🏮 Lanterns in the Snow

In the middle of winter, when the nights were longest, the little town of Frostwick held the Festival of Lights. Everyone made a lantern to brighten the dark.

Theo the kitten had never made a lantern before. He sat at the kitchen table with paper, glue and a little jar. "What shape should it be?" asked his mother.

"A fish!" said Theo, of course. So they cut out paper fish, and stuck them around the jar, and painted them in orange and yellow and blue. When his mother put a tiny electric candle inside, the fish glowed like they were swimming in light.

That evening, the whole town gathered in the square. The snow was falling softly, and the wind whispered through the bare trees. Everyone held up their lanterns. There were stars and moons, flowers and houses, and even a lantern shaped like a giant teapot.

Then the music began. A band played gentle songs, and someone rang the big town bell. Everyone walked together through the snowy streets in a long, glowing parade, their footsteps crunching in the snow.

Theo walked beside his mother, holding his fish lantern high. He saw his friends, their faces glowing in the warm light. Everyone was smiling. The cold didn't feel so cold anymore.

At the end of the parade, they hung their lanterns on the big tree in the square. It sparkled with hundreds of lights. Theo's little fish lantern hung right in the middle.

"It's so beautiful," whispered Theo. "That's the magic of the festival," said his mother. "When we each bring a little light, together we can brighten even the longest night."