Once upon a time, in a small, poor city in Ireland, there lived a boisterous and foolish, yet modest and shy young man of seventeen, by the name of Arlen Coyle Anderson, who, in his family of a mother, a father, and nine children, was one of the five old enough to help harvest the years' potato crop. One day, while out in the fields, he encountered a leprechaun making it's way down the rows of plants, dragging a heavy-looking pot of gold behind him. 1
When the leprechaun realized that he had been spotted, he jumped with a start and began running the opposite way, his squat little legs scrambling beneath him, trying to put as much distance between himself and Arlen as quickly as possible. But, alas, young and fit Arlen was too fast for the poor leprechaun, and the leprechaun's heavy pot of gold was too much for his small fingers, and Arlen caught the faerie without any trouble. Soon he had the creature pinned down on his back. 2
“Look over there!” Said the leprechaun as he struggled, pointing behind Arlen's head. Arlen scowled. 3
“Foolish creature!” He spat. “I know everything there is to know of you mischievous creatures- you cannot escape now, but the moment my gaze is withdrawn, you shall vanish!” Defeated, the leprechaun ceased his struggling and lay limp on the ground. 4
“I will let you go, shall you promise not to run away.” Arlen told the leprechaun. After he agreed, Arlen let go and the leprechaun stood up, dusting himself off. 5
“What is it you want?” The leprechaun asked, peeved. 6
“Well, your gold, of course,” stated Arlen, “Is that not what is promised when a man catches a leprechaun? But first, I would like to inquire why it is that you happen to carry it with you. Is it not supposed to be hidden someplace where I cannot find it?” The leprechaun's face sagged in deep distress and his eyebrows furrowed. 7
“Indeed,” he replied. “But someone discovered the location of my former hiding place, and I fear I have been robbed! This is the only gold I have left. I was going to bury it under one of these plants when you caught me. Please, kind sir, this really is the only gold I have left! Would you be so gracious as to ask for another offer?” 8
Arlen considered this for a moment. Another offer? What kind of offer could the leprechaun give, besides his gold? 9
“Dear leprechaun, what could you give me besides your gold that I would benefit from just as much? I come from a poor family with nine children, and we need the money dearly.” 10
“I can grant your greatest wish!” The leprechaun claimed. He gestured to a small leather pouch hanging from his waist. “This is my bag of tricks,” he said, “It has enough magic in it to grant one wish, should you desire it.” Arlen, again, considered this. One wish? Whatever was there to wish for? Money ran out- fame grew old and dull- but then... there was always that one wish. That one foolish wish that he had had since childhood. 11
“Dear leprechaun, I would like to have the power to stop and start time. It has always fascinated me... and I assume it would help with a great many things. Could you grant me that wish?”12
“Hmm...” pondered the leprechaun. “That is a great wish. I will need something in return,” he lied. Arlen looked startled. 13
“What have I to give you in return, besides potatoes?” He asked. “I am but a poor farm boy.” The leprechaun stroked his beard, falsely pondering what to ask for. 14
“I suppose that some of your life span would suffice,” He said, “I think that half would do.” Arlen looked incredulous. 15
“Half of my life span!” He cried. “If I should live to be fifty, I shall die in eight years!” The leprechaun shook his head. “Wrong! If you stop time, you shall live as long as you like, as long as you keep it stopped!” Arlen shook his head thoughtfully. 16
“You have a point, leprechaun,” said Arlen. “It's a deal.” The leprechaun looked unsure for a moment.17
“Well...” he said. “I think I deserve an extra token for telling you the loophole in the deal.” Arlen rolled his eyes. “What a selfish creature you are!” He teased. “What else is there to ask for?” The leprechaun smiled ruefully. “I would like, in addition to yours, half of the lifespan of the eldest child for all the generations of your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren that there is to come.” Arlen almost laughed. 18
“Dear leprechaun, I know what tricksters your folk are, so I shall ask for something in return to that- I will let you take half of the lifespans of my future family if they are also gifted with the power of time- it shall be passed down to the eldest child, shall the possessor of the power die, and the half of their lifespan shall only be taken the moment they receive the power.” 19
“What a complicated deal!” Bellowed the leprechaun, “But a fair one nonetheless. I shall grant you your wish.” 20
“Wait! One more thing,” said Arlen. “I would like you to create an antidote- just one antidote- so that if the drinker of the antidote possesses the power of time, they shall regain the half of their life that they lost- I do not plan on drinking it, but in the case of an emergency I would like my future kin to be prepared with something, just in case.” The leprechaun sighed. 21
“Fine, he said. “Is there anything else you would like to add? I am in quite a hurry.” 22
“There is nothing,” replied Arlen, so the leprechaun took the magic out of his little pouch of tricks and granted Arlen's wish. 23
The leprechaun placed a small bottle of clear, glittering fluid into Arlen's hand. “Here is the antidote,” he said. “Keep it safe.” 24
At just that moment, Arlen heard his mother calling for him at the top of her lungs from the door to come back from the field and eat supper. 25
“I cannot bring this in with me, or my family will inquire of it,” said Arlen. He pulled a red ribbon, which belonged to his betrothed, out of his pocket, tying it around the stem of the potato plant to his left. He quickly buried the antidote eight inches or so beneath the plant. 26
“Dear leprechaun,” he said, “I have tied this ribbon around the plant so that I may come back later and retrieve the antidote. You must promise that you will not remove the ribbon. Leprechauns cannot break their promises.” The leprechaun promised and promised until Arlen was satisfied, and then Arlen went inside for dinner. 27
Later that night, when Arlen snuck outside to retrieve his antidote, he found that the leprechaun must have had enough magic left for one more trick- he had kept his promise and had not removed the ribbon from the plant, but, instead, had tied an additional red ribbon around every single potato plant in the entire field. The antidote was lost.
Author notes
xD I think it's cute.
A contest entry
- Myths And Legends by Peachy.
600 points, ended December 13, 2008, 16 entries
Honorable mention
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
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What a clever leprechaun!
Was this a myth or legend or one that you made up. I can't tell!
This was really good and I loved the little twist at the end!
Thanks for entering and good luck!
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Squeeeee.
I luff it.
You had one apostrophe error in the first paragraph with an its, but that's it.
I love this.
Soooooo cute!
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