Mr. McGooski and the Fairie Princess

Mr. McGooski and the Faerie Princess


Mr. McGooski was called...well...Mr. McGooski because the gentle, unassuming soul was a bit muddleheaded, forgetting what he was doing, invariably misplacing things, but always, always charmingly accepting of help from perfect strangers - like you!

It wasn’t that he couldn’t be responsible, or do a good job, but sooner or later he would be seen leaving, only to return once, even twice, for something he had forgotten. Good natured fellows would shake their heads knowingly and murmur under their breath, “Oh, Mr. McGooski.”

His sense of direction was notoriously impaired. One time, in his youth, he traveled for hours driving to a distant destination with a passenger who had fallen asleep. He arrived at a small town in the midst of a snowstorm, kept driving during the night, and when the passenger awoke he discovered McGooski was coming back exactly where they had started out the day before!

If not for Mr. McGooski’s gracious pleas for forgiveness, I dare say there has been many a time when he may have been given...well...a royal punch in the nose!

All that being said, the craft shop where Mr McGooski had worked for a very, very long time had fallen upon bad luck and was sold to a new proprietor, a Mr. I. Arah Picklenose. Picklenose, if the truth be known, had a large nose shaped very much like...well...a pickle!

Picklenose was well known for finding and fixing broken businesses. He...well...had a nose for it! Mr. McGooski - poor fellow - being so discombobulated, paid absolutely no attention to the new owner and merrily continued his habit of being...well...good ol’ Mr. McGooski!

McGooski , don’t you know, was a gifted craftsman, carver, pottery maker, and painter. In the craft store he had a shelf displaying some of his finest works of pottery - adorned with marvelous shapes, patterns and colors - that would often cause people passing by to stop right in their tracks!

In the middle of his exhibit was a special display case where he had placed his most lovely work of art. A vase...well...actually, a "decanter" that looked like a vase, sat there in full view bathed in soft light from a nearby window. It was called a decanter because it had a spout with a stopper to keep things inside that might spill. But this stopper was very, very special. It was shaped like a tiara crown and it would shimmer in the ever-changing sunlight.

Mr. McGooski’s heart was filled with goodness - like yours! He loved crafting this beautiful decanter and toiled night and day to get it just right. It would be a small fib to say he "toiled", because if we do things we love - even though hard - we never think of it as work. Indeed, the Mcgooski's heart was so full it would overflow as he joyfully fashioned the decanter, often causing him to break out in song:

“Upon this gilded vase, a wee faerie shall dwell
prim and bold like wee Tinker Bell
binding all creatures under her spell
with stories of enchantment forever to tell.”

So old Mr. McGooski, addlepated by love, painted upon the decanter a secret and mysterious garden adorned with all manner of delicate flowers near an emerald blue-green pond with water so pure it is said you can see whatever your heart desires just by gazing into the water's crystal clear depths. Bumblebees lit upon the blossoms, gathering the sweet honey necter from flower to flower. Butterflies flitted here and there, rising and falling on the soft summer breeze. Within the pool, near a lilly pad, the snout of a big bullfrog poked out - buggy eyes and all.

A path led away from the pond, inviting the one gently holding the decanter to turn it just a wee bit and there, in regal splendour, stood a tiny, faerie princess. Her fine wings fell to her sides like a soft cocoon, fragile yet always ready to lift her at an instant. Her little bodice was encircled with a delicate golden thread and her white gown reached gently to her itsy bitsy pixie feet covered with teensy weensy slippers.

But what would capture the person looking upon the vase was the faerie’s face, skillfully drawn with an endearing expression by Mr. McGooski, while showing a calm and knowing wisdom - a hint impish - and tiny, tiny eyes that...well...sparkled!

Her golden hair matched her golden shash and, upon my soul, her tiara crown looked just like the very same tiara stopper on the decanter!

Now, as it just so happened, Mr. Picklenose was determined to get rid of the bumbling old Mr. McGooski. Business is business after all! But, being a careful man, he decided to do his homework to be sure he had all the goods he needed on the McGooski. Someone said this McGooski character was a good craftsman but, Picklenose reasoned, good craftsmen are a dime a dozen.

Just in case, Picklenose went into the craft shop after closing looking for Mr. McGooski’s work. “So-So”, he muttered, as he glanced at vases and assorted pottery on the shelf. Just then a tinkling bell, oh so melodious, sounded from a corner display case.

‘What? A musical decanter?”, he mused, suddenly curious. He lifted the decanter, smiling in spite of himself at the gawking bullfrog, then began to turn it as he followed the path. He had placed his other hand on the ornate tiara stopper and had begun to lift it off the decanter when suddenly he saw the faerie princess. He sucked in his breath - he couldn't help it - she winked at him! She did! Fumbling, his trembling hand pulled the stopper free from the bottle and the faerie princess sprang off the decanter with glee as pixie dust poofed out and swirled around his head. She touched Picklenose with her magic wand...well...on the nose!

And, don’t you know, mean Mr. Picklenose became as nice as sweet potato pie (You do like sweet potato pie, don’t you?). Picklenose became the kindest shop owner ever and never once, never ever ever thought of getting rid of good ol’ Mr. McGooski!

In fact, he even gave the McGooski a raise!

And you know what else? Mr. Picklenose became rolly-polly from sharing candy with all the children who came to the craft store. He got so rolly-polly that his nose became not too big, not too little, but...well...just right!

And the little children loved him so much, they gave him a new name. Yup. they called him grandpa Sweet Potato Pie.

And our faerie princess exchanged her tiara for a Queen’s crown and became Queen Lilly of the Enchanted Pond and she now rules over the entire Faerie kingdom. Isn’t that nice?

Faeries, you know, never sleep. They are ever vigilant to help humans in time of need. So, boys and girls, if you get grouchy and mean or do bad things, you may feel a strange pat and tingle up your nose, an urge to sneeze and, if you listen carefully when this happens, you may hear the faint song of a faerie in your ear. Heed it well! Know then that you have faerie dust at work and the faerie is calling you to be kind, patient and loving - a good little boy or girl.

And when you do the right thing, you know...(you do know, don’t you?)...all the faeries will rejoice throughout the Faerie Kingdom and old Mr. McGooski and Grandpa Sweet Potato Pie will sing your praises forever!



Story recorded by Persanoymous Keyboardthumper, esquire, Chief Faerie Scribe Extraordinaire, Faerie Kingdom XXXXIV, Auspicious Reign of Queen Lilly of the Enchanted Pond.

All Rights Reserved to the Crown.