I still remember it was the first time I saw a third lantern on the porch on Halloween night
On our street there was an old rule for Halloween night every family lit jack-o'-lanterns at their door but only two One large with a grinning carved face sat on the highest step meaning welcome to trick-or-treat the door is open One small without a face just hollowed out with a candle lit inside sat at the edge of the porch meaning a light for those who return late so the path is clear
Two lanterns one welcoming and one seeing off was the unspoken understanding of the street no one had ever lit a third
Grandma said this had its own special meaning
I was about ten then and helped Grandma carve jack-o'-lanterns on Halloween night She carved very slowly the knife moving down along the marks bit by bit while she told stories in a rambling way
Grandma said you must remember only two lanterns can be lit on the porch on Halloween night
Why I loved asking everything back then
Grandma stopped the knife and looked up at me with a distant look in her eyes because in the legend the lantern with a carved face was kept for a lantern bearer he had wandered the human world for who knows how many years unable to ascend to heaven or descend into the earth so he carried a lantern and walked on and on looking for the way home his lantern was the kind with a carved face
Then what about the third lantern
Grandma put a candle into the carved pumpkin and the flame lit up with a puff the third lantern is for the wanderer if he ever finally finds his way on some night he will borrow this lantern to shine briefly to let his family know he has returned so the third lantern never needs to be lit by anyone if it is lit then someone has come home
At the time I thought it was just a story a little scary and a little warm and I kept asking did he find it
Grandma did not answer she just placed the two lanterns on the porch and stepped back to look if you want him to find it he will find it as long as the lantern is lit the way is there
That Halloween night the first part was lively groups of children in all kinds of costumes came to trick-or-treat the doorbell rang nonstop and Grandma smiled and handed each one a handful of candy the street was lit up with jack-o'-lanterns the orange light shining on doorways and the air smelled of candle smoke mixed with autumn leaves
Later in the night the crowd dispersed and the street grew quiet I sat on the porch steps hugging my knees and watched the last trick-or-treat lantern across the street go out the wind was a little cold I yawned and was about to head back inside
Just as I turned the corner of my eye caught the very edge of the porch beside that small un-carved lantern where at some unknown point an extra light had appeared
I froze and spun around
On the porch sat two lanterns a large pumpkin with a carved face and a small lantern without a face but between them right next to the corner of the porch the third lantern was burning
It was a very small jack-o'-lantern orange yellow with no carved face its flame dancing quietly it burned very steadily without flickering not like one just lit but as if it had been standing there for ages and ages
I did not feel the kind of fear from the story what popped into my head was Grandma's words if it is lit then someone has come home
I stood on the steps and stared at that lantern for a long time, a breeze blew through the doorway, the tiny flame swayed once and straightened again, the street was so quiet that all the noise of Halloween night receded like a tide, leaving only this small glow and a wind that I couldn't tell whether it was cool or warm
I didn't know what to do, I thought of Grandma and the words she said while carving the lantern — if you keep wishing for him to find it, he will find it — I thought it over, didn't touch that lantern, didn't run back into the house, just stood there and said quietly:
If you've found it, then shine a while longer, and if the road is still far, I can keep it lit for you tomorrow
After saying that, I felt a bit embarrassed myself, not even sure who I had said it to, but that lantern's flame seemed to burn a little brighter
That night I went back to my room, lay on the bed, thinking about that third lantern, thinking about the man who had wandered for two hundred years holding a lantern, wondering whether he too had passed so many porches with so many pairs of lanterns, yet never waited for that third one
And as I kept thinking, I fell asleep
Early the next morning, I ran over to look, on the porch there were only two lanterns, both out, candles burned down, the pumpkins a little shriveled, the third lantern was not there, not even a trace
I asked Grandma whether she had put out another lantern last night, she was squatting under the porch clearing the pumpkins, without looking up she said, no, I only put out two
But I saw three last night
Grandma's hands paused for a moment, then she picked up the big pumpkin with the carved face, turned it over, and smiled at me:
So you found what you were hoping for this year?
I was stunned for a moment, then said, yes, I found it
Grandma didn't say anything else, she just carried the two pumpkins into the house, leaving one sentence as light as the wind:
Then that's good, as long as the lantern is lit, the road is there
For many years afterward, I helped Grandma carve two lanterns every Halloween night and set them on the porch, the third lantern never appeared again, but every year after carving the lanterns, when I sat on the porch steps, I would glance at the corner at the far end of the porch — quiet and still, with only that small lantern without a carved face and autumn all over the ground
I always think that the third lantern must have gone home, it found the door for him, shone for him once, and told that street that a man who had wandered with a lantern for two hundred years had finally found his way
As for where he went, no one knows, but I know that from now on, every Halloween night when I light those two lanterns, I keep one extra sentence in my heart, for the person who may still be on the road:
No hurry, I'm keeping the lantern for you, on the porch there will always be a place for you
Whenever you find it, you shine
Further ReadingHalloween costume、Halloween decoration、Pumpkin carving and DIY、Halloween party。
