The Secret Door in the Moon

Lulu was supposed to be sleeping. But instead, she was standing at her bedroom window in her fuzzy purple pajamas, staring up at the biggest, brightest, most perfectly round moon she had ever seen.

“It looks like a giant cookie,” Lulu whispered to her stuffed elephant, Mr. Trunk, who was tucked under her arm.

And that’s when she saw it—a tiny golden shimmer on the moon’s surface, right near the bottom, shaped exactly like a door.

Before Lulu could even blink twice, a silvery ladder made of moonbeams tumbled down from the sky and landed with a soft plink right outside her window.

“Well,” said Lulu, looking at Mr. Trunk, “it would be rude not to climb it.”

Up, up, up she climbed, her bare toes tingling on each glowing rung. The stars giggled as she passed them. The wind sang a quiet song. And soon—pop!—Lulu stepped right onto the surface of the moon itself.

It was softer than she expected, like walking on clouds made of marshmallows. And there, right in front of her, was the golden door, no taller than Lulu herself, with a sign that read: “KNOCK THREE TIMES, THEN WAIT FOR THE RHYME.”

So Lulu knocked. Tap, tap, tap.

From behind the door came a voice like tinkling bells:

“Who knocks upon my moonlit door?
What is it you are searching for?”

Lulu thought for a moment, then said:

“My name is Lulu, brave and true,
I climbed right up to visit you!”

The door swung open with a whoooosh, and Lulu gasped.

Inside the moon was the most extraordinary place she’d ever seen. The walls sparkled with star-dust crystals. Hammocks woven from comet tails swayed gently. And everywhere—everywhere!—there were moon mice.

They were small and silver, with whiskers that glowed blue and tiny translucent wings that shimmered when they moved. Dozens of them scurried about, carrying teeny-tiny telescopes, painting new stars, and sprinkling dream dust into glass bottles.

“Welcome, welcome!” squeaked the nearest moon mouse, who wore spectacles made from bottlecaps. “I’m Professor Peeper! You’re just in time—the moon is losing its shine!”

“Losing its shine?” Lulu asked, hugging Mr. Trunk a little tighter.

Professor Peeper led her deeper into the moon, through tunnels lined with glow-worms reading books, past a kitchen where moon mice were baking constellation cookies, until they reached an enormous chamber.

In the center of the chamber was a great big pool of liquid light—swirling, glowing, magnificent. Except… part of it had gone gray and dull, like a lamp losing its bulb.

“This is the Moon’s Heart,” explained Professor Peeper sadly. “It’s what makes the moon shine down on Earth. But someone has been so busy lately that they forgot to laugh, forgot to dream, forgot to imagine. When people stop using their imaginations, the Moon’s Heart grows dim.”

“Oh no!” said Lulu. “But who stopped imagining?”

All the moon mice looked at each other and shrugged their tiny shoulders.

“We don’t know,” said Professor Peeper. “But if you can make the Moon’s Heart glow bright again, you’ll save the moon’s shine for everyone on Earth.”

Lulu looked at the dim pool of light. She looked at Mr. Trunk. Then she smiled.

“I know exactly what to do,” she said.

Lulu sat down at the edge of the Moon’s Heart and began to tell a story. Not a story she’d heard before—a brand new one, straight from her imagination.

She told the moon mice about a dragon made of rainbows who sneezed bubbles. About a princess who lived in a castle built from singing seashells. About a garden where the flowers told jokes and the trees danced the tango.

As Lulu spoke, the pool of light began to shimmer. The gray parts sparkled. The dull spots glowed.

The moon mice clapped their tiny paws with delight!

“More, more!” they squeaked.

So Lulu imagined even bigger. She told them about Mr. Trunk’s secret life as a superhero elephant who saved the day with his magical peanuts. She made up a song about tap-dancing astronauts. She described a place where bedtimes were made of chocolate and pillows were bouncy like trampolines.

With every word, every silly idea, every fantastic thought, the Moon’s Heart grew brighter and brighter and BRIGHTER until the entire chamber was blazing with beautiful, silvery light.

“You did it!” cheered Professor Peeper, doing a little loop-the-loop in the air. “The moon will shine beautifully tonight!”

All the moon mice gathered around Lulu and thanked her with tiny bouquets of star flowers and a special gift—a small vial of dream dust tied with a ribbon.

“Whenever you need a little extra imagination,” said Professor Peeper, “just sprinkle a tiny pinch before bed.”

Lulu carefully put the vial in her pajama pocket and gave each mouse a gentle pat on the head.

“Will I ever get to come back?” she asked.

“Oh, certainly!” said Professor Peeper. “The door in the moon appears whenever someone truly needs an adventure. Just look for it, and it will find you.”

The moon mice led Lulu back to the golden door. She waved goodbye, stepped through, and found herself on the moonbeam ladder once more. Down, down, down she climbed, until her toes touched the soft carpet of her bedroom floor.

When she looked out the window, the moon was shining more brilliantly than ever before, so bright she could see her shadow in her room.

Lulu climbed into bed with Mr. Trunk and smiled.

“What an adventure,” she whispered, closing her eyes.

And that night, Lulu had the most wonderful dreams—because that’s what happens when you fill the world with imagination.

From then on, whenever Lulu looked up at the moon, she always checked for the tiny golden door. And some nights—just some nights—if she looked very, very carefully, she could see it winking at her, waiting for the next time she needed a little magic.

The End

Sweet dreams, little dreamers. The moon is shining just for you.

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• Fantasy and Magical Stories