🎭 Luna, Max and Nico - at Nerja Carnival 🎭
Once upon a breezy February afternoon in Nerja, Luna, Max, and Nico the dog stood in front of a shop window full of glitter, ribbons, and masks.
On the glass, a colourful poster announced:
CARNAVAL DE NERJA!
Max pressed his nose to the window. “Carnival is basically a holiday where you’re allowed to be anyone you want.”
Nico wagged his tail as if to say, I will be a pirate. Or a sausage. Or both.
Luna pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket. It wasn’t Granny’s treasure map this time. It was a note, written in her neat handwriting:
“Carnival Mission:
Find the three secrets of Carnaval in Nerja.
One is hidden in a mask.
One is hidden in a song.
And one is hidden in a smile.”
Max gasped. “A mission!”
They hurried to Plaza de España, where the town was already waking up in carnival colours. Bunting fluttered between balconies. Someone was testing a microphone. A group of children ran past wearing capes and face paint, and Nico tried to chase a feather that escaped from someone’s hat.
“First we need costumes,” Luna said. “But we’re doing this the Nerja way.”
“The Nerja way is… dramatic,” Max decided.
They headed home to create their outfits from whatever they could find. Luna chose a moon-and-stars mask because it matched her name. She glued tiny silver paper stars onto it and tied it with a ribbon.
Max became a Carnival Merchant, wearing a striped scarf and a little pouch of pretend “treasures” for trading: shiny buttons, seashells, and a single chocolate coin.
And Nico?
Nico wore a soft blue bandana and a tiny paper crown that said REY DEL CARNAVAL. He looked extremely proud.
Back in the plaza, music started to roll through the streets like a wave. A parade was forming, and Luna noticed something important.
Carnival wasn’t only costumes.
It was people.
Grandparents clapping. Babies bouncing. Teenagers laughing. Neighbours waving from cafés. Even the palm trees seemed to sway to the rhythm.
They walked through the crowd and listened closely.
Somewhere nearby, a group began to sing together. It wasn’t a pop song. It was playful, cheeky, and full of funny lines. The crowd laughed at the punchlines, and even though Luna didn’t catch every word, she could feel the joy in it.
“That must be secret number two,” Luna whispered. “The secret hidden in a song.”
Max nodded seriously. “Carnival songs are like jokes you sing.”
Nico barked once, right on beat, and a woman in a bright wig laughed and patted his head. “¡Qué bonito!”
Luna looked down at her note. One secret in a mask. One in a song. One in a smile.
They still needed the first secret.
They drifted toward a stall where someone was selling paper masks: cats, pirates, princesses, monsters, and sparkly stars. Luna picked up a simple white mask and held it up to her face.
At that exact moment, a gust of wind lifted the mask slightly and she saw something written on the inside in tiny letters:
“Be brave enough to be silly.”
Luna blinked. Then she grinned.
“A hidden message!” she said. “Secret number one was inside the mask!”
Max leaned in. “That is… excellent advice.”
Nico sneezed glitter. Not on purpose, but it looked impressive anyway.
They were just about to celebrate completing the mission when they heard a sudden whoooooosh of excitement.
A group of children had started a spontaneous dance circle. Parents joined in. Someone twirled a scarf like a ribbon. A man did an outrageous wiggle that made everyone howl with laughter. Even a serious-looking dog in a superhero cape did a tiny hop.
Max turned to Luna. “We’re missing the last secret.”
Luna looked around. At first she didn’t see it. Then she noticed something small.
A little girl in a bee costume had dropped her mask on the ground. She looked panicked. Her eyes filled with tears.
Nico was the first to react. He trotted over, gently picked up the mask by the edge, and carried it back like a professional rescue dog. He placed it right in the girl’s hands and sat down politely.
The girl’s face changed in one second. Tears vanished. A huge smile appeared.
“Gracias,” she whispered, then giggled and ran back to the dance circle.
Luna felt her chest warm. “That’s it,” she said softly. “The third secret is hidden in a smile.”
Max nodded. “Carnival isn’t just dressing up. It’s helping people feel part of the fun.”
Luna unfolded Granny’s note again, and right at the bottom she noticed one more line, almost like a whisper:
“When you bring joy to someone else, you become part of Nerja’s story.”
That evening, as the lights began to glow over the plaza, the three friends sat on a low wall and shared snacks from their beach bag, watching the last of the parade pass by.
Max jingled his pouch of pretend treasures. “I traded one button for a joke, two shells for a dance, and one chocolate coin for a smile.”
Luna tucked her star mask carefully into her bag. “And we completed the Carnival Mission.”
Nico lay down with his little crown slightly crooked, looking like the happiest Rey del Carnaval in the whole of Nerja.
And from that day on, whenever February came around and music filled the streets, Luna, Max, and Nico remembered the three secrets of Nerja’s Carnival:
A message hidden in a mask.
A joke hidden in a song.
And a treasure hidden in a smile.
Mindful Mini-Lesson:
Next time you’re at Carnival and everything feels loud and busy, remember Luna’s three secrets: look inside, listen close, and be kind. If you feel shy or wobbly, take one slow breath and say: “I can be brave enough to be silly, and I can help someone smile.”
The Adventures of Luna, Max & Nico is a Nerja Amigos original series. All related frameworks, visuals and templates are proprietary intellectual property of Nerja Amigos / Niina Strobel. Please do not copy, reproduce, or use without permission. © 2026 All rights reserved.