Wishes and Friends

         “Mom, I’ll be out in the backyard.” Johnny Breuss paused, but when no one answered, he pushed the screen door and ran out. His yard wasn’t big and it bordered by the big forest. To the left was the garage where his dad’s tools were stored. Along the right fence was the family garden. It looked very messy with vegetables and flowers all bunched together. Along the back of them was a straight line of rose bushes. These were Mom’s birthday and Mother’s day plants. They took up most of the garden and were hard to control, so the Breuss family let them stay wild. Johnny suddenly noticed movement in the midst of those bushes. Something was thrashing and screaming.

          “Help!” Again, Johnny paused. Did he just hear a voice in the bushes? Roses couldn’t talk. He went over to the garden and pulled back the tomato plants. There was a little man, dressed all in different shades of green, dangling from a rose limb. His hair was bright red and tangled among the thorny branches. The little man was waving his tiny fists over his head and kicking wildly with his little black shoes. It was a leprechaun. The kind in Johnny’s fairytale books. The leprechaun looked so funny, hanging from that thorn, but Johnny did not laugh. Instead, he went back to his father’s garage for his mother’s pruning clippers and a large cardboard box. When he came back, the man wasn’t kicking so much and his face was very red. Johnny pushed the vegetable plants aside to get a better look. The leprechaun’s eyes were closed and he looked so tired. Johnny quickly put the box under the man for support and snipped the branches around the little man’s hair. The leprechaun woke up quickly and tried to push the clippers away, but he stopped and saw that Johnny was helping him. Soon the tiny man was able to step away from the bushes. He looked at Johnny for a long time before smiling.

          “Now that was kind of ya. Could you be a good fellow and help me get this twigs out? They make me itch like crazy.” The man’s eyes were deep green like his clothes. He stood still while Johnny unraveled the tangles. The hair took time but soon the leprechaun was free.

          “Are you all right?” asked Johnny, bending his head down more to get a closer look.

          “Aye, Lad.” The little man shook off the dust from his jacket and light green shirt. He looked up at the sky and shook his tiny fist. Then he looked at the boy. “Never trust Jays, boy,” he warned Johnny. “They’re always picking fights with other birds. Dropped me, he did.”

         “Wow, a real Leprechaun! Is it true you grant wishes?”

          “Hold on, Lad. Give old Darby a break now.” The leprechaun sat himself down on the box. “Aye, I grant wishes. Three in fact,” Darby yawned. “But I’m not ready to grant wishes right now, boy. I’m very tired.”

          “Oh, just one wish, please. I always wanted a baby dragon. You know, something I could take care of?” Johnny looked at the leprechaun with pleading eyes.

          “And what in blarney would you do with it? It’s not like it’s commonplace, ya know. Sure you want to take care of one? They’re real tricky.”

         Johnny nodded vigorously. He had thought about it. It was something he always wanted. Darby thought for a moment, but sighed.

          “If I could, I would laddy. That’s just not something I can do right now. How about we go to number two and I promise I’ll give you a baby dragon when I can, all right?”

         Johnny frowned. He really wanted that dragon. But if the man promised?

          “Well, I can’t think of anything else I could wish for...” He pondered this for a moment. "What about this? I wish you would be my friend. That’s easy.” Johnny smiled. Now that would be so cool.

         The little man thought it over. “Well, you got manners, and you’re good in a pinch. I’d say granted. I’ll be your friend. That doesn’t mean you get any more wishes out of me. Agreed, Lad?”

          “Agreed,” replied Johnny. “My name is Johnny. And yours must be Darby.”

          “Mr. O’Gillan to you boy, but aye.” Mr. O’Gillan smiled and stretched his legs. “Please to meet ya. I’m going to pop off for a while, sleep that is, and I would like to find some place to sleep, preferably out of the night air. Got anywhere I can hide in for a while?”

         Johnny nodded and showed Darby to the garage. Since his father never parked the car there, it had become the storage area for the family. Johnny found a quiet corner and arranged the boxes so no one could notice there was space there. Darby could walk in and out with no problem. Johnny then pulled out some old blankets and made a sort of tent with bedding.

          “Grand, Johnny, just grand. Now I can sleep like a babe tonight.”

         A voice came out of the back door. It was Johnny’s mother and she was calling him to dinner. Mr. O’Gillan smiled at his young friend.

         Johnny rubbed the back at his neck, then shrugged. “I have to eat dinner now. Do you want me to get you anything?”

         Mr. O’Gillan shook his head. “No thanks. I’ve got something to tide me over. Maybe breakfast tomorrow, if you don’t mind?

          “Sure. I’ll come back tomorrow before school. Will that be all right?”

          “Yes, Johnny.” The little man smiled as he settled down on his bed. “We’ll have some grand adventures...tomorrow.” With that, he fell asleep.

         Johnny rushed into his house all excited. He sat down at the table and started to eat his dinner with a smirk on his face. His mother asked him what was up but he only said that he met a new friend while playing. After a few more spoonfuls went into his mouth, Johnny excused himself from the table and ran up the stairs to his room. He couldn’t wait for morning to come.

         The next morning, Johnny insisted on making his own lunch. He made double everything and put the second set in a separate back. Then he ran out the back door to the garage. Inside he called, “Mr. O’Gillan?”

          “Here, now. What did you bring, Lad?” Johnny jumped back and looked about his feet. Darby stood by his sneakers. Johnny hand his friend the large paper bag and told him what was in it. Darby nodded and smiled, though he sniffed at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a minute. The leprechaun settled down in his little tent and started to eat, but not before he said, “Don’t you be skipping school on me, now. Run along. I’ll be here when you come home.”

         Johnny sighed, but nodded in agreement. He walked out of the garage off to the school bus.

         Darby smiled to himself and enjoyed his American food. “There’s a good lad,” he said to himself while thinking what he would do next. It had been a long journey from Ireland. Quite a few days travel, if birds carried you. Yes, Darby was far from home, but he had his reasons. Got to find what he was looking for and go back home. Now, he had someone to help him, and that someone was a real friend.

         The day passed and Johnny came running into his house, very excited. It was Friday, so he didn’t have to work on his homework right now. He dropped his books in his room and went out to the garage.

          “Here, Laddy.” The little man stepped out from behind a stack of boxes. “Now, are you ready for some adventure?”

          “Yeah.” Johnny sat down on his old wagon. “So, what do we do now.”

          “Well.” Darby motioned him to lean down closer. “I tell you a little secret. He looked around and whispered, “We’ll be looking for a clover, now.”

          “A clover?” Johnny grumbled. “That’s all? There’s a whole bunch of them in our back yard!”

         Darby made a face and hushed Johnny. “Shhh, Don’t you be telling the whole world now.” When Johnny stopped huffing, Darby continued, “This is no ordinary clover. It’s made of pure gold. With jewels covering every inch. It’s me treasure, boy!”

         Johnny’s eyes went wide. “Treasure? Where?”

         With a brief glimpse around, the little man pointed towards the back of the yard. “There, in them woods surrounding ya home. I tracked the thief there, I did. Now boy, listen up. A rotten troll stole my treasure while I was napping in my cave. He’s just about your size. I followed him all the way to here. He’s hiding in the woods by a river.”

          “How do you know?” Johnny looked towards the window in the back. It was in shadow from the huge trees. He never thought there were magic creatures in his own neighborhood.

         The leprechaun sighed, tapping his walking stick on the ground. “Because that’s what Trolls do. They always hide by rivers, especially under bridges. Now it’s up to us to get the treasure back from that troll.”

         Johnny looked over his should at the back door. Mom was out on errands and his dad wouldn’t be back till dinner. “OK, but I have to get back before dark, or Mom will ground me for a month.”

          “Agreed. Now, lets go.”

          “Wait.” Johnny scooped up his friend and carried Darby to his dad’s workbench.

          “What do I look like? A rag doll. Hold up.” The Leprechaun scrabbled out of Johnny’s hands and on to the table.

          “We might need a few things,” said Johnny. He jumped up and grabbed an old nap-sack. After pulling it open, Johnny stuffed a flashlight and a coil of rope inside.

          “Good thinking laddy, and now some soap.” Darby picked up a huge bar from the corner sink. “Trolls hate soap. They like staying as dirty as possible.” He dragged it over to the bag and Johnny zipped it up.

          “Let’s go,” said Johnny as he put the pack on. Darby climbed onto his shoulder. “Watch out Troll. Here we come!” As they made their way through the woods, Darby told Johnny what the jeweled clover was for. It was the source of all a Leprechaun’s magical power. That was the reason he could not grant Johnny’s first wish. The magic clover made anyone’s wish come true. It was up to the holder to decide how the wish was fulfilled. Darby talked about how some of his relatives would trick the wisher by giving them their wish, only not exactly how they wanted that wish done. Johnny laughed.

          “So that’s what my mom means when she says, ‘be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.’ How many wishes does the Troll get.”

          “That’s the problem, Johnny. The holder of the clover can get unlimited wishes.” Darby held onto Johnny’s shirt to keep his balance on the boy’s shoulder.

          “Really? Then why does the stories say that you can only get three?”

          “Faith and Begora!” cried Darby. “Now that would be a terrible sight. The only way to have all those wishes is to hold on to the Leprechaun for as long as it took to grant every wish. If someone had caught me, do you think he let me go if he had unlimited wishes? I’d say not. That’s why we narrow it down to three. Not too many, yet enough to keep a man happy. That way we aren’t slaves to greedy wish makers.”

         Johnny thought for a minute as he turned by a large oak tree. “I see your point.” After a while he asked, “What would a troll want with a magic clover, anyway.”

         The Leprechaun sighed, “Aye, I don’t know. You would expect that he took it from me just to be spiteful, now would he...”

         Darby didn’t say much more, because there was the river and a log bridge over it. Under the old timbers sat a little hut, made out of slimy twigs and barely visible in the shadows. A big pot in front was bubbling. It smelled awful to Johnny. The little boy crept along the riverbank, making sure he didn’t step on a twig or something else that would make a sound. Soon they were by the hut. Darby jumped down and carefully walked to the front entrance. Then Johnny saw him walk back.

          “He’s gone,” said Darby in a hush tone. “I’ll bet ya he’s out looking for some dead meat to put into his stew. We have to hurry.” Johnny nodded and they split up. Johnny looked inside the hut with his flashlight while Darby searched around the outside. The smell inside the Troll’s home was worse than the pot, like slim and fungus growing. Looking through the dirty blankets and wooden boxes, Johnny’s search came up empty. He walked out of the hut and quietly called out to Darby. The Leprechaun trotted over and shook his head.

          “Nay, I haven’t found a hint of my treasure. How bout you?” Johnny shook his head. “Well, now. This is a cat stuck in a tree, isn’t it.”

         As Darby grumbled and looked out to the river, Johnny shook his head again. Darby’s comment struck him at an odd thought and slowly, he looked up.

          “Darby. Look up there. See that?” Johnny pointed up to the tree and as Darby looked, they both could see a small sack tied to a tall tree’s limb. The tree was off the shoreline and covered with thorny vines. The height of the limb was five times the height of Johnny, so just reaching was out of the question.

          “Well, by the Banshee’s wail, I’ll be struck deaf and dumb. You found it Laddy.”

         They both decided that Johnny should climb the tree and get the treasure, while Darby looked out for the troll. Throwing the rope over the limb, then making a slipknot, Johnny tugged on his line and climbed up. As he got to the top of the rope, he pulled himself onto the branch and over to the bundle. Johnny then opened the sack and pulled out a large four-leaf clover. It barely fit in his hand and was made of pure gold. There were all types of jewels covering it, and it seemed to glow in the sun. He quickly put it back into the sack and tried to fiddle with the knot. A whistle from Darby below made Johnny look down. He saw the something running over the bridge, towards them. It was covered in hair that was knotted and dirty. There was a pair of black feet and hands with claws digging into the old log wood as it raced across and a pair of burning red eyes, like a set of deep red marbles with light shining through them. Johnny quickly opened his backpack, but felt his hands shaking in fear when he heard Darby shouting. The troll had spotted the Leprechaun and had trapped him by the black pot.

          “Leprechaun. Good. Dinner, for me, good.”

         The little man shook his stick at the huge beast. “Don’t you be getting any ideas, troll. I’m not going to be anyone’s dinner, you hear.” The words were useless as the troll scooped up Darby and was about to eat him, whole. Johnny jumped down from the tree. The troll, startled, turned around and saw a tall young boy. He looked up, only to see that his sack was still there, full.

          “Stupid human. Go away.” The troll shook his fist at Johnny.

          “I have something very good to eat,” coax Johnny. “Here’s something that’s better than a smelly old Leprechaun.” He took out the bar of soap and waved at him. “Look. Fat!” He smiled, as the troll’s eyes grew wide. It took a couple of steps towards Johnny, but he raised his arm high. “Uh, uh. Don’t come any closer or I’ll throw it into the river.”

         The gullible troll dropped Darby in fear of losing his dinner in the water. The Leprechaun ran as fast as he could towards Johnny. The troll whined, “Give it to me!”

          “Sure, ugly.” Johnny then threw the soap into the black pot. The troll jumped after it, dunking his head into the pot and getting stuck. Soapsuds foamed around the beast’s body as it wailed. Darby and Johnny laughed as they headed out of the woods. When Johnny came back to his own back yard, Darby gave a cry.

          “Oh, nuts. We forgot my treasure! It’s still hanging in that tree.”

         Johnny smiled and put Darby down. He then opened his bag and took out Darby’s lost treasure. “I took it out of the bag when I couldn’t undo the knot. The troll’s only going to find some nuts in his.”

         Darby’s eyes twinkled as he held his treasure in his hands. It didn’t look too big for Darby, but actually shrunk to fit the Leprechaun’s hands. “Aye, Laddy. I knew you were a good kid. Great job!” He laughed a little and then looked up at Johnny. “This is where I say me good-byes, Lad. Time to go home. Now, what would you be having for your third wish?”

         Johnny sighed. “Just come back to visit once and awhile.”

         Darby nodded. “Will do, Johnny boy. Will do.” He rubbed over the surface of the jewel and started to rise into the air. Soon he became a speck in the clouds, and Johnny started to head inside. Suddenly he remembered something and shouted up at the clouds, “Wait! Darby! Where’s my first wish?”

         The words echoed in the sunlight. He shrugged and opened the screen door.

         Maybe Darby had to bring the dragon from Ireland? Or maybe he just forgot too. Feeling very disappointed, Johnny pushed his bedroom door open. Just as he was about to grab his school bag, he noticed something.

         There was an egg in a nest of golden twigs, sitting on his desk. Johnny came closer, wondering what kind of egg was it. Next to the egg, Johnny found a note.


Dear Johnny,

         I haven’t forgotten your first wish. Just take care of the little darl’n for a while. I’ll come back and fetch him when you can’t handle the little critter anymore. And for heaven’s sakes, don’t start feeding him burgers or fries!

                             Your friend always,
                             Darby

         Johnny looked back at the egg and started to laugh. He got just want he wanted!