Be Careful What You Wish For - Lynne North (intellectual books to read txt) 📗

elasticated waist. You were so proud to walk through town wearing them until the elastic snapped and down they came, dragging your underclothes with them. Tripped by the pants around your ankles you ended up flashing your mole to everyone in Duntappin’s village square.’ Finn’s mum had to pause to wipe the tears of laughter from her eyes.

            It was something Finn remembered well, despite trying very hard to forget.

            Finn’s mum left him to rest while she went off to make tea.

            He lay and pondered about his life in Duntappin. Staring sideways through the tall, leaded window he stared out over the village. It was a beautiful place, quiet, secluded, peaceful…and boring. Well, in Finn’s opinion it was. He loved the tree lined cobbled streets and well kept little cottages and often stared around at the beauty all around him, but he still decided there must be more to life. The best he could hope for in his village was to become a master tailor like his dad, or a cobbler if he decided to follow the trade of most leprechauns. Finn wanted more. He needed change, and craved excitement. He soon nodded off dreaming dreams of adventure.

 

            Once Finn went back to school, he amused himself looking around and deciding who had been whomped by the Bad Fairy, and where.

            He decided very soon that Dallan Murphy had been whomped good and proper by the Ugly Stick when he was a baby. His parents had obviously not been very vigilant overnight when the Bad Fairy called. Finn stared at him. His ears, eyes and lips seemed to grow out of all proportion to the rest of his face. As Finn stared, Dallan turned to look at him. Finn didn’t have time to look away, and felt himself flushing. He smiled to cover it. Dallan grinned back, a look of delight on his googly face. Maybe no one usually smiled at him, Finn thought. He felt guilty for never even having talked to him.

            At lunch break, Finn made a point of seeking Dallan out. He was sat alone eating his packed lunch. Finn went to sit with him, and soon found that despite his strange looks, Dallan was quite good company. Finn supposed he had to be in order to make any friends.

            From that day on, they remained firm friends.

            Finn found his choice of best friend most useful when he got a bit older. Once he discovered girls could be interesting for other reasons than dropping squirming worms down the necks of their dresses or pulling their hair, Finn decided that standing next to Dallan made him look all the more handsome. Girls may not have done more than cast him fleeting glances otherwise. After looking at Dallan beside him, however, their eyes always returned to him with more avid attention.

            Finn never felt guilty about this, because his unfortunate friend gained from the experience too. Girls had a habit of hanging around in pairs; therefore Dallan got to talk to the one who drew the short straw. Finn’s buddy began to get the impression he was quite popular. Finn encouraged this, and refrained from saying, I don’t think much of yours, before the attractive and plain leprechaun girls walked over. He had to leave Dallan some hope, after all.

 

            By the age of fourteen, Finn had dated a number of girlfriends. He tried to stay on good terms with them, but they were not always so keen to remain friends with him. He found it hard to tell whether they still liked him or not, apart from the ones who made it clear by throwing things at him in class. In general, they were more likely to just ignore him in school, in a friendly way, he liked to believe. It was Aine’s turn to tell all her friends about him today which hurt his feelings a bit. Math’s was bad enough without having girls whispering behind your back too.

            Dallan tried to keep him amused by rolling his goggle eyes heavenwards when the teacher mentioned ‘sums’, then sticking out his fat rubbery lips when he hadn’t a clue what he had just been asked, which was often.

            Finn was glad to get out of the class.

            The next one proved far more interesting.

            ‘I’m going to tell you the tale of Bleary O’Leary,’ the teacher began.

            That sparked Finn’s attention. When he took an interest in something he listened well, soaked it in, and remembered. He knew a little about Bleary, the famous founder of Duntappin, and was keen to learn more.

            ‘Bleary had been a cobbler all his life,’ the teacher explained, ‘but on retirement, he set off alone into the wilderness. Well, he left the village where he was born anyway.’

            Finn’s ears pricked up. Into the wilderness sounded fantastic.

            ‘No one knew Bleary’s actual birth name,’ the teacher continued, ‘but he had always been fond of his mead, hence the name by which he was known. Even during his working years, we are told some of his customers found themselves with two left shoes because of his liking for a tipple.’

            The teacher paused at this point to give her pupils time to laugh. Finn saw Dallan’s rubbery lips almost swallow the rest of his face.

            ‘Bleary wandered the countryside for a few years, living off the land and visiting any local hostelries where he could see over the bar. A few more leprechauns joined him in his travels, some older, and others younger.’

            I would have joined him, thought Finn in a dream of his own. It would be such fun!

            ‘When the band of travellers reached this beautiful valley at last, they decided it was time to settle down. Duntappin seemed the perfect name for the retirement place of a cobbler, and so our village began.’

            Finn loved the tale, and asked the teacher many questions. His mind went over all the adventures Bleary must have had on his travels. ‘One day’, he told Dallan after class, ‘I’ll travel too.’

            Dallan wiggled his ears at him. It was the one thing he did well.

            Somehow when Finn’s adventure did begin, it wasn’t to be quite as he expected.

 

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Publication Date: 01-09-2010

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