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The Lantern Moth
A little moth with a glowing wing helps lost things find their way home in the dark.
StoryAges 6–95 min read
The story
Deep in the summer dusk flew a small brown moth with one special gift: the tip of one wing glowed with a soft, warm light, like a tiny lantern.
She used it to help. When a beetle lost the path, she lit the way. When a fledgling could not find its nest, she flew ahead, glowing gently, until it was safely home. All through the short warm night the little lantern moth drifted here and there, a small kind light in the dark.
And when the sky began to pale and everything that had been lost was found and sleeping, the moth folded her glowing wing against her side, settled on a cool green leaf, and dimmed her little light down to nothing at all, sleeping soundly until the next warm evening.
Reading it aloud
A story about a small light in the dark can reassure children who dislike a fully dark room.
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Source: Original story written for TempoLife. Free to read aloud. · checked 2026-09-04
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