On the night of the first frost, the Zookeeper handed each animal a small paper lantern. 'Whisper a wish inside,' they said. 'Any size. Even a tiny one.'
Natalie almost didn't whisper anything. Her wish felt too small. Too quiet. Too hers.
But she leaned in anyway, and the lantern glowed.
When the family lifted the lanterns into the sky, hers wasn't the brightest. It wasn't the biggest. But it rose, steady and golden, right alongside the others — and that was the bravest thing of all.