let my mind wander, imagining another tall passerby, one wearing a dusty tophat with frames that weren’t cracked. Opening my eyes, the cat was still just a mere two feet ahead, but the corners of the incoming buildings were empty. No cracked frames or oddly placed civilians in sight.

That is until one startled the light out of my eyes as it bumped into me, running past in the opposite direction. He dropped something. Intuitively, I caught it before it could reach the slick muddy stone, and then I noticed my hand grasping the edge of a top hat. The man had glanced back in a panic. His eyes were visible, auburn irises sitting behind clean, uncracked frames. My head jerked back to the cat that was sitting half a yard from me with upright posture, almost mocking my flustered state. I placed the hat down, walking up to the stray whose tail waved against thick air that had begun to cast cool wisps. Before I could reach a closer distance with him, he resumed his tracks, turning right. My mind had drifted from eerie civilians, and I didn’t see another for the rest of the journey. The town wasn’t mazelike, but the thought of navigating it without the guidance of a stray so sure of itself was unpleasant to say the least. I noticed the light fading even more from around. And just briefly, I glanced up to suddenly find dull lanterns hanging even lower. I reached up, my fingers scraping the wet bottom of one, until I looked back in front to find the world slightly more illuminated. This cat seemed to be the only unchanging thing at this moment, a much needed constant amidst ever changing variables. I felt loosely in control of this place with the exception of the cat that controlled my feet. Suddenly, I brought my focus to the dialogue present at the back of my mind: It was even more unpleasant. Random voices, not loud enough to disturb but just enough to pester, seemed tense. I couldn’t make up how many were bickering, nor could I decipher the contents of this conversation. Truthfully, I knew these voices well. The dread that carried whenever they conversed. But I didn’t want to know them, not now, not here. All I knew from these voices was that nothing pleasant ever came from tuning them in too closely. And so I tuned them out, trading their disturbance in for the uncanny evening in front. 

For the first time in what felt like forty-five minutes, I felt an aching in my feet. I tried to speak to the cat, and I think I did. Although I couldn’t quite hear the words that came out of my mouth. Nonetheless, it had listened. After making another sharp turn, this time right, the stray took a seat in front of a tavern’s door. I looked up, there were no more lanterns, but the world behind this door seemed illuminated enough. The tiny circular window glowed from inside, the same color as the stray’s vibrant eyes. I needed to make sense of the moment, but my senses were now underwhelmed: The air was…fine. The rain had ended, and my feet were no longer aching. I could have glanced behind, but something told me – the cat perhaps — that there was nothing left to explore out here.  

Twisting my hands against a shiny knob which I couldn’t feel, I left town and the cat as I entered limbo. This limbo was short, too short, as I quickly found all five of my senses grounded in something tangible for once.

I opened my eyes to find myself upon plush, familiar terrain. I could feel the air, or more so smell it now. The dialogue that once plagued the back of my mind was much closer, from the other room perhaps. They were close, and much calmer. The volume had lessened, but the intensity was there. These voices were ones I knew, this sense of relief after a storm was something oh so familiar. 

I reached for the clock beside me, it was far too late. But I suppose I could dream once more, this time one that didn’t exist to shelter me from the present.