Mossy Lantern Hollow

Mossy Lantern Hollow sits where two beech trees have grown so close together their roots braid underground, making the ground between them soft and pillowed. A clear stream comes in from the north side, slipping over water-worn stones in long, unhurried steps, and exits under a fallen log that doubles as a low, wobbling bridge. On either side of the log grow bramble runners and broad ferns that press against each other in damp overlap. Pale mushrooms grow in quiet clusters along the hollow's inner walls — some as small as thumbnail coins, one or two as wide as a cupped hand. A hollow stump near the eastern edge smells of rain and old wood and holds a dried acorn cap, some bark shavings, and a spiral of dry moss that looks deliberately placed. Branches overhead filter the light into coins and slow slants, and the whole hollow carries a particular quiet, as if it waits between visitors.