Pepper Faye & The Lantern Keepers

By: Pepper Carlson-Humphrey

For the ones who heal, hold, and help, even when their own light flickers.

In the quietest corner of the Forest Between, Pepper follows a path lit not by stars but by the hands of weary healers. Lanterns glow in the palms of nurses, herbalists, artists, and watchers. Some flames dance bright.
Some barely flicker. Some have gone out entirely. They are the ones who tend others, but forget to tend themselves. In a grove where silence heals and nothing needs fixing, Pepper learns the quiet art of remembering her own light. Together with the Lantern Keepers, she discovers that true healing is sacred allowing.

Allowing herself to receive.
To rest.
To be held.

This is a fable for the burned-out nurturers, the secret holders, the soft ones who forget they, too, are worthy of warmth. If your light has dimmed in service to others—this story is your matchstick.