The Flying Trunk

Quick Answer

Why This Story Works for Bedtime

Magical but not frantic: it reads like a gentle journey. The takeaway is calm and parent-friendly—handle opportunities with care.

Story Synopsis

A young man inherits money but wastes it quickly, until he has almost nothing left. Among his belongings he finds an old trunk with a secret: when he climbs inside, it can fly. The trunk carries him to a distant city where a princess lives apart from the world. To reach her, the young man relies on what he has—his voice and his imagination. He tells sparkling stories, and the princess listens, captivated. Soon his tales bring him welcome, attention, and the possibility of a new life. But magic gifts require care. In a careless moment, the flying trunk is left too near a flame and burns. Without it, he cannot return to the princess or to the future he almost built. The story lingers as a gentle reminder: imagination can lift you, but responsibility keeps the miracle alive.

Story Excerpt

There was once a merchant who was so rich that, if he had wanted, he could have paved the whole street with gold—and still had enough left for a little alley besides. But he did not do that. He knew what money was worth, and he used it wisely. Every small coin he spent seemed to come back to him as something bigger. So he grew richer and richer, until at last he died. His son inherited all that wealth. Now, the son had never learned to be careful. He lived a merry, careless life. He went to masquerades night after night. He made kites out of banknotes, and he tossed gold pieces into the sea the way other boys might skip stones. It felt exciting for a moment—splash, splash!—but money does not like to be treated that way. Before long, the great fortune began to melt away. Soon it was gone. At last, the merchant’s son had almost nothing left: only a pair of slippers, an old dressing-gown, and four little shillings. And then something else disappeared too—his friends. They no longer hurried to greet him. They no longer wanted to be seen walking beside him in the street. Still, one friend had a kind heart. That friend sent him an old trunk, with a message that said only: “Pack up!” “Pack up?” the young man said, looking around his empty room. “It is all very well to say ‘pack up’… but what is there to pack?” He stared at the trunk. It was old, scuffed, and plain. He sighed, and because he truly had nothing else, he climbed inside it and sat down. This was no ordinary trunk. The moment he shut the lid and pressed on the lock, the trunk gave a sudden lift—as if it had remembered how to fly. Up it went, straight up the chimney, with the merchant’s son tucked inside, holding his breath. Up, up, into the open sky, and higher still, into the clouds. The wind whistled around the trunk. The young man felt every little creak and crack in the wood.

In One Glance