How Noctura Regained Its Light

Noctura is a land that many people have never heard of, and indeed, a place that few people would ever wish to visit. The land has not seen the light of day for centuries and all of its inhabitants go about their business in a serious, sorrowful, pitiful manner. It is a place that not only lacks light, but is also devoid of smiles, laughter, and humor. Quite frankly, it is one of the sorriest places I have ever visited.

I only know about Noctura because my good friend Finn is from there. Finn is not at all like the inhabitants of Noctura; his contagious smile and warm personality are enough to brighten any room. He calls himself an inventor, though he has yet to invent something that will cause him to be worthy of such a title. He insists that the people of Noctura have misplaced the key to light and that he must invent something to help them find it again. I beg him to be reasonable and move down to Spain with me. If he wants to look for keys, then he’ll have a full-time job at my house as I misplace my keys on the regular.

Nevertheless, despite my pleas to do otherwise, Finn worked tirelessly to invent a “key” that will restore light to Noctura. “That’ll do it,” muttered Finn gruffly. “I hope this thing works.” He had been working for twelve hours straight and was frustrated with his invention, so he wasn’t in his usual optimistic frame of mind. “I’m behind schedule and haven’t slept in days, this thing better work,” he added with a scowl as he pressed the start button on his invention. The machine started to whirl, then stopped suddenly, displaying the words “Error. Please smile” on the screen. “Ugh, another glitch. I don’t have time for this,” said Finn, exasperated. He buried his head in his hands then abruptly picked up his machine and packed it away in a box. As he made his way back into the house from his workshop, his frustration kept him from noticing that the sky had grown even darker than usual.

The following days were some of the darkest and gloomiest ones that Noctura had ever had. Finn, who was usually the happiest citizen in the nation, dejectedly sulked about his house for days on end, until one dark evening he just couldn’t get to sleep and decided to go have another look at his invention. “Can’t hurt to have another look at it,” said Finn to himself as he lit a small candle and made his way out to his workshop. The darkness was so heavy that it could be felt. This was a new phenomenon for Noctura and it had proved to be one that was quite complicated as it was difficult to keep candles and fires going when darkness is so heavy that it can be felt. Finn had to relight his small candle eight times on his short walk to his workshop, due to the heavy darkness putting it out.

Finn was surprised to find that inside his workshop the darkness was not quite as heavy, so his small candle didn’t go out and he was able to light a lantern to examine his invention. He pressed the button. “Yup, just the same as before,” he sighed as he looked at his contraption and wondered how he could get it to work. He so desperately wanted to free his people from the choking darkness in which they were engulfed. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his reflection in the mirror. He had not been able to look into a mirror for days, as during the last couple weeks it had been hard enough to keep lanterns and candles lit long enough to get necessary work done. There had certainly been no time to keep one lit long enough to vainly admire oneself in front of a mirror, but today was different. He saw himself clearly for the first time in weeks and immediately laughed at his sorry sight — his hair was going every which way and his face looked like it hadn’t been washed in a month. Suddenly the machine began to hum and his surroundings got a little brighter. His machine had worked! He had to show it to the rest of the people in the town.

“Everybody, come quick, I’ve created a machine that will bring light to all of Noctura,” said Finn laughing and smiling as he called the people to assemble in the square. Finn could hardly see the town’s people gathering as they couldn’t manage to keep their lanterns or candles lit for more than a minute at a time, but he could hear their loud complaining. “What is this business about ‘bringing light to all of Noctura’? There hasn’t been light here for centuries,” stated one person grumpily. “Yeah, and what are you laughing about? Don’t you know that laughing and smiling is forbidden on the streets of Noctura?” complained another. After much commotion, the people were able to get the president on the phone, who confirmed that Finn was in violation of Ordinance no. 404 — No person, foreign or native-born, shall laugh or smile on any of the streets in the nation of Noctura. The people were discussing how Finn should be punished when a little girl crept curiously up to the machine. Up close she could see Finn’s invention well because his candle, unlike the candles of the other people from the town, didn’t go out every 60 seconds. Her appearance was solemn; she wore a black dress, and there wasn’t a hint of joy in her dark, brown eyes. It must be noted that this was hardly the girl’s fault as parents in Noctura had the custom of teaching their children to be solemn, quiet, and not to smile from infancy. Despite her unhappy appearance, Finn could still notice the gleam of curiosity in her eyes and motioned that she could look at the machine if she wanted. She cautiously stepped forward and pressed a button, suddenly the machine made a sound that was so hilarious to the girl that, despite her upbringing, she couldn’t resist smiling and laughing out loud. Suddenly the world got a bit brighter, the candles of everyone standing in the square stopped going out every 60 seconds and the darkness felt a bit less heavy.

Finn realized that the girl’s smile and laughter had produced more light than his own, and he quickly called out to all the children in the square. Despite their parents’ warnings to stay put, the children all raced over to examine the curious machine. They pressed the buttons and soon every child in the square was smiling and laughing happily. All around them, the darkness began to recede and the sun came out for the first time in centuries to light up the land of Noctura.

The adults of the town stopped talking about the best punishment for Finn and started looking at each other. It was the first time they had really seen each other clearly. They were overjoyed as they smiled and laughed happily. From that day on the people of Noctura and their children have never stopped smiling as they live in their beautiful country full of happiness and light.

Today Noctura is a land that I hope to visit again soon. I have been told that everybody smiles all of the time and children, who were once forbidden to play, laugh, and smile, can now be seen happily playing with their friends in all of the parks of the once-dark nation. I asked Finn if the nation would change its name from Noctura, which represents darkness, to something that better represents the now light-filled nation. “No,” said Finn with a smile. “Our people have talked it over. We want to keep our original name. We want our people to remember the dark past of our nation for generations to come. We will always remember that it is the smile and laughter of our children that brought and continues to bring light to our country.”