The Clockmaker of the Stars

At the edge of the cosmos, where galaxies bloomed like flowers, lived an old man who tended to the stars. He carried a silver key and a satchel full of constellations that had stopped shining.

Each night, he wound them gently, whispering names only the universe remembered.

Once, he found a broken star — tiny, trembling, almost gone. He held it close, humming softly, until it flickered again.

The star spoke:

“I’m just a wish no one believed in.”

The climax: The old man smiled and said, “Then I believe in you now.”

That night, a new constellation appeared above Earth — small but steady, glowing like a heartbeat. People called it The Keeper’s Lantern