David Presents
TMF Poster
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2008
- Messages
- 119
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“Hey, a four-leaf clover!” exclaimed Tom happily, bending over to pluck the small good-luck charm. How he had been able to spot something so miniscule the young man could not imagine, but he took it as a favorable sign. “I’m sure it’s just as lucky here in America as it’s supposed to be in Ireland. I’ll have to show it to Erin when I see her!”
What could be more entertaining on Saint Patrick’s Day than spending the afternoon chasing the legendary leprechaun’s pot of gold at the elusive end of the rainbow? Well, quite a few things, actually, he conceded as he entered the old forest, rusty pine needles crunching softly under his boots. An image of his fun girlfriend, Erin, sprang foremost to his mind of such possibilities. Nevertheless, he continued, expecting at any moment to see the rainbow disappear, abruptly ending his quest.
However, to his delight it remained visible through the branches as he drew ever closer, until he stepped out of the slender evergreen trees into a lonely, dappled glade. There, just ahead of him, within a ring of toadstools, the rainbow touched to earth, seemingly pouring itself right into the center of an enormous black cauldron!
He stopped a few feet away, staring in awe at the enormous container. It rested slightly off the ground on its four stubby legs and was so large it came up to Tom’s broad chest. “I wonder what golden treasure is inside?” he asked, not realizing he was speaking aloud.
“Mpfff!” replied Erin, sticking her head out of the cauldron. She had been kneeling down inside in an effort to rub the gag off her face – a broad, green cloth embroidered with tiny white shamrocks, which cleaved her pink lips and was knotted around the back of her head, but upon hearing Tom’s voice she suddenly stood up.
In honor of the day, she had tied a large, emerald-green ribbon in her long, blonde hair and a thin neckband of forest green around her throat. Although Tom could not see most of her outfit, she also wore a one-piece dress of several shades of green, white and black, while pinned to her bodice was a large, costume shamrock with “Kiss me, I’m Irish!” written in small, yellow lettering.
Her arms had been tied behind her back with white ropes that circled around her upper body, while more ropes tied her legs together, wrapped around her white stockings with their clover leg garters.
“Erin! Are you okay?” asked Tom in alarm, taking a step forward. “Who did this to you?”
“I did!” answered an angry voice. Tom looked all around before finally glancing down to discover a small man standing next to him. He appeared to be about eighteen inches high, and everything he wore – his buckled shoes, ankle socks, breeches, suspenders, shirt, jacket, tie and bowler hat – were all various shades of green. The curly hair on his head and in his short beard was vivid orange. He held a long, curved clay pipe in one hand, and carried a stout wooden cudgel in the other, which he waved menacingly.
“She was trying to steal my treasure,” he explained, putting his pipe to his mouth. “She thought she had caught me napping and could help herself to whatever she liked from my pot! Well, she discovered different!”
“Mpfff!” disagreed Erin, shaking her head no. She wasn’t after anyone’s treasure, and besides, there wasn’t anything in this awful pot of his anyhow, except for herself, and she was very much wishing she wasn’t in there, either!
“I don’t know what you’re thinking of, doing that to Erin, but I’m releasing her right away!” announced Tom, moving forward.
“Stop right there,” ordered the leprechaun, cracking Tom on the shins with his cudgel. “I used up all my rope binding the colleen, but if you take one more step I’ll use my magic shillelagh to turn you into a frog!”
Tom paused, frowning in perplexity. “Can leprechauns really turn people into frogs?” he asked Erin.
“Mpfff,” replied Erin doubtfully, trying to remember all she could from the stories her grandfather used to tell her of the old country.
“He’s just bluffing,” decided Tom. He took one step forward, and <i>poof!</i> Suddenly, the world appeared much larger to him. The leprechaun, who had been so short, was now a giant, towering over Tom. Tom glanced down in dismay at his slimy green legs and webbed feet. Oh, no! The leprechaun really had turned him into a frog!
“Mpfff!” cried out Erin, struggling helplessly against her ropes.
“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the leprechaun. “A rare, fine sight you are, my lad! You’ll have to be careful no one steps on you! Ha, ha, ha!”
“Ribbit!” replied Tom angrily as he snapped out his long tongue to snatch a passing fly.
“Michael Seamus Finnegan! What are you doing here?” Into the glade stepped a female leprechaun, also dressed in various shades of green and with curly, orange hair. She glared accusingly at the male leprechaun, who smiled sheepishly back.
“Now Katie, I was just having a spot of fun with the big folks,” he explained. Giving Tom a guilty look, he took his lady-friend by one arm.
“I apologize for Michael’s rude behavior,” said Katie to Tom, recognizing him as human despite the transformation. “He’s always making a right spectacle of himself, that he is, but I’ll give him a good talking-to, and make sure he never engages in such shenanigans again!” She gave a brief curtsey, and allowed Michael to escort her out of the clearing.
“Ribbit!” If Katie really was so sorry then why hadn’t she made Michael change him back so he could untie Erin? Tom took a hop towards the cauldron, where Erin was still struggling, but he could see she would never work loose on her own.
Even more alarming, Tom noticed the rainbow starting to fade. Once it disappeared so would the leprechaun’s enchanted cauldron, taking Erin along with it! He had no idea where she would go, or what would happen to her then. He couldn’t delay; he had to find some way to rescue her, and fast!
He hopped a little closer. Hmm, although the knots were numerous and tightly tied, Michael had left plenty of long loose ends. Maybe he could jump up and grab one in his mouth….
“Sssupper!” hissed a green and yellow garter snake, slipping out from under the cauldron. He eyed Tom hungrily, raising his head up, and weaving back and forth, as he opened and closed his mouth. “It’s time for this hungry serpent to munch and crunch on a juicy, succulent frog, yum, yesss!”
“Mpfff!” screamed Erin, ducking back inside the cauldron. She was absolutely terrified of snakes!
“Ribbit!” exclaimed Tom, jumping away as fast as he could. He wasn’t normally afraid of snakes, but then again, he wasn’t normally a frog.
The snake slithered behind, quickly catching up. He smacked his lips in anticipation of the tasty treat he thought Tom would make. “Run all you like,” he encouraged Tom. “There’s nothing like a little exercise before a meal to work up a hearty appetite!”
“Why didn’t Saint Patrick chase the snakes out of America while he was at it?” Tom seethed in frustration, hopping for his life. He bounded over a small log, hoping to lose his pursuer, who slid underneath without difficulty. Tom glanced back in alarm at the cauldron. Erin was peeking over the edge, ready to duck back down again if the snake got too close. Tom glanced upwards anxiously. The rainbow was barely visible at all. He had only minutes to act and a hungry reptile on his tail!
He leapt over a small collection of assorted dull gray rocks, but the snake wound around them, not losing any ground. He splashed into a puddle created by the rain earlier that day, his webbed feet propelling him to the other side, but the snake easily swam across as well. He skipped inside a hole in the log he had hopped over just a few seconds ago, but the snake slithered right in behind him, so Tom bounced right out of another hole, the snake close behind. Was he ever going to get rid of this menace and rescue Erin?
Once again, Tom glanced nervously over his green shoulder at the cauldron, suddenly realizing what he could do. He circled around one of the pine trees at the edge of the glade, the snake following ever closer, before heading back to the ring of toadstools surrounding the cauldron. Just as the snake darted his head forward to grab Tom in his mouth, Tom used his powerful legs to jump up on the broad lip of the cauldron.
“No fair!” The snake slunk around, hissing furiously in frustration, but he could find no way for his lithe, slimy body to climb up the smooth sides of the cauldron.
Tom hopped inside. At least if Erin disappeared now he would disappear along with her, but Tom was determined that wasn’t going happen at all. He was going to free her! He hopped onto his girlfriend’s back, grabbing one of the loose ends with his mouth. It slipped out right away, and he fell to the bottom of the cauldron.
“Mpfff!” exclaimed Erin, trying to encourage him.
Tom jumped high up, ignoring Erin’s leg ropes, aiming and just missing a promising-looking loose end near her wrists. He tumbled back down. But there was no way he was giving up! He leapt up again, this time grabbing the rope in his mouth. He dangled for a moment, wriggling his body before finally feeling the rope loosening! This one effort was not enough to free Erin in of itself, but it was a start! He jumped up again and again, pulling more ends free, until Erin was finally able to move her arms. She quickly finished the process of untying herself, yanked the cloth off her face, and pulled the packing out of her mouth.
“Poor Tom!” she said sadly, lifting him up in one hand and stroking him gently with one finger on his tiny head. She glanced around anxiously, but the snake was nowhere to be seen, so she climbed out of the cauldron, just as the rainbow disappeared, taking the cauldron along with it. “I wish I knew what to do to change you back. But even though you are amphibious, you still deserve a reward for rescuing me!”
She lightly kissed him on his nose.
<i>Poof!</i> The world suddenly looked normal to Tom again. His glanced at his arms and legs, and saw to his relief he was back to his human form. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “I thought only princesses could do that!”
“Oh, Tom, don’t you remember me telling you? We hired this genealogy research company to trace our family tree and discovered that even though we live in America we really should be, by rights, the royal family of Ireland! So you see, Tom, I am indeed a true princess!”
“Well, yeah, I remember you telling me all that, but I mean, come on, I didn’t really, um, I mean…”
“Thomas! You were about to say you didn’t believe me, weren’t you?” accused Erin, tears starting to brim in her green eyes.
“No, I wasn’t; I was just… oh, no!” he suddenly exclaimed. “Help! I feel funny!”
“Tom, what’s wrong?” asked Erin, looking alarmed.
“I feel like I’m turning into a frog again! Quick, cure me again!”
“Yes, I will,” she agreed, cheering up immediately as she happily complied. “In fact, I’m not sure but that spell might not re-occur at some unexpected moment when I’m not around to take care of you, so I’d better give you a bunch of cures in advance, just in case!”
“Mmm,” agreed Tom.
“I’m glad it all ended well, although I would have liked to have gotten some of that mean leprechaun’s treasure, though,” pouted Erin a few minutes later.
Tom embraced her in his arms. “I already have all the treasure I need right here,” he told her.
What could be more entertaining on Saint Patrick’s Day than spending the afternoon chasing the legendary leprechaun’s pot of gold at the elusive end of the rainbow? Well, quite a few things, actually, he conceded as he entered the old forest, rusty pine needles crunching softly under his boots. An image of his fun girlfriend, Erin, sprang foremost to his mind of such possibilities. Nevertheless, he continued, expecting at any moment to see the rainbow disappear, abruptly ending his quest.
However, to his delight it remained visible through the branches as he drew ever closer, until he stepped out of the slender evergreen trees into a lonely, dappled glade. There, just ahead of him, within a ring of toadstools, the rainbow touched to earth, seemingly pouring itself right into the center of an enormous black cauldron!
He stopped a few feet away, staring in awe at the enormous container. It rested slightly off the ground on its four stubby legs and was so large it came up to Tom’s broad chest. “I wonder what golden treasure is inside?” he asked, not realizing he was speaking aloud.
“Mpfff!” replied Erin, sticking her head out of the cauldron. She had been kneeling down inside in an effort to rub the gag off her face – a broad, green cloth embroidered with tiny white shamrocks, which cleaved her pink lips and was knotted around the back of her head, but upon hearing Tom’s voice she suddenly stood up.
In honor of the day, she had tied a large, emerald-green ribbon in her long, blonde hair and a thin neckband of forest green around her throat. Although Tom could not see most of her outfit, she also wore a one-piece dress of several shades of green, white and black, while pinned to her bodice was a large, costume shamrock with “Kiss me, I’m Irish!” written in small, yellow lettering.
Her arms had been tied behind her back with white ropes that circled around her upper body, while more ropes tied her legs together, wrapped around her white stockings with their clover leg garters.
“Erin! Are you okay?” asked Tom in alarm, taking a step forward. “Who did this to you?”
“I did!” answered an angry voice. Tom looked all around before finally glancing down to discover a small man standing next to him. He appeared to be about eighteen inches high, and everything he wore – his buckled shoes, ankle socks, breeches, suspenders, shirt, jacket, tie and bowler hat – were all various shades of green. The curly hair on his head and in his short beard was vivid orange. He held a long, curved clay pipe in one hand, and carried a stout wooden cudgel in the other, which he waved menacingly.
“She was trying to steal my treasure,” he explained, putting his pipe to his mouth. “She thought she had caught me napping and could help herself to whatever she liked from my pot! Well, she discovered different!”
“Mpfff!” disagreed Erin, shaking her head no. She wasn’t after anyone’s treasure, and besides, there wasn’t anything in this awful pot of his anyhow, except for herself, and she was very much wishing she wasn’t in there, either!
“I don’t know what you’re thinking of, doing that to Erin, but I’m releasing her right away!” announced Tom, moving forward.
“Stop right there,” ordered the leprechaun, cracking Tom on the shins with his cudgel. “I used up all my rope binding the colleen, but if you take one more step I’ll use my magic shillelagh to turn you into a frog!”
Tom paused, frowning in perplexity. “Can leprechauns really turn people into frogs?” he asked Erin.
“Mpfff,” replied Erin doubtfully, trying to remember all she could from the stories her grandfather used to tell her of the old country.
“He’s just bluffing,” decided Tom. He took one step forward, and <i>poof!</i> Suddenly, the world appeared much larger to him. The leprechaun, who had been so short, was now a giant, towering over Tom. Tom glanced down in dismay at his slimy green legs and webbed feet. Oh, no! The leprechaun really had turned him into a frog!
“Mpfff!” cried out Erin, struggling helplessly against her ropes.
“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the leprechaun. “A rare, fine sight you are, my lad! You’ll have to be careful no one steps on you! Ha, ha, ha!”
“Ribbit!” replied Tom angrily as he snapped out his long tongue to snatch a passing fly.
“Michael Seamus Finnegan! What are you doing here?” Into the glade stepped a female leprechaun, also dressed in various shades of green and with curly, orange hair. She glared accusingly at the male leprechaun, who smiled sheepishly back.
“Now Katie, I was just having a spot of fun with the big folks,” he explained. Giving Tom a guilty look, he took his lady-friend by one arm.
“I apologize for Michael’s rude behavior,” said Katie to Tom, recognizing him as human despite the transformation. “He’s always making a right spectacle of himself, that he is, but I’ll give him a good talking-to, and make sure he never engages in such shenanigans again!” She gave a brief curtsey, and allowed Michael to escort her out of the clearing.
“Ribbit!” If Katie really was so sorry then why hadn’t she made Michael change him back so he could untie Erin? Tom took a hop towards the cauldron, where Erin was still struggling, but he could see she would never work loose on her own.
Even more alarming, Tom noticed the rainbow starting to fade. Once it disappeared so would the leprechaun’s enchanted cauldron, taking Erin along with it! He had no idea where she would go, or what would happen to her then. He couldn’t delay; he had to find some way to rescue her, and fast!
He hopped a little closer. Hmm, although the knots were numerous and tightly tied, Michael had left plenty of long loose ends. Maybe he could jump up and grab one in his mouth….
“Sssupper!” hissed a green and yellow garter snake, slipping out from under the cauldron. He eyed Tom hungrily, raising his head up, and weaving back and forth, as he opened and closed his mouth. “It’s time for this hungry serpent to munch and crunch on a juicy, succulent frog, yum, yesss!”
“Mpfff!” screamed Erin, ducking back inside the cauldron. She was absolutely terrified of snakes!
“Ribbit!” exclaimed Tom, jumping away as fast as he could. He wasn’t normally afraid of snakes, but then again, he wasn’t normally a frog.
The snake slithered behind, quickly catching up. He smacked his lips in anticipation of the tasty treat he thought Tom would make. “Run all you like,” he encouraged Tom. “There’s nothing like a little exercise before a meal to work up a hearty appetite!”
“Why didn’t Saint Patrick chase the snakes out of America while he was at it?” Tom seethed in frustration, hopping for his life. He bounded over a small log, hoping to lose his pursuer, who slid underneath without difficulty. Tom glanced back in alarm at the cauldron. Erin was peeking over the edge, ready to duck back down again if the snake got too close. Tom glanced upwards anxiously. The rainbow was barely visible at all. He had only minutes to act and a hungry reptile on his tail!
He leapt over a small collection of assorted dull gray rocks, but the snake wound around them, not losing any ground. He splashed into a puddle created by the rain earlier that day, his webbed feet propelling him to the other side, but the snake easily swam across as well. He skipped inside a hole in the log he had hopped over just a few seconds ago, but the snake slithered right in behind him, so Tom bounced right out of another hole, the snake close behind. Was he ever going to get rid of this menace and rescue Erin?
Once again, Tom glanced nervously over his green shoulder at the cauldron, suddenly realizing what he could do. He circled around one of the pine trees at the edge of the glade, the snake following ever closer, before heading back to the ring of toadstools surrounding the cauldron. Just as the snake darted his head forward to grab Tom in his mouth, Tom used his powerful legs to jump up on the broad lip of the cauldron.
“No fair!” The snake slunk around, hissing furiously in frustration, but he could find no way for his lithe, slimy body to climb up the smooth sides of the cauldron.
Tom hopped inside. At least if Erin disappeared now he would disappear along with her, but Tom was determined that wasn’t going happen at all. He was going to free her! He hopped onto his girlfriend’s back, grabbing one of the loose ends with his mouth. It slipped out right away, and he fell to the bottom of the cauldron.
“Mpfff!” exclaimed Erin, trying to encourage him.
Tom jumped high up, ignoring Erin’s leg ropes, aiming and just missing a promising-looking loose end near her wrists. He tumbled back down. But there was no way he was giving up! He leapt up again, this time grabbing the rope in his mouth. He dangled for a moment, wriggling his body before finally feeling the rope loosening! This one effort was not enough to free Erin in of itself, but it was a start! He jumped up again and again, pulling more ends free, until Erin was finally able to move her arms. She quickly finished the process of untying herself, yanked the cloth off her face, and pulled the packing out of her mouth.
“Poor Tom!” she said sadly, lifting him up in one hand and stroking him gently with one finger on his tiny head. She glanced around anxiously, but the snake was nowhere to be seen, so she climbed out of the cauldron, just as the rainbow disappeared, taking the cauldron along with it. “I wish I knew what to do to change you back. But even though you are amphibious, you still deserve a reward for rescuing me!”
She lightly kissed him on his nose.
<i>Poof!</i> The world suddenly looked normal to Tom again. His glanced at his arms and legs, and saw to his relief he was back to his human form. “Wow!” he exclaimed. “I thought only princesses could do that!”
“Oh, Tom, don’t you remember me telling you? We hired this genealogy research company to trace our family tree and discovered that even though we live in America we really should be, by rights, the royal family of Ireland! So you see, Tom, I am indeed a true princess!”
“Well, yeah, I remember you telling me all that, but I mean, come on, I didn’t really, um, I mean…”
“Thomas! You were about to say you didn’t believe me, weren’t you?” accused Erin, tears starting to brim in her green eyes.
“No, I wasn’t; I was just… oh, no!” he suddenly exclaimed. “Help! I feel funny!”
“Tom, what’s wrong?” asked Erin, looking alarmed.
“I feel like I’m turning into a frog again! Quick, cure me again!”
“Yes, I will,” she agreed, cheering up immediately as she happily complied. “In fact, I’m not sure but that spell might not re-occur at some unexpected moment when I’m not around to take care of you, so I’d better give you a bunch of cures in advance, just in case!”
“Mmm,” agreed Tom.
“I’m glad it all ended well, although I would have liked to have gotten some of that mean leprechaun’s treasure, though,” pouted Erin a few minutes later.
Tom embraced her in his arms. “I already have all the treasure I need right here,” he told her.
