The Forbidden Lake : a short story for kids by Alfred

 Once upon a time, in a little Nigerian village called Oguta. There was a lake called, “The forbidden lake”. A Mermaid spirit lived in it and the people of Oguta had to sacrifice one male child to it every 5.00 am of the first day of every month. The lake was the only source of water, so the villagers had to use its water for their daily living, but the Mermaid forbade them from nearing the lake at night. It was rumoured that she came out to the surface of the water at night and danced on the surface of the water to her mystical spirit music.

In Oguta, there was a rambunctious 13 year old called Chukwudi. One day, Chukwudi decided to sneak unnoticed to the forbidden lake at night so that he could record the mermaid dancing on his little camcorder. He estimated the video would be worth thousands of Naira or even more. The video may not be clear since it is night time but recordings under the moonlight have still been known to make money.

As he approached and waited under the cover of the bushes near the lake, with his eyes wide – gazing at the river, he felt a hand tap him on his shoulder. He turned around only to see the mermaid standing over him. She didn’t have a fish’s tail but you could tell she wasn’t human and she lives in water.

The mermaid took Chukwudi as her prisoner. He was left to rot in a room-sized mystical globe at the bottom of the lake.

All hope was lost, no one would be able to save him. Just then he remembered something he had read in the bible. “All authority and power had been given to the name of Jesus.” The name of Jesus is higher than every other name. So Chukwudi rebuked the mermaid in the name of Jesus and the mermaid disappeared. Chukwudi immediately found himself on dry ground – safe and sound.

From then onwards there was not a mermaid to be found in the forbidden lake.

Chukwudi became a hero to the villagers and the people of Oguta lived happily ever after.

THE END