The Leprechaun's Student

The Leprechaun’s Student


Because Patrick had been abandoned at birth, he didn’t know his last name. As long as he could remember, he’d been shifted from one foster home to another. The guardians of these foster homes told Patrick he was Irish; so often that now, at the age of twelve, he believes and trusts them, even though he hardly believes or trusts anybody.



Patrick was a sullen boy, and he didn’t have many friends. This was partly due to his disposition, and partly due to his constantly being moved about. He often complained, to anyone who would listen, that the other boys his age in the foster home didn’t want to play with him. Finally, the director of his current foster home, who was tired of hearing his complaints, suggested that he play with the girls. Patrick made a face and told the director adamently that he would not play with the girls.



Since Patrick had hardly any friends, he was prone to running away, even though he was sometimes ruining his chance of being adopted ; his lifelong dream. He was constantly looking for a companion to share his troubles with, and understand him, for although the director of the foster home commiserated with him, she didn’t really understand him.


On one occasion, when Patrick was yet again running away, he heard a voice coming from his feet. He looked down, but didn’t see anybody. The next time it happened, he looked down and this time he saw a little man looking up at him.


"Who are you?" Patrick asked.
"I am a leprechaun." the little man replied, stretching to his full height, with pride.

Patrick was confused. He knew that leprechauns didn’t exist; yet here he was talking to one. He finally came to the conclusion, after battling with himself for a few minutes, that leprechauns did indeed exist. The proof was in front of his eyes, and talking to him.
"You’re Patrick O’Grady, am I right?" asked the leprechaun.


"My name is Patrick, and my last name could be O’Grady. You see, I was-"
"Abandoned at birth. I know."
Patrick looked at the leprechaun suspiciously.
"How did you know that?" Patrick asked.
Instead of answering, the leprechaun asked Patrick if he wanted to see where the former lived. Patrick hesitated; he did want to see where the leprechaun lived, however, he thought that maybe they were searching for him at the foster home.


The leprechaun sensed Patrick’s hesitation, and reassured him that he hadn’t been missed yet, although he didn’t reveal how he knew, and Patrick didn’t think to ask. With that settled, Patrick bent down to hold the leprechaun’s hand, and after the leprechaun said a few words that sounded like nonsense to Patrick, they arrived at the leprechaun’s home. In order to fit into the house, Patrick had to crawl on his hands and knees, and once inside he had to stay on his hands and knees, even when he sat on the small chairs, to avoid bumping his head on the low ceiling.


The inhabitants of the house which were the leprechaun’s family, seemed to be expecting Patrick. The leprechaun introduced his family to Patrick, however Patrick himself, needed no introduction. Much to his surprise, everybody seemed to know all about him.


The leprechaun’s family took an instant liking to Patrick and more than once expressed an interest in adopting him, however, Patrick wasn’t keen on the idea. He wanted, no craved, a real family in the real world, and not a family who were all three inches high and he especially didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in this tiny house, where he couldn’t even stand, and most importantly, Patrick didn’t believe, or trust that the leprechaun and his family would give him all the love and attention he so craved.


Ten minutes later, Patrick asked the leprechaun to please take him back to the foster home, as he was sure that he had been missed by now, and he didn’t want everybody worrying about him. The leprechaun agreed with Patrick, and much to the dismay of the others, the leprechaun took him back; however he had to promise that he would be back often.


Once Patrick was back at the foster home, he knew everybody was searching for him. He was about to tell everybody that he had come back, however an idea came to him. He was certain that at least someone had checked his room, so as quietly as he could, he slipped into his room and lay on his bed. Soon, the director checked his room one more time. She had to do a double take, to make sure that her eyes hadn’t deceived her.


"Patrick? We’ve been looking all over for you. Where have you been?"
"What are you talking about?" Patrick asked, "I’ve been here the whole time."
"That’s impossible. I checked in here myself, and even opened the closets. You were nowhere to be found."


Patrick couldn’t keep back a laugh, so he told the director of his adventure, starting with when he first saw the leprechaun. The director looked at him, but he had sobered up as he told her, and there was not a hint of a smile, so the director knew that at least he believed what he was saying. After a while, Patrick had the director believing in his story, and when he got to the point where he exclaimed that the leprechaun’s family wanted to adopt him, the director gasped, for fear that Patrick would take them up on their offer. However, Patrick assured her that he wanted to be adopted by a couple in this world, and not the leprechaun’s world.


By this time, everybody knew that Patrick had been found, so the search for him was called off. The other children wanted to know where he had been, so he recounted his adventure, for the second time to the delight of the others, especially the younger children.
For a while, Patrick was the centre of attention, and even after the excitement of his story died down, he continued to visit the leprechaun’s family. On one occasion, he asked if they were telling the truth when they said they wanted to adopt him. The leprechaun’s family told Patrick that they indeed wanted to adopt him. However, the leprechaun wanted Patrick to be adopted by a couple in his own world.


"I appreciate your concern, but I’m getting too old to be adopted now. Nobody wants a boy who will soon be a teenager."


This was the first time that Patrick had expressed that thought, even to himself, but he knew it to be true.
"Nonsense, Patrick. I know there’s a couple just waiting to adopt you. However, if you’re not at the foster home, they’ll never meet you."
Patrick listened to what the leprechaun told him, then turned to the leprechaun’s wife, and changed the subject.


"What do I have to do for you to adopt me?"
Patrick was slowly learning to trust the leprechaun’s family, for they were the only ones who had expressed an interest in adopting him.
"All you have to do is stay here with us, and not go back to the foster home."
Patrick looked horrified at the thought.
"I can’t! Everybody will be looking for me. And until I’m adopted by a family in my world, I belong to the province of Ontario."
The next day, when Patrick still hadn’t shown up, the director of the foster home called in the police.


"Has he run away before?" the police officer asked.
"He runs away all the time, Officer, but he’s always come back within a few hours."
"Maybe he’s with the leprechauns." one of the younger children piped up.
The director was deep in thought.
"Maybe you’re right, Peter, but if that’s so, why hasn’t he come back yet?" A horrifying thought occurred to her.


"Maybe they’ve adopted him. He told me that they wanted to. Oh, I hope that hasn’t happened, but why hasn’t he come back?" the director asked, almost to herself.
"Do you really believe that Patrick is with leprechauns?" the police officer asked.
The director came out her reverie in time to hear those words. She shook her head, as if to revive herself, then told the police officer that she did believe Patrick was with the leprechauns.


"Then I suggest, ma’am, that you wait until he comes back. There’s nothing I can do." the police officer told her.
"You’re right, Officer. I’m sorry to have called you."
"That’s all right, ma’am." With those words, the police officer left.
At the leprechaun’s house, Patrick had fallen asleep. At first, he had been too worried about everybody looking for him at the foster home to sleep, however, soon sleep stole over him until he could no longer keep his eyes open.


When he awoke, Patrick was in a strange room. He was disoriented for a minute, until the events of the previous night came rushing back to him, and he remembered that he had get back to the foster home, but when he went downstairs, he found that the leprechaun who had brought him here had mysteriously vanished, and Patrick didn’t know the way back by himself. He addressed himself to the leprechaun’s wife and learned that the leprechaun had left on a very important, very secret errand; it was so secret that even the wife didn’t know what it was.
At this moment, the leprechaun was at the door of a Mr and Mrs Brian O’Connor. He was thinking of how he could reveal himself to them. Then he had an idea. He would wait until they went to bed, and appear to them as if in a dream.


That night, after Mr and Mrs O’Connor had gone to bed, the leprechaun found his way to their bedroom, roused them out of a sound sleep and then began to sing Patrick’s praises. As the leprechaun had hoped, the couple thought they had been dreaming. The next morning, the following conversation ensued :
"I had the strangest dream last night, Brian." the woman whose name was Kathy told her husband.
"So did I. Let’s hear it. Then I’ll tell you mine." Brian promised.
"I dreamt that I saw what looked to be a leprechaun, and he was telling me about a twelve-year-old boy by the name of Patrick who had been abandoned at birth, and craved a family to give him love and attention, and then this leprechaun began to tell me how happy Patrick would be if he had this love and attention and finally he told me that I could find Patrick at the Ottawa Home For Boys."


"I had the exact same dream, Kath. I wonder what it means."
"Maybe if we go to this foster home later today, we’ll find out. Maybe this leprechaun wants us to adopt Patrick. Oh, Brian, wouldn’t that be wonderful? You know how I’ve always wanted a child, and since we can’t have any children of our own, adoption might be the only answer. Let’s go to this foster home later today."


"All right, Kath. But if it looks like it won’t work out with this Patrick, I don’t want you getting upset if I suggest we adopt a younger child."
"But why did God make us have the same dream if He knew it wouldn’t work out?" Kathy asked.
In the late afternoon, the leprechaun, who had overhard the O’Connors’ conversation, suddenly appeared in his home. By this time, Patrick was quite comfortable, at least as comfortable as he could be in the tiny house, and he wasn’t at all worried anymore that everybody was searching for him at the foster home.


When the leprechaun found Patrick, the latter was in the kitchen with the former’s wife, and they were making cookies. They looked up from their work when the leprechaun came in.
"I have good news for you, Patrick." the leprechaun told him, beaming.
"What is it?" Patrick asked.


The leprechaun told Patrick of his errand, and of the conversation he had overheard.
"But honey, I thought it had been decided that we would adopt Patrick." the leprechaun’s wife told him, her face falling as she heard the news.
"My dear, Patrick should be adopted by a family in his world, so he can have the opportunity to go to school, and make friends."


"Can’t I do that here?" Patrick asked.
The leprechaun explained to Patrick that there was no school; all the children learned at home, and he also needed to make friends his own age, and more importantly, his own size; not friends less than three inches high, three inches being the full height of a leprechaun.
When Patrick said that he already had friends, the leprechaun asked him why he wanted to leave them.


The leprechaun finally convinced Patrick that going back to the foster home was really the best thing to do, so the leprechaun took him back.
Soon after they got back, and Patrick had made himself known to the director, Mr and Mrs O’Connor walked in and asked for a boy named Patrick. The director wanted to know what they wanted with him, and when they explained the situation, the director led them to Patrick’s room.


"Patrick, this nice couple may be interested in adopting you, so be on your best behaviour." the director cautioned, then left the room.
"Do you really want to adopt me?" Patrick asked, "Why?"
"Well, we’re lonely, and we think a nice twelve-year-old boy would help ease the loneliness." Kathy explained, without going into the particulars of her and Brian’s dream.
"I’m twelve." Patrick cried, jumping off his bed, where he had been lying.
"We know. The director just told us." Brian lied. He realized how bizarre the dream sounded, and he wanted to give Patrick a good first impression of himself and Kathy.


"Maybe we should tell him our names." Kathy whispered to her husband, during an awkward pause.
"You’re right." Brian whispered back. Aloud he said,
"Patrick, I’m Brian, and this is my wife Kathy." At Brian’s nod, Kathy took up the conversation.
"We’d be honoured if you would let us adopt you."
Even though Patrick knew the conversation might come to this, he was so surprised that it had come so quickly that all he could do was nod. When he found his voice, he told the couple in front of him that he would like that very much.


A few months later, Patrick was officially adopted and he became Patrick O’Connor, and he learned to trust more and more people, as he grew older, thanks in part to the leprechaun who had given him his first lesson in trusting people.