THE ENCHANTED LAKE

THE ENCHANTED LAKE

Moniquirá was a very quiet town, traditional families lived there. The towns people were very religious and strong believers of all sorts of superstitions. 20 years ago, Maria Antonia, a beloved town girl disappeared. As usual, she went for a walk in the forest to pick some flowers and observe wild creatures, but then she never returned to her house. Though they searched for her, they never found Maria Antonia. Everyone talked and rumored that the lagoon took her away and that’s why the town fold do not allow their children to go to the forest. The tales of this town narrate that in the most beautiful area of the forest, there is an enchanted lagoon which attracts children and takes them away. But these are just rumors of superstitious people. Ever since they tell the story of the child taken away by the enchanted lake.

Darío and Johana were very humble little brothers, their parents worked in the market. Another day went by, and their parents as usual, went to work their artisan crafts. Sadly, there was not food left to eat. Motivated by hunger, the two siblings went out of their house and in headed towards the market to find their parents. However, as young as they were, they missed a turned and unknowingly headed further way from home or the market. The went deep into the forest. At first, everything was sunny and warm plus the melody of the birds made everything seem so blissful. While walking, as if the forest had heard them yawning and complaining, the children encountered fruit trees of all kinds, fruits they had not seen before and more. Unsurprisingly, the children ate until they were satisfied, and when they were done, tired from the long hike, leaned against the roots of a tree and fell asleep. Soon after they woke up, Dario and Johana decided to find their way home, but realized they were lost. Scared, they ran to find their way home, before the parents noticed that they were not there, so they walked and walked, but they did not find their way home. At some point, the siblings came to a place in the forest where everything was silent, you could not hear a sound or even feel the breeze. It was as if time had stopped. Then right before their eyes was a large piece of land in which there were no trees, an area that looked like a clearing, a defoliated area. Only that this area, was depressed on the ground indicating as if there had been a lake. Curious as children are, they went into the clearing and then both saw sparkles. The children went into the dried lake. The closer the got, the more sparkles in the background they saw. When they got to the bottom of the depression, the siblings realized the sparkles came from various precious stones laying on the soil. Precious stones of all colors and sizes, so colorful that would make a rainbow shy. Ecstatic because of their finding they immediately extended their hands and started picking the jewels off the ground. While picking the jewels up, the children heard a deafening noise with branch breaking sounds and screams coming out of the ground. Both quickly look around to see where was the sound coming from, but they were looking for the source of the sound, the area they were in was filling with water. They looked at each other and started to run to get out, they ran through the waters and when they were about to reach the edge of the lake the water itself engulfed them. The little children tried to hold their breath but could not fight it anymore, so they gave up and breath in the water. Strangely, instead of drowning, they felt a cold that chilled their bones and an immense sensation of filling their lungs with oxygen. When Dario and Johana reached the bottom, they opened their eyes and realized this was a different place, indeed, a different world. This was a wonderful place, the trees were gigantic, their leaves shone with their own light. The children walked to admiring this new giant exuberant world. While walking they found a colossal house. They entered it through the cracks on the wall. In this colossal house lived a couple of very hostile giants; luckily, as he watched the giants, a smaller child saw the siblings and rapidly removed them from the room. The small child approached them, a told them his parents were very dangerous and did not like “their kind” in this land. However, he himself, had not trouble with them asked invited them to play. The small child, bigger than you or me, told them that they had to play without their parents noticing it since it would be fatal for them. As they were leaving his house, Dario and Johana noticed some cages that contain skeletons remains that looked like had belonged to children. They got nervous, swallowed their saliva hard and with I, their thoughts. The children simply followed the small giant child. Sometimes, there things that are better not to talk about…

The three of them reached a room where a girl was playing with some toys, and then they all left to wonder into his world. The girl’s name was Maria Antonia. The children played and played, as the small giant child showed them the marvelous wonders of his land. Late at night the small giant child told them that they had to go, and with this, he gave them many treasures and riches, he took them to a cave and told them to enter it and never to enter the lagoon again. He also thanked them, because the giant people take a long time to grow, which means he has been a lone child with no one to play for a long time. The grateful children said goodbye and entered to the grotto. When they came out the other side, they were back in the lagoon. They were soaked, the three of them got out and when they turned around there was not lagoon. Maria helped the two siblings find their way into the town. The towns people recognize the names the children were asking and took them to their house. Sadly, nobody seemed to know Maria’s parents. They ran to their house and when they got there, they saw that everything was different, their house was in ruins, a man was passing through the place and he asked them if they were lost, the children asked about their parents, the man with a terrorized demeanor recognized and yelled: You are the lost children! -The lost children? asked the siblings and Maria- The man told them about how their parents have spent all their lives looking for them, and just like that other girl’s parents, never gave up. He also told them that their parents still lived but moved to a different place. The man although horrified with this incredible encounter, offered to take them to their new parents’ home. Maria simply joined them. Upon reaching the place they saw an old couple sitting by their porched, looking to the night sky. When the couple saw the children, they were stunned and could not believe what they were seeing. Creams and cries filled the place, as the couple recognize Dario and Johana. The children looked the same as the day they got lost, but the children did not recognize the old people. They hugged their children and the kids started to cry with disbelief. While holding them, the old couple also recognized Maria and asked if she would like to stay. Dario and Johana explained their whole story to their parents while sobbing, and together they realized that what had been 5 hours in that land, was 50 years their own world. Maria, with a tear in her eye, accepted the old couple’s invitation with the realization that her parents were gone as she, Maria Antonia, had been gone for 70 years.