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Midge and the Pot Of Gold
(A Children??™s Story)
Early one spring morning Midge and Glen were sitting
underneath an old wagon playing ???make believe.??? Midge
had her doll that Grandma Rosa had made from an old
sock and Glen was busy positioning some old boards in
a square to keep his pet frog, Jimmy, from hopping
away. ???Move over, Midge!??? Glen ordered her to make
room for one more board. About that time big
raindrops began to pelt the wagon and they saw Grandma
running in from the garden with her apron full of
garden seeds. She smiled as she saw the children
under the wagon and since it was still a good distance
to the house, Grandma got down on her knees and
crawled under the wagon with Midge and Glen. Midge
began to giggle because she thought Grandma was too
big to get under the wagon but she did it anyway.
???Well,
it looks like it won??™t rain for long,??? announced
Grandma cheerfully, looking toward the sky and then
she frowned when she saw Jimmy
???Now
Glen, put that frog back in the bucket right now!???
???Why?
Grandma, he likes the rain.??? Glen said.
???Yes, I
know but I??™m not overly fond of frogs and besides
he??™ll get away from you???
Glen
reluctantly obeyed and just about that time the little
shower was letting up and the sun was beginning to
peek out from behind the dark clouds.
???Oh
Grandma, look at the pretty colors in the sky!??? Midge
exclaimed.
Grandma
turned to look and said, ???Oh what a beautiful
rainbow!???
???What is
it, where did it come from???? asked Midge who had never
seen a rainbow before.
Glen
looked at Midge and sighed saying, ???It??™s called a
rainbow. Everybody knows that rainbows happen because
of Leprechauns.???
Grandma
began to laugh saying, ???Grandpa has been telling you
stories again!???
???Tell
me, tell me too!??? pleaded Midge.
???Well,
Midge,??? Grandma began her story, ??? Grandpa likes to
tell stories about the land where his family used to
live. It is a place way across the ocean called
Ireland, and there are many stories about the Little
People.???
???Little
People???? Midge questioned.
???Yes,
they say that many years ago in old Ireland there
lived the Little People, or Leprechauns. They say
they are very tiny, less than two foot tall! They
hide from us because they think that humans are greedy
and foolish. Leprechauns look like little old men and
they dress like shoe cobblers. They wear
old-fashioned green clothes, a cocked hat, a cobbler??™s
apron, and buckled shoes. They make shoes for
themselves and all the other Little People. The
Leprechauns are always busy and have to make a lot of
shoes because they love to dance so much that they
wear their shoes out very quickly. Grandma
whispered, ???If you listen carefully, sometimes you can
hear the tap-tap-tap of their tiny little hammers in
the forest.???
???Are
there Leprechauns in Oklahoma, Grandma? Are there
girl Leprechauns too???? Midge asked excitedly.
???Naw,
there ain??™t no girl Leprechauns, you silly ole girl.???
Glen moaned.
???Well,
now, you just never know about Leprechauns and where
they might turn up, even right here in Oklahoma,???
Grandma announced as she frowned at Glen because he
knew better than to be rude to Midge.
Grandma
was getting caught up in her story as she continued,
???You see, Leprechauns have pots full of gold and they
hide them, Grandma whispered mysteriously. They are
always moving their pots of gold because the end of
the rainbow marks the very spot where the pot of gold
is hidden. Why, sometimes they spend the whole day
just moving their pots of gold to new hiding places so
they won??™t be found!???
Midge
and Glen had been listening intently as they stared at
the rainbow spread across the sky before them. About
that time, the rain stopped and Grandma got up,
brushed herself off, and said, ???Enough stories??¦I have
work to do. As soon as the rows are ready, you two
can help plant the seeds.??? Grandma crawled out from
beneath the wagon and headed back toward the garden.
Grandma
had no more gotten back to the garden when Glen pulled
on Midge??™s arm and said, ???Come on, Midge!???
???Where
to???? Midge asked.
???The
rainbow, silly, we??™re gonna find that pot of gold and
buy Grandma that blue calico she always looks at in
the store when we go to town.???
???Grandma
says not to call me Silly.???
Glen
laughed and put his arm around Midge and with a
twinkle in his eye he said, ???Okay Silly, I won??™t call
you Silly,??? and then he took off running.
With
that, Midge took off after Glen threatening to tell
Grandma as they started out across the prairie toward
the end of the rainbow. They ran and ran but the
rainbow was further away than it looked. Finally,
they got to where they thought the rainbow should be
but the rainbow had faded away.
???Durn
it, it??™s gone!??? Glen exclaimed.
???The
Leprechauns must have moved it.??? Midge said sadly.
Glen
took Midge protectively by the hand and turned back
toward home both of them looking forlorn. The prairie
grass was so tall that Midge couldn??™t see over it so
she got behind Glen and held tightly to his
shirttail. They walked and walked for what seemed
like forever to Midge.
???I??™m
tired, are we lost???? Midge sniffled.
???No we
ain??™t lost!??? Glen said quickly, even though he wasn??™t
quite sure.
Just
then, Midge could hear the grass going ???swish-swish,
swish-swish??? and then a tap-tap-tap sound. ???It??™s the
Leprechauns!??? Midge whispered in fear as she grabbed
Glen around the waist and hid her face behind his
back.
Midge
and Glen stood motionless when all at once they looked
up and there was Grandma! What a relief! They were
glad it was just the tools in the pockets of her apron
that made the tapping sound because neither of them
were quite sure they were ready to meet up with a real
Leprechaun.
Midge
was so overjoyed to see Grandma but then she saw that
Grandma??™s face looked very angry. ???What do you mean
going off like that,??? she shouted. ???You know you
aren??™t supposed to go this far from home! What on
earth were you thinking? You must be two miles from
home!???
???I??™m
sorry,??? Glen said quietly, deciding to take the
blame. ???We...we...were just looking for the pot of
gold,??? he sputtered, ???and??¦and we were going to buy you
the calico with it. We didn??™t know it was so far
away.???
Midge
began to cry.
Poor
Grandma, she was so angry and yet so relieved that
they were both all right. Grandma also felt bad
because she remembered that it was her fault for
telling them the story about the Leprechauns and the
pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Grandma
sighed and kissed them each and then took them by the
hand. As she walked back toward the house with a
child on each side, Grandma explained that the pot of
gold was just a story. She then told them the true
meaning of the rainbow and how God had put it in the
sky after the flood to let them know He would not
destroy the earth again by a flood. ???The rainbow is
God??™s reminder??¦ like a promise, a covenant, that God
made to Noah and to all of us.??? Grandma explained as
she leaned down and took their faces in her hands, ???My
sweet children, Grandma continued, ???God said, ???
I have
placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my
permanent promise to you and to all the earth.???
God
wanted to show us how much He loved us so he put the
rainbow in the sky and that, my children, is worth
more than any old pot of gold.???
By
Pamela
Perry Blaine
?©March
2005
May the roads rise to meet you.
May the wind be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rain fall soft upon your fields
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
(An Old Gaelic Blessing)
)
??.?·?? ??.?·????) ??.?·*??)
(
??.?·?? (??.?·?? ??.?·??
`?·-?»Pamy
"Security is not the absence of danger,
but the presence of God"
My
Website:
http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
e-mail:
pamyblaine@blaines.us
"NO ONE IS USELESS IN THIS WORLD
WHO LIGHTENS THE BURDEN OF ANYONE ELSE"
http://www.greatcom.org/laws/englishkgp/default.htm
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