Deep in the forest of Ireland lived a small village of leprechauns, leprechauns are

known for being very mischievous, but in this village, there lived a clan of leprechauns
that was more mischievous than them all.
There was Vanessa, the bossy one; Sarah, the serious one. Jennie, who liked
practical jokes, and Brad, who was a big trouble maker. Adam was on his own, while Joe
was the handyman who fixed everything. Gary was buddies with Jennie, and Amber hung
out with Sarah.
It was just two days until St. Patrick's Day, the biggest holiday in all of Ireland and
one of the busiest days for leprechauns. They had decorations to hang, games to be set
up, and meals to be prepared. Suits had to be taken out of storage and ironed; the gold
had to be hidden, but, most of all, they had to prepare for all the traps the villagers would
set.
Vanessa heated the stove and put lunch on to cook while she and Adam set the
tables. Meanwhile, Amber and Sarah went out to the fields to pick clovers and flowers
for the decorations. Gary and Jennie were off pulling pranks on the others, Joe was hiding
the gold and doing everyday repairs, and Brad was over in the storage sheds digging out
the suits so he could iron them; there was eight total.
The afternoon Chores have been completed, and the leprechauns sit down to eat
lunch. Now that their chores were complete, they could relax and do whatever they
wanted. Free time was always their favorite time of the day. They cleaned up the lunch
mess while Adam and Brad washed dishes. After all, the cook should not have to wash
dishes too. Next, Amber and Sarah wiped the tables, and the others headed off to enjoy
their free time.
It is now four o'clock, and all the leprechauns gathered in the game room for their
yearly meeting. Joe was in charge of the meetings because he was older and wiser. They
talked about the events of the day, what to expect tomorrow and the importance of not
getting caught by the village people. Of course, no leprechaun has ever been caught
before. They are way too smart and quick. Joe had set up some simulations for the
leprechauns to run through, ones that would mimic traps the leprechauns had come across
in the past. After each leprechaun had made it through all the stimulations, Joe had
created successfully, the meeting was declared adjourned. After the meeting, they all
stayed to play games, munch on snacks, and enjoy some soda. It was now getting late, so
Vanessa set out to shoo all the leprechauns off to bed; It was after curfew; they had to get
a good night's sleep for tomorrow was St. Patrick's. Day!
The sun was high in the morning sky, and the village kids were heading off to
school to build their leprechaun traps, looking out for leprechauns in the forest on their
way. If the children were to catch a leprechaun, they could end up with a pot of gold.
However, Jennie and Gary were also watching out for the children. Jennie Gary had taken
balloons during their free time and filled them with glitter, then climbed into the trees
since the kids always looked for leprechauns on the ground. They climbed the tree, and
when a child happened by, they dropped the balloon onto the child that exploded in a
shower of glitter, covering the unsuspecting child from head to toe. A boy came by on his
way to school, and much to his surprise was what appeared to be chocolate coins, the
same kind the kids loved to place in their leprechaun traps. Only this was not what that
poor boy expected it to be. Gary and Jennie had outdone themselves this time. They had
spent hours slicing beets, dipping them in chocolate, and covering them in gold foil.
When that kid picked up that chocolate, his eyes lit up, and his mouth produced the
biggest smile. It was so big. It could be seen for miles. He picked up everyone he found,
there must have been a dozen, and they were all his. He opened up that wrapper leaving
foil pieced on the ground, opened his mouth, and popped that piece of chocolate in; he
began to chew with excitement, and suddenly it hit him. His mouth turned to a frown, his
eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes watered. He swallowed hard and, with extreme caution,
lifted the next one to his mouth, took a tiny bite, and again, a foul taste hit his mouth,
spitting it out and throwing the others he had back onto the ground. He took off running
toward the school as fast as his legs could carry him; he needed water and fast. Gary and
Jennie laughed hard as they ran to catch up to the others in their clan. Once in school, the
children got their boxes, scissors, crayons, glue, and paper and went to work on their
traps. They used whatever they could think of to keep a leprechaun in the trap if one were
to fall in. They also wanted to attract them to their traps, so they used shiny objects such
as glitter and pennies.
Meanwhile, back in the forest, the leprechauns had their freshly ironed suits on,
and they were having a party. There was dancing, laughing, singing, and of course,
games. Of course, they still had their everyday chores, so it wasn't all fun and games.
They had just finished their late afternoon lunch of stewed cabbage and pot roast when
the school bell rang, and all the children were rushing home; here is where the real fun
begins.
One by one, the little leprechauns snuck over to the school, each holding a sack to
put all of the pennies they collected from the traps into it and take the treasure back to
their village. Gary and Jennie came upon a trap with a net over the opening, and it had a
mouse trap set in the middle. Covering this box was pennies and a lot of them too. So
they started ripping them off one by one and placing them into the sack. Jennie began
climbing the net; it seemed pretty safe until she reached the middle. Suddenly she fell, the
trap went off, and she came flying out. "OUCH!" she cried, and then looking down in the
box, she noticed that her shorts had come off and was caught in the trap. Gary was rolling
on the floor in laughter. "You should have seen yourself." He roared. "That was the
funniest thing I have ever seen!" "You should have seen your face! How are you going to
get your pants back?" Jennie pondered this for a moment; she could not possibly go all
the way back home without her pants. After careful planning and a couple of failed
attempts at retrieving her britches, Jennie decided that her britches would have to remain
in that trap; there was no way to get them out. She tore some paper off of a trap and
wrapped it around her waist skirt style so she could at least be all dressed. Soon their bags
were packed, and they headed back to the forest, waiting for the others to arrive.
Sara and Amber made their way to a trap covered in black paper with gold coins
on top and a hole in the side for a door. They decided to go in together. When they got
inside, they were disappointed; there were no coins in there either. "Let's go find another
trap," Sarah said, but when they turned to go, they couldn't move their feet. They were
stuck. The kid who had made this trap put a bunch of heavy-duty fly tape on the floor of
the trap. "HELP!" They cried; Brad rushed over to help them out, laughing as he came. It
is not funny! Sarah said. Amber agreed, and both tried with all their might to free their
feet. This type of trap had never been done before. Amber and Sarah were at a loss on
how to get free. Brad ran to Joe to see if he could build a ladder so they could climb out.
Joe quickly got to work on building that ladder. Brad rushed to over to the two girls; he
slid it through the door, laying the ladder flat on the floor. Sarah and Amber slipped out
of their shoes, and using the ladder as a bridge; they were able to escape. "We are finally
free, thank you, Brad," Amber said as she looked at her feet. Our shoes…their gone! Both
girls' shoes were stuck to the bottom of the trap. Leaving empty-handed and shoeless, the
girls ran back to the forest to join Jennie and Gary.
The others decided they had better get going before someone got caught or
something else happened. It was enough excitement for one day. They now had enough
money for a second pot of gold, and another year had gone by without a single
leprechaun getting caught.
Later that night, all eight leprechauns were sitting around a fire sharing stories of
their day and drinking green punch when Brad pipes up, "Hey, Vanessa; Jennie and Gary
took your beets from the dinner you made a few nights ago and used them for one of their
jokes. It was really funny, but I remember how you wanted to serve those again. Also,
Sarah, Amber, and Jennie all lost some items in traps; I know how hard you worked on
making those. Maybe they should help you this time". Stop causing trouble, Brad, they
all yelled. "Hey, I was only trying to help." Then, with a sarcastic "Sure," they all
laughed.
At midnight, on March 17, 1862, they closed out another Saint Patrick's Day and
went to bed.