Lantern Tales: The Clockmaker's Orchard

By I.R. Payne

The Clockmaker's Orchard (A Lantern Tale)

In Hollowgate, time grows on trees-glass-bright clocks budding from branches and keeping the town in step. When the orchard falls silent, apprentice Elsie and her aging master, Rook, discover the grove has been starved of its winter tithe: a single heartbeat freely given and safely returned each spring.

To wake the clocks, Elsie must follow a trail of quiet debts-toward a storm-split tree, a bell taken in love and desperation, and the choice to give away what fear told her to keep. With help from Lark, a girl who won't let grief decide the ending, and Bram, a boy with a borrowed minute, Elsie learns that time is something you tend, not own.

A gently dark fairytale for readers young and old, The Clockmaker's Orchard is a lantern-lit story about grief, generosity, and the hours we make for one another.

Perfect for readers who love:
- Cozy, slightly gothic fairytales
- Lyrical but easy-to-read prose
- Found family and quiet magic
- Neil Gaiman, Kelly Barnhill, and Patrick Rothfuss's "The Slow Regard of Silent Things"

Details:
- Standalone novella (Lantern Tales) - 6,000 words
- Themes: hope after loss, kindness, the cost of keeping time
- Content: atmospheric tension, no graphic scenes

Author: I. R. Payne

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FSQX4TKN
• ISBN13: 9798267056274
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 36 Pages
• Weight: 0.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"