Colleen set her year 7 English students a homework assignment to write a short story for about leprechauns, with the intention of reading every submission slowly and deciding on which was her favorite. When they were completed, she took them all into her science laboratory and locked the door, in order to read them undisturbed. Most of the stories were about the typical legends, pots of gold, riches and wish fulfilment and adventure. However, the fifth one she read captured her interest so much, that the rest that followed all seemed empty and completely boring by comparison.

THE TINY TRESPASSER

Miss Frobual was a teacher, who was walking through her school grounds one day after classes had ended, when she saw a tiny creature in the school gardens. The little fellow saw her and turned and ran.

“Oh no you don’t!” she called, and gave chase.

Miss Frobual ran around the path, to the other side of the garden, and cut off his escape. She bent down and snatched him up out of the flowers.

“Now I’ve caught you, little leprechaun. I’ll teach you to trespass in this school!” she said sternly, “I’m going to take you home and have you for my dinner!”

She put him into her handbag and walked home.

When she got to her house, she took him out of the bag and sat down to read a book, leaving him on the table beside her. He watched as she licked her fingers every now and then to turn the pages more easily. The view of her tongue was like a prelude for her eating plans.

When it was night time, Miss Frobual turned the next page of her book, and then picked him up and opened her mouth wide in front of him. She put him inside and then started reading again.

“Please wait! I have to tell you something!” came his voice from inside her mouth.

Miss Frobual opened her mouth and extended her tongue, letting him slide along it onto her hand.

“Well then, what do you have to say for yourself?” she asked.

“You won’t believe me unless you just look more closely,” he said, “Can you hold me up to your eye?”

She lifted him right in front of her eye and looked closely at him. It was Rhyen, one of the boys from the school, except that he had been turned into a leprechaun.

“The Leprechauns really did trespass here, and the Queen of the Leprechauns turned me into one, so that I could marry her daughter, but I didn’t want to. So they left without me. Then you thought I was trespassing and chased me.”

“I didn’t know it was you, but why didn’t you marry the leprechaun girl?”

“Because I’ve been in love with you.”

Miss Frobual gave him a big kiss, and took him to the dining room.

She fetched some food from the kitchen, gave him small portions and ate with him. He looked up at her eating and thought, “That could have been me.”