Last Light Over Haneul Port

No one in Haneul Port had seen a true sunset for seven nights. The horizon was a silver bruise.

Tonight, every district sent one lantern boat to the old lighthouse, each carrying a different prayer for light.

The lighthouse keeper had not been seen in four days. The lantern, however, still rotated — slower now, as if it too was growing tired.

A hundred kites rose from the masts. Their ember tails sketched a temporary sunrise over black water that lasted exactly four minutes.

The real sun arrived seven seconds later, as if it had been waiting to be shown how. The port never lost another evening after that.