“That felt even better than the kisses, and I imagine that being in your mouth would feel even better, but you’re talking about doing something I never imagined, when I asked you out to dinner.”

“Well you imagined that I would do it with a leprechaun, and you did say that you’d do anything for me.”

“I meant that I’d do anything to help you to catch a leprechaun, and I was uneasy about that too. I went along with the hunting today, because I’m so completely in love with you.”

“Is my plan for you going to reduce those feelings?”

“No, I’m sure it wouldn’t,” he said, “It’s only my size that you’ve reduced.”

“Then why not make the most of it, as a way of expressing it? I’m going to do it anyway, although I don’t mind anything you say in the meantime. Your poem has given me a marvelous blueprint for how to proceed with enjoying this meal too. You really have an incredible talent with words and imagery.”

“I…I guess it’s worth saying that you have quite a talent for inventing too. Did you ever discuss your machine with anyone else?”

“No. In fact I never discussed my leprechaun eating quest with anyone either. Nobody else knows that you and I are here, with you reduced to your current size. You’ll be sliding down my throat with only the two of us to know about it.”

“I don’t suppose you can see any leprechauns now from up here,” he asked, “Your eyes are so much bigger than mine now. They’d have more range.”

“No, and I don’t think the non-existent results of years of searching are going to change now. If I’m going to eat one of the little folk, and I most certainly am, then it’s going to be you. Let’s have another look at this poem.”

She took his poem out of the basket and read it through again aloud.

“Do you think you might try to struggle and stick in my throat for a while?” she asked.

“I guess there’s always a chance, if I try.”

“Yes, but it will only be a chance to delay the inevitable. Whatever you do in my mouth or in my throat, I will gulp you down to my tummy. I’ve been working towards this for all the years it took me to design and build the reducing machine. So I don’t want to leave you with any false hopes that I might change my mind, because of our love affair, when I’ve got you halfway down my throat. When we started the hunt, I said that I might have a leprechaun in my tummy by mid afternoon. It was an almost 100% unlikely outcome, but I did feel certain that I would have someone else in my tummy by mid afternoon. I’m going to gobble you all up.”

“I know, and I am doing my best to come to terms with it,” he said, “Do you want to know a secret?”

“I’d love to,” she said.

“When I first woke up this morning, and saw my new size, I had a few moments of thinking that this was what you had in mind.”