Leprechauns - Blessing or a Curse

Awoken early, my eyes adjust to the darkness. I hate to wake up before the alarm rings, but this feels different as if I was meant to wake up at this precise moment. Scanning the room with eyes barely open, I think I see one of the kids. That is not possible.

Both kids have lived with their mother since that d; looking closer and becoming more awake, I realize that t a three-foot-high kid is looking at me from the foot of the bed. Or am I dreaming?

Tossing a pillow at the image at the foot of the bed, I hope to end this dream and perhaps get back to the goal of being on a tropical island with that actress--no such luck.

"Hey, Laddie, don't you be tossing things at me, especially when I am bearing a gift and am far from being Greek!"

Fully awake, I responded, "How did you get in here? Who are you? Gifts?"

"Let me explain. Tis the 17 of March, and you have been selected to receive one gift from the local LUCK. That would be the Leprechaun United Committee Kampain. We thought giving a few gifts would help us get the community's support. Regarding how I got here, why do people always believe that a 450-pound Santa in a red suit can slide down the fireplace and a 97-pound Leprechaun in green cannot get into a home?"

Staring blankly, I attempt to get to the root of the matter. "So, you're from LUCK and have gifts for me? Why me? I am not even Irish?"

The small man in green checks his clipboard and starts talking once again. "You married one Eileen Coughlin did you not? If so, you are what we call an IBM."

"Yes, Eileen and I were married, but we are now divorced, but I do not work for IBM."

"I did not say you worked for IBM, only that you are classified as IBM, Irish by Marriage. Our records do not indicate divorce, so I guess you are still eligible. Now laddie, let's not get greedy. I said I had a gift for you, not gifts. So, do you accept it or not? I have three more stops tonight and need to be done before daybreak so that I may earn my four-leaf clover."

"Alright, I will accept my free gift."

"Are not all gifts free? At any rate, I have for you the gift of one wish. Let me explain; with this, you can change one decision you made in the past, and your whole life can be affected based on what you changed. I had one gent decide he would change his decision to go to law school and elect to get a business degree as an example."

"How did that work out for him? I asked.

"Well, he got a business degree, became a CPA, and eventually made millions on Wall Street."

"Good for him, so now he is living the high life with tons of money; I think I understand how this works now."

"Not really; it seems he made a lot of that money from insider trading and was convicted. To this date, he swears he did not understand the laws about insider trading; I guess that law degree may have been handy after all. So, what decision do you wish to change?"

"I would say the divorce, but that was Eileen's decision, not mine. I would say change my mind about getting married first, but that would mean I would not have the two kids now."

"Listen, you need to make a change soon; you remember I have three more stops tonight?"

"I could change the decision to enter the military and go straight to college, which should make me a bit better off financially, but then I would not meet Eileen at the USO. Hate to give up some of those memories."

"You are running out of time! Hurry up and make a choice and change a decision!"

"I could change the decision to invest in ENRON and perhaps invest in something more stable like IBM, but then I suspect that would somehow backfire just as it did for that example you gave. In fact, why do I think that any decision changed would somehow backfire?"

"Would we offer you a gift that is more a blessing than a curse? Tis not the gift but how you use it that reveals if it is a blessing or a curse."

"How many of these gifts have you given, and how many have worked out where the recipient was happy with the results?"

"I have given more than a few thousands of these gifts over the many years, but honestly, only three have ended with pure bliss for the individual. Time's up; what shall we change for you, laddie?"

"It can only be one thing, my short friend in green tights! I want to change my decision to accept the gift you offered earlier. If the odds of being better off than before are as small as you indicated, why change anything?"

"Done!" he remarked as he appeared to evaporate into a green mist and float through the heating vents.

An odd start to the day, I think, as I noticed a note in the shape of a four-leaf clover that read:

Congratulations, you are number four! Enjoy life because of your decisions, not despite them, and Laddie, you will be happier than most.

Word count 918