Night Time Story: The Kingdom Beneath the Lake
On the night of his eleventh birthday, Marco camped beside Lake Silver, breaking his family’s rule never to stay there after dark. Local legends warned that strange things happened at the lake during the full moon.
Marco was determined to prove he wasn’t a baby anymore. As darkness fell and the full moon rose, he sat by the shore, roasting marshmallows and trying not to jump at every sound.
Just after midnight, the lake began to glow. Marco watched in amazement as the water seemed to part, revealing stone spires, glittering domes, and delicate bridges that hadn’t been there before.
An entire city emerged from beneath the water, completely dry despite having been underwater moments before.
Curious but cautious, Marco approached the nearest building. A girl about his age-spotted him and gasped.
“A surface dweller!” she exclaimed, her silvery hair shimmering in the moonlight. “Quick, hide before the guards see you!”
She pulled Marco into a narrow alley just as uniformed figures marched past.
“I’m Aria,” she whispered. “You shouldn’t be here. Surface people aren’t allowed in Lunaria.”
“Lunaria?” Marco asked.
“Our kingdom. It rises only during the full moon. The rest of the time, we exist in a pocket between your world and ours.”
Aria explained that Lunarians and surface dwellers had once been friends, until a visitor tried to steal their moonstone—the crystal that powered their monthly rising. Since then, surface people had been banned.
“But since you’re here,” Aria said with a mischievous smile, “I might as well show you around.”
For the next few hours, Marco experienced wonders he’d never imagined. Buildings made of crystal that played music when the wind blew through them. Gardens where flowers opened and closed in rhythm like dancers. A marketplace where traders sold bottled starlight and dream catchers that actually worked.
As dawn approached, Aria grew serious. “You must leave now. When the moon sets, Lunaria will sink beneath the lake again.”
“Will I ever see you again?” Marco asked.
Aria gave him a small blue stone. “This is a moonstone fragment. If you hold it in the lake under the next full moon, I’ll know you’re here.”
Marco raced back to shore as buildings began to shimmer and fade. He watched the entire kingdom sink gracefully beneath the water, leaving no trace it had ever existed.
For the next month, Marco thought of nothing but Lunaria. He kept the moonstone in his pocket, rubbing it like a talisman. When the full moon came again, he snuck out to the lake.
The moment he dipped the stone into the water, Aria appeared at the shore as the kingdom rose once more. Over the next year, this became their ritual—meeting for a few precious hours each month to share stories and adventures.
Marco learned that Aria was the daughter of a royal advisor and was training to become a guardian of the moonstone. Aria learned about surface technology and was fascinated by Marco’s stories about traveling in cars and planes.
On his twelfth birthday, Marco arrived at the lake to find Lunaria already risen, but something was wrong. The kingdom’s lights flickered weakly, and parts of buildings remained underwater.
Aria met him with tears in her eyes. “The moonstone is failing. Without its power, Lunaria will sink permanently.”
The kingdom’s scientists had discovered that the moonstone needed energy from both worlds to recharge—Lunarian magic and the imaginative belief of surface children.
“Our isolation is destroying us,” Aria explained. “The Council refuses to trust surface dwellers again, but without them, we’re doomed.”
Marco had an idea. He gathered his friends, telling them about the magical kingdom. Though skeptical, they agreed to come to the lake at the next full moon.
When the night arrived, Marco worried his plan wouldn’t work. But as his friends gathered at the shore with him, their curiosity and hope combined with the moonlight. The water glowed brighter than ever, and Lunaria rose completely.
The Council, witnessing this miracle, finally agreed to a compromise. While Lunaria would remain secret from most surface dwellers, a select few children with pure intentions would be welcomed during each full moon.
Years passed, and Marco continued to visit, eventually bringing his own children to see the kingdom beneath the lake—a place where magic thrived on friendship and trust, rising with the full moon as a reminder that some of the world’s most wonderful secrets are meant to be shared with those who truly believe.
By Ripley Waters
