Dio and Flagon's Challenge
There was a tap at the door. Flagon, in one of her better moods, answered it. She looked around and didn’t see anything, until a small *hurrumph* made her look down at the floor. There stood a little man, dressed entirely in green, with a shamrock in his hat.
“Beggin’ your pardon ma’am, but we wee people have noticed a paucity of Leprechaun stories as of late.”
“I seem to remember something about a fence...,” Flagon recalled.
“Well, yes, but that was only one wee story. The dwarves have gotten several in the same period,” the little man protested.
Flagon shrugged. “Well I suppose I can help out, especially this time of year. Let’s see if anybody has a leprechaun story to tell for St. Patrick’s day. Any form will do, prose or poem, as long as it is about leprechauns”
“And no dwarves!” said the little man.
“What, you don’t want to share top billing?”
“OK, so you can include dwarves if you like.”
“Deal,” said Flagon.
-------------
Write a story or poem with leprechauns as the main characters. You may include any number of types of other characters as you wish.
„Put me down“
„Ow, what was that“
“I hit you with me shillelagh.”
and Tabby the cat dropped the object she had picked up in her mouth from behind a stone and was busy wiping her nose, still wincing with pain from the shillelagh attack.
“Who are you, I thought you was a green mouse”
“Well, now I have been called a few things, but do I look like a mouse? I am Noel O’Murphy, chief of the garden leprechauns. Our parade will be coming through here and I was just checking the route. You will have to disappear. Can’t have a cat hanging around, now can we.”
“But this is my territory and I have no intention of disappearing. What do leprechauns do?”
“Don’t ask silly questions cat, I could just as well ask what do cats do?”
“Well that’s easy. We catch mice and eat them. We sleep and like to chase things in the garden that keep moving. That’s why I caught you.”
“Well we leprechauns organise things and of course we look after the money.”
“I thought the gnomes did that.”
“Well they havn’t done a good job of it up to now, we keep our money safe from the humans because that’s where the trouble starts.”
“Cats don’t have money so that’s no problem. Do you do anything else?”
“We make shoes – interested?”
“Leprechaun have you ever seen a cat wearing shoes?”
“Well there was one in London many years ago, he became prime minister.”
“That’s an old fairy tale, and it is not true.”
“Of course it’s true, the leprechauns made the boots.”
“Well I have never seen a cat wearing boots.”
“Well cat, just look at your feet now”
There was a flash and Tabby looked down.
“Where did they come from – I have shoes the same as yours on my back paws.”
“Do you believe me now cat.”
“Ok, ok, but I can’t walk round in those shoes.”
“Well just stand up on your back legs, like this”
and there was another flash and Tabby was standing.
“Hey leprechaun, Noel O’Murphy, or whatever, cats do not stand up on their back legs and walk around.”
“Well you are now, and I like what I see. My grandfather Paddy O’Wellington would be proud of me and now for the final touch.”
Before Tabby could say “The top of the morning to you” she was dressed in green short trousers, a green jacket tied with a black belt and had a very high hat perched between her ears.
“Something is missing Tabby” said the leprechaun “I know” and Tabby’s fur turned red.
“Oh no, now I look like the cat next door. I hate ginger cats.”
“Don’t worry Tabby, the cat next door cannot see you. As a matter of fact you are the only cat here that can see us, even the humans don’t see us. Tabby you caught me and that is why you know where we are. The magic only lasts as long as we have our parade, so now come with me.”
Now if the humans and the cats had believed in leprechauns on that 17 March they might have seen something quite amazing marching through the gardens of that tiny village somewhere in Ireland.
The procession was lead by a leprechaun who seemed to be the chief and he was followed by a red tabby cat walking upright dressed in green and black with his buckled shoes and belt and high hat between his ears.
“Tabby, Tabby time for your favourite: tuna fish.”
“Did I hear tuna fish” thought Tabby, and she awoke from her sleep and rushed into the kitchen where her human had put out the food. On the way she glanced at the reflection in the window, but was relieved to see that she was her normal colour. “Must have been dreaming” she thought.
United Friends Challenge #127: The Cat and the Leprechaun
No comments:
Post a Comment