Lantern of the Unknown

The tiny flame of my lantern shivers with me
as it bobs along with my small horse.
The sound of hooves in the dirt calms me as I tremble,
buried under a bundle of clothes, I look around.
The cramped trail and trees looming around me like shadows,
ambassadors of the unknown.
Even the crickets are hushed as I look up at the sky,
blurred by a blanket of clouds.
The moon stares back down at me, only a ghostly spot behind the veil.
The wind howls, flitting through the treetops and whispering secret words
my ears don’t understand. The trail is dark.
My lantern is a comforting reassurance that I won’t get lost among the
uncharted woods. The steady clomp of hooves,
the breeze through the trees,  and the smell of lush greenery almost soothes me,
as I watch the flames shudder. But what is this?
A light of a lantern ahead, dancing in the fog of the hidden?
Is it a comforting flame, like my own? Or an ominous one?
Does it belong to a human? Or a monster of the shadows,
like in the stories mother told?
The mysteries swirl in my head as I battle curiosity. Do I turn back and head
home, where the warm fire sits and mother’s soothing arms await outstretched?
Or do I venture forward, toward the glowing light,
which stays bobbing in place like a hook waiting for a helpless fish?