Aliens, Critters, and Dinosaurs

Leprechaun Cereal

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Leprechaun Cereal

"New and improved," the box said.

I grinned as I ripped it open. It didn't matter how much improved the cereal was. I'd eat anything so long as it wasn't vegetables.

Mom had made me promise to pour milk on it. I poured a glass, put the milk jug back in the refrigerator, and pierced the wax-paper inner lining of the brand new box.

"Poof!"

I jumped out of my chair and cowered behind it. What was going on? Who'd put a cherry bomb in the box?

Smoke was rising from it. I reached for the phone. Then I blinked. The picture of the leprechaun on the cover of the box was blending with the smoke.

The cloud and the rising image were whirling round and round. The cloud was getting bigger. It was no longer the size of a box of cereal. It was man-sized. I thought about bolting out the front door, but just as I drew my feet together for the pounce forward, smoke-colored eyes formed, and they were staring AT ME!

"AHHHHHH!" I screamed and sprang up. But that's as far as I got. My limbs suddenly froze. "Help!" I screamed a second time, but there was no one to hear me. Mom had left for work hours ago, Dad had left years ago, and the dog wouldn't move until about noon when he finally woke up from gorging on his breakfast.

The smoke cloud drifted toward me. Believe me, if I could have moved at that moment, I'd have sprinted to China (an impossibility since I live in California, but you get the idea.)

"What is your wish, Master?" the smoke cloud with eyes asked.

"Wwwww....wish?" I stuttered out.

"You may have three wishes, Master. You have released me. What would you like?"

"I just want you to go away!"

"I'm sorry," he said, as his cloud thinned out and took over the entire kitchen ceiling. "You must choose three wishes before I can depart."

My knees were knocking, but my brain was processing just fine. It commanded my knees to be quiet.

"Three wishes, huh?" I repeated as if his words were just making first impact. "All right. Let me think about it. Can I move now?" The leprechaun clicked his fingers, and I turned and collapsed down in my chair. I shot a glance at the clock.

With slightly shaky hands, I filled my bowl with cereal, tipped my glass of milk enough to saturate the stuff, and began to munch.

"Are you telling me you're a genie?" I asked.

He laughed like he was in a canyon or something. The echo of it bounced off the rooms and made one of the teacups fall off my mother's antique shelf.

"Shoot. Do I have to use my wishes to pay for what you destroy?" I asked worriedly.

I swear the smoke paled, and a hand he hadn't had a moment before came out of the mist, snapped its fingers, and my mother's teacup was back in place - all in one piece.

I took another bite of cereal and said a quick "thanks" out of the side of my mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," he ordered with a booming voice that made my mother's collage of pictures fall to the ground.

I raised an eyebrow, and he snapped his fingers again.

I was still waiting for an answer. I never expected the tirade that followed about how he was a leprechaun who'd lost his pot of gold. "That's the worst thing that can happen," he told me, "because with a hovering rainbow and no protective magic, leprechauns are fair game for pranksters."

"Hovering rainbow?" I said, choking on some cereal. A couple of sips of milk splashed the problem down. I looked up to see the smoke cloud raining tears.

"Stop it. You're getting the floor wet," I told him.

He sighed and wiped his eyes with another invisible hand that suddenly appeared as he needed it, clicked his fingers, and the floor dried itself.

I stood up, drank the last of my milk, and walked over to the sink to rinse out my dishes while he continued. "A mean genie tricked me into taking his place for a minute, and then he sentenced me to a box of cereal. Do you know how itchy cereal is, and I've been in there for weeks!"

"Gross," I said, wondering if I should have eaten the stuff.

"So what happens when I make three wishes? Don't you have to go back into the cereal box?" I asked.

"Not if I please you. I get to return to my rainbow. If I milk the yellow, I can make more gold. That's how it's done, you know."

He had followed me into the bathroom and was watching me brush my teeth. I spit and rinsed. "You milk a rainbow?" I questioned when I was able to speak again.

He nodded. Half of his head stayed in the hall, and the other half was in the bathroom. It made me queasy to watch.

"Okay," I said, "then you promise there won't be any tricks? You won't turn me into a frog or something if I say the wrong thing?"

He promised. I drew in a deep breath. "First, no more war. Let everyone talk instead of fight."

The leprechaun snapped his fingers and nodded his head for me to go on. I took another deep breath. "My second wish is that everyone who's sick is suddenly well."

Another snap of the fingers and a nod of the head indicated my wish was done. I swabbed the sweat off my forehead and rubbed it on my jeans. "Okay," I said, "My third wish is for you to do my homework so I don't get in trouble today."

Once again he snapped his fingers. Then he nodded and disappeared.

I swung my backpack over my shoulder, went out the front door and locked it. On the way to school I saw a giant rainbow. Most of the yellow was gone. I stopped and took out my homework paper. Then I smiled and continued walking.

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