Rowan stepped into the workshop as evening settled outside.
The door closed quietly behind him.
Warm air rested within the stone room,
Carrying the faint scent of limestone dust and old wood.
Along the walls stood shelves filled with carved bowls,
Half-shaped arches and smooth blocks of pale stone waiting for the mason's hands.
At the centre of the workshop stood a wide wooden workbench.
Above it hung a lantern.
Its warm golden light spread across the table and reached outward through the room.
The glow rested on the pale surfaces of the stone blocks nearby,
And softened the edges of the tools laid across the bench.
The flame within the glass seemed deeper than an ordinary flame,
Rich and steady,
Casting a light that felt almost alive as it touched the stone.
Rowan walked slowly across the room.
His footsteps sounded gentle against the worn stone floor.
The workshop held a deep stillness that seemed to settle around him as he moved.
He felt the quiet of the place begin to settle into him too,
Easing something inside his chest.
He stopped beside the workbench.
A block of pale limestone rested at the centre of the table.
The lantern's glow revealed a faint,
Curved shape within the stone.
The early outline of a bowl had begun to appear,
Its smooth form waiting quietly inside the rock.
Rowan leaned closer.
The glow settled gently into the shallow grooves of the carving,
Revealing the shape within the stone more clearly in the warm light.
He found himself watching it without thinking.
The longer he stood there,
The more the golden light seemed to draw his attention away from everything else.
The long day,
The wandering thoughts that had followed him into the workshop.
They loosened,
Faded,
Until there was only the warm lantern light resting across the stone.
Rowan felt the same calm spreading through him as he stood beside the bench.
His shoulders lowered.
His breath slowed.
Leaning back,
He let his hand rest lightly on the edge of the table.
The wood felt solid and smooth beneath his palm.
He let his attention wander to the room around him.
From the array of beautifully smoothed,
Finished pieces resting on the shelves,
To the large,
Rough stones leaning against the wall.
Each surface caught the lantern's glow in its own way.
Some reflected the light softly,
Others held it within the pale colour of the stone.
Rowan breathed slowly.
The warmth of the workshop settled across his shoulders and chest.
The quiet glow of the lantern filled the room with a calm,
Golden light.
Watching the light move across the stone made his thoughts slow and loosen,
Like something inside him quietly unravelling.
Near the far wall,
He noticed a long wooden bench.
A thick,
Folded blanket rested across it,
And a wool cushion lay at one end,
Where someone had clearly sat many times before.
Rowan walked over and sat down.
The bench felt wide and steady beneath him.
The wool cushion softened the wood at his back,
And the blanket held the warmth of the room.
From there he could still see the lantern above the workbench.
Its light spread gently across the stone walls and wooden shelves.
The flame burned deep within the glass,
Glowing with a quiet richness that filled the whole room.
The workshop remained peaceful and still.
Rowan leaned back against the cushion,
His shoulders relaxed.
His hands rested loosely across the blanket.
His breathing slowed.
Warm air of the room surrounded him.
The shelves of carved stone rested along the walls nearby.
The half-shaped bowl remained on the workbench beneath the lantern's glow.
Everything in the workshop felt calm and settled.
Rowan's eyelids grew heavier.
The lantern's golden light seemed to deepen as the evening darkened outside,
Its glow gathering warmly across the room.
The glass around the flame shimmered faintly,
Casting delicate patterns of light that drifted across the stone and wood.
Rowan watched them,
Relaxing into them.
A sense of peace settled through him.
His mind cleared completely.
His breathing deepened.
As he settled down,
The warmth of the room rested across his face and chest.
The blanket beneath his hands felt soft and comforting.
He allowed his body to relax completely into the bench.
He felt nothing but ease and comfort.
Above the workbench,
The lantern continued to glow,
Its gentle light filling the room with a quiet,
Golden warmth.
Rowan's eyes closed.
He rested there comfortably beneath the lantern's glow,
Surrounded by the stonework and the peaceful stillness of the workshop.
And there,
Wrapped in the soft golden light of the mason's lantern,
Rowan slowly drifted into sleep.
