The Little Boy and The Little Creature

It was dawn, and the first beams of sunlight began to glimmer over the rolling hills and flow through the curtains of the Little Boy's bedroom when he first began to stir. The sunlight kissed his rosy cheeks good morning and brought a delicate warm feeling to his heart. The Little Boy smiled to himself, rolled over to face away from the increasing brightness of the sun, and tried to regain some of that early morning comfort that came from being snuggled up in his bed. He quickly shifted back to face the sun and lightly blinked his eyes; his delicate eyelids fluttered softly in the early morning light, and he watched the sun rise higher into the sky. He wished he could stay in bed longer. Despite his desire to remain in bed, the sun was still exceptionally low when he left his bedroom to walk through the fields.

This particular little boy didn't exactly like being up early, in fact he rather disliked it, and if his parents were to ever attempt to wake him at such an hour (not that they ever woke so early), he would refuse and quite likely throw a tantrum. All that said, this little boy had an idea. He had an idea that was caught in his head, one that would not leave on its own or without a fight. All though he would never speak of the idea, it had gripped him tight and reigned over his thoughts and actions. The Little Boy walked through the dew covered fields with his eyes closed and his hands hovering at his sides, he scanned the ground with his palms. He intended to find every patch of clovers that existed within the fields of his home.

Slowly he found each patch of clover; it was at this point that he would drop to his knees and run the palms of his hands over the patch, occasionally ripping the fourth leaf off of a newly discovered four leaf clover. He would bring the fourth leaf close to his face for inspection, then gently place it deep in his pants pocket and it was thusly that he continued to work through the field until he returned back to his bedroom before his parents had awoken.

This Little Boy was privy to very private information; information that had been guarded and protected for millennia. He had stolen the information and continued to keep the secret. No one would ever be able to take the secret from him, he had already firmly decided this.

The Little Boy worked for an undetermined amount of time. Whether it was a quick frolic through the fields, or a long laborious task, he would never be able to understand. The Little Boy was beyond time, he was so euphoric in his mission. Regardless of the time, the Little Boy returned to his room with plenty of time before his parents were due to wake.

Once the Little Boy returned to his bedroom, he delicately placed his leaves into a violet satin bag with gold trim and embroidered silver symbols, which was already full of leaves. The Little Boy smiled. Today he had finally collected enough leaves in his bag to surprise his mother in the late evening. He thought about the day and what the schedule would be like. “Yes,” he thought to himself, “today is the day.”

The Little Boy returned to his bed, and snuggled up within the blankets. He drifted between consciousness for the next twenty minutes before his parents rose from their beds and began to make breakfast. Once the sweet smell of freshly cut fruits and bacon began to waft into his room, his Mother finally came to wake him.

“Get up sweetie pie, breakfast is almost ready.” The Little Boy's Mother gently hummed into his hair as she gently pressed a kiss into his head. “You'll want to eat it while it's fresh.”

The Little Boy squirmed in his bed as his mother began to pull the covers away. “No,” he groaned, “I don't want to get up! It's too early!” The Little Boy tried to roll over and pull the blankets over himself again, but his mother was far too experienced at this game to allow that.

“Come on sweetie, your Father made your favourite.” His Mother softly hummed as she folded the blankets in her arms.

The Little Boy knew his Mother wouldn't relent until he stepped out of his bed and followed her into the kitchen. Despite having known this, the Little Boy continued to protest until his mother gently wrapped her loving arms around him to pick him up and put him down out of bed and in the doorway. The Little Boy pouted sullenly and marched down the hallway with deliberation. Each step he took was a stomp in defiance, he folded his arms over his chest. He wanted everyone to know just how displeased he was.

Upon arriving in the kitchen the Little Boy's Father looked at his son with a giant smile on his face and said, “Still not a morning person, eh little guy?”

The Little Boy shook his head with great exaggeration and went to take a seat at the table.

“What, no hug for dad?” His Father protested with a mock pout. For a single moment the Little Boy's resolve to be unhappy waned and he nearly smiled. It was only for a moment, then his mouth quickly turned down into a frown with his bottom lip stuck as far out as it would go and the little boy walked across the kitchen to give his father a hug. The Little Boy was so short he could only wrap his arms around his Father's knees. After the little boy released his grip the Father picked up the Little Boy and hugged him closely. The Father rubbed the Little Boy's back until the Little Boy began to smile again. The Father continued to hold the little boy with one arm, resting most of the boy's weight on his hip as he continued to cook breakfast.

“let's ask Mommy if she can bring us some basil from the garden.” The Father whispered to his son.

“Mommy, will you get some basil?” The Little Boy asked with a timid smile.

“Would you get us some basil, what?” The Father suggested.

“Would you get us some basil, please. Mommy?” The Little Boy corrected himself.

The Mother smiled sweetly and said, “Yes, sweetie, I most certainly can.” She then turned and left the kitchen to retrieve the basil from the garden. It wasn't long before she returned to the kitchen with a handful of freshly picked basil leaves. She went to the sink and began to gently rinse them in cool water.

“All right,” the Father said as he released his child, “go sit down, I'll bring you your breakfast.”

The Father was always all smiles and sunshine, not much could get under his skin. It was always this way, even when the Father had to work ten hour shifts of intensive labor. The Father knew what he was working for, and it always kept him happy. Even back when the Mother and Father had no children, no son and the Mother rarely ever got to see her husband. She was able to endure the long hours alone in the middle of nowhere because when she did see him he would always be so happy and they would talk about all the plans they had together until they both fell asleep.

Now the Mother and the Father had everything they had ever wanted, they had a home with a beautiful lot of land, they had a beautiful happy child, and they had each other. That was all they really needed and all they ever wanted. They even had some good friends who were just a short walk into town. They had achieved their perfect life, and nothing would take that away from them.

The Little Boy ran to his seat and sat down with a big smile on his face. Watching his Father cook always brought joy to the Little Boy's heart. The Father placed three plates of food on the table and everyone who had yet to take a seat took their allotted seat. The family ate in silence, they liked to enjoy every bite of food, and enjoy one another’s silent company.

Once everyone had finished eating the food on their plate the Father stood up and took the family's dishes to the sink. The Mother stood and dried the dishes as the Father washed them. The Father asked everyone how they were doing and how their week had been. A smooth and natural conversation began. The Little Boy even asked if they could go on a walk.

“Sure, sweetie. Right after me and Dad finish the dishes, we can all go for a walk.” She turned her head and smiled sweetly at her son while she continued to dry dishes.

“No, Mommy. I was thinking just the two of us could go for a walk before bed time.” The Little Boy rested his face in his hands as he playfully kicked his legs beneath the table.

The Mother smiled at her beautiful child, so gentle and kind. She loved that both she and her husband had a close and special bond with their child; each being different, but just as important. “I'd love to, but it's not safe to go out so late right now. Maybe we could go if Dad comes with us?”

The Father of the boy smiled and was about to say that he liked the idea, but the Little Boy shook his head adamantly. “No, I want to go for a walk with you, Mommy! Only with you!” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the ground. He refused to have anything but his own way.

Both parents looked at their child with concern in their eyes. It wasn't normal for their son to be so easily upset. “Are you okay?” The Father cautiously asked.

“You don't look so well.” The Mother added in as she knelt down next to her son's seat and she delicately placed the back of her hand on his forehead. The Little Boy calmed himself slightly, he didn't want to see his parents upset. “You don't feel hot.” His Mother said with added comfort in her voice, she then turned to look at her husband and shrugged. “How about we go for a small walk now, get you some fresh air. Then after that, you can have a nap?” She smiled in a reassuring way then looked over her shoulder and suggested to her husband that he make the little boy some tea. Tea could cure anything she would always say.

The Little Boy consented to a walk then nap after he finished his tea. While they were on their walk there was a strange and stale air that stagnated over them. The Mother and Father found it stifling, but the Little Boy didn't seem to notice.

Upon returning to their home after a quick fifteen minute walk, the Little Boy seemed to be feeling a little better. His cheeks were once again rosy pink, and his eyes sparkled anew with wonder and delight. The Little Boy wanted to play outside for a while, but the Mother decided it would be best to err on the safe side of caution. She immediately put her son to bed and told him to try to sleep, worst case he could come out in half an hour. The Little Boy nodded and he snuggled back into his bed, he did his best to regain the warmth and comfort the covers had previously held.

The Mother and Father returned outside to complete their chores. They even decided to do the Little Boy's chores for him as well. They had a bad feeling, and were deeply worried for him. While they worked at their chores they discussed the Little Boy's behavior and the possible causes.

After having been gone from his parent’s sight under the excuse of a nap which seemed to have lasted a few hours, the Little Boy rejoined his parents outside. Upon arriving outside, the Little Boy noticed that all his chores had already been done. The Little Boy asked his parents about this, they said that since he seemed to be feeling so unwell that they did the chores for him. It's okay if he has a day off every once in a while to take care of his health. They then told him that he was free to go and play if he was feeling well enough.

The Mother felt slightly anxious about this. She wanted him to brush his teeth before he went to play, she thought she would be able to resist the urge to have him brush his teeth, but she could not. She wanted him healthy, and she knew proper dental hygiene was an important factor to that. She told him to go inside and brush his teeth before he could go and play. The Father seemed entertained by this, the Mother tried to hide her embarrassment. The Little Boy looked frustrated and went inside to brush his teeth.

The Little Boy's irritation seemed to have grown when he returned outside. He picked up a stick that he used to throw around for his little pet puppy while it was alive. He frowned at it and looked up at his parents, “I miss Jo-Jo.” The parents nodded and attempted to comfort him, but the Little Boy simply walked away with the stick in hand.

At lunch the Little Boy returned, with such an expression and demeanor that the parents couldn't decipher whether or not the Little Boy had improved. They had decided that it was probably the recent disappearance of their pet that had bothered the Little Boy so much. They decided that it was probably a good thing that they hadn't told him about how they had found him. Such details would only upset the Little Boy further.

…

It had been about a month before when the Little Puppy had disappeared. There had already been a few animal disappearances reported in the general area. However, this was the first time it had directly affected their family, and the first time it had been a pet and not livestock. The Little Puppy had disappeared in the late evening after the family had gone to bed. In the morning they initially thought nothing of it. But when the dog failed to return home by the next evening they grew suspicious. The next morning the Father went out looking for the Little Puppy while the Mother stayed at home and attempted to try to comfort the upset Little Boy.

When the Father returned he took the Mother to the side and informed her of what he had found. The Little Puppy had been killed and mauled, possibly by some wild animal. What the Father had found deeply disturbed him, so he decided against going into too much detail with the Mother, and suggested that they tell the Little Boy that the Little Puppy had simply ran away. The Father then retrieved his shovel and went to bury it in an area where hopefully the Little Boy wouldn't accidentally discover it.

...

Despite being so upset the Little Boy ate with a healthy appetite. This calmed the parent's nerves slightly. After finishing his meal, the Little Boy decided he wanted to go outdoors as soon as possible. The Little Boy even had a smile on his face. “Feeling better, are we?” The Father asked the son.

The Little Boy nodded with a smile and announced that he was working on an exciting new project that he couldn't wait to show them. Slowly the parents started to feel relieved; their child was back to his old self. He always had some project or another that he was working on. The parents have seen many sand castles and muddy structures that the Little Boy had built for the local insects and “fairies”.

The Little Boy quickly marched off into the forest that surrounded the family's fields. He was gone until dinner. The family ate happily and discussed the activities of their day. By the end of the meal the Little Boy decided to ask one more time, “Mommy, could we please go for a walk tonight? I really want to go for a walk with you.”

Both the Mother and Father looked extremely uncomfortable; they looked at each other before looking back at the Little Boy. The Mother was the first to respond, “No, sweetie, I told you already. I don't think it's a good idea. It's not safe right now. There's been wild animals around in the night lately, and animal control has yet to capture any of the beasts.”

Again, this seemed to deeply upset the Little Boy. The Little Boy's face took a pale turn and he seemed to be slightly out of breath. The Mother quickly spoke up, “Don't worry though, we're all safe inside. Nothing can get us in here.” the Father sent a slightly reproaching look towards his wife. She should know that they have to be careful of what they say in front of their son. He was very easily upset, especially after the disappearance of their puppy.

After dinner the Mother sent the Little Boy to go brush his teeth. He very nearly refused, he tried to bargain with his Mother: a walk in exchange for him brushing his teeth. His Mother was not going to have any of it. She refused and walked him to the washroom where she stood just outside the door and watched him brush his teeth. Then she took him to bed and tucked him in, the Father joined moments later and they told him stories of fairies and nymphs and leprechauns.

When the Father brought leprechauns into the story the Little Boy's mood turned visibly for the worse. “Leprechauns are liars and cheats.” The Mother couldn't help but laugh at this, which made the Little Boy all the more irritated. “They'll do anything to hide the truth! You have to rip it from them!” the Little Boy exclaimed in a fit. The Mother began to hush the child and slowly she managed to calm him. The Little Boy continued to try to explain his views to his Father, so the Mother ended up ushering him out of the room until she could calm her son down.

Eventually she managed to calm her son down, and he fell asleep with an unsettled expression on his face. She suspected he was having bad dreams, but feared waking him should he get even more upset. She left the Little Boy's room and closed the door gently behind her. The Father had been waiting outside the door for her, “What was that about?”

The Mother shrugged, “I don't know. I really just don't know, it doesn't make sense.” She held back tears and her husband embraced her. “Maybe it's because of Jo-Jo. He didn't seem too bothered by it when it happened. But I just figured that was because he was too young to really understand. I don't know though, maybe he's just bottled it up, maybe it really bothered him, but he's only now showing it?” She looked up at her husband through bleary eyes.

The Father pulled his wife closer and rubbed her back, “I don't know darling, but we'll figure it out.” He paused for a moment, “I promise.”

That night, after they had finished the dishes, the parents of the Little Boy went to their room with an unsettled feeling that laid over them thick and heavy. They had a few hushed conversations about what they could do to help their child and what the cause was. By now, both parents had agreed that it was probably the “disappearance” of Jo-Jo. They wondered if the Little Boy had found the corpse of his lost Little Puppy in the woods. If he had accidentally dug that up then they would be able to understand his current moodiness.

“But how could he have dug up Jo-Jo? He doesn't know where I buried him.” The Father protested in hushed tones.

“Maybe he didn't dig it up though, maybe it was a wolf or whatever? It could have smelled him and dug him up. That's a thing that could happen, isn't it?”

The Father shook his head, “No, I don't think so. I buried him deep, I didn't want him to get dug up!” The Father was getting a little too agitated, and the Mother worried that his voice would carry into the child's room. Gently she placed a finger over both their lips as she silently hushed him. The Father nodded and they continued the discussion until they heard the outside door open and slam shut.

Abruptly both parents sat upright in their beds and the Mother even leaped out of bed and began calling her child. The Father quickly followed suit. The Mother had already checked the room and was heading out the door by the time the Father arrived at the Little Boy's room. He stood there in shock for a few moments as he gazed at the child's empty bed.

The Mother had decided on the direction towards the forest, she ran through the woods as fast as she could. She barely managed not to trip on every of the various stumps, fallen logs and lifted roots that were scattered across the forest floor. She fell a few times, but each time she did she would get up and somehow run even faster. Her child was in danger and there was nothing that would stop her from protecting her beautiful Little Boy. Each step she took brought her more and more determination.

'Surely he's not gone!' the Father thought to himself, 'he can't be! He can't just be gone!' The Father frantically searched the room of the child, checking the closet and everywhere else he could think of before running out the door in the opposite direction of his wife.

The Father had decided on the direction that led across their fields. He ran across them in a very listless manner. He changed directions regularly and would often stop and look around helplessly. He wasn't seeing anything, he couldn't see anything. Tears streamed down his cheeks as rain started to pour down over his fields, his house, his wife, and everything dear to him in his life. He wanted to collapse, and scream, but he knew he had to be strong for his son.

The Father decided to change his tactic, he ran along the borders of each of his fields, looking left and right for any movement. He did his best to keep his heart rate and anxiety levels from rising too high for thought. Eventually the Father saw some movement in one of his more distant fields. The Father immediately, without thinking ran to it. He cried out in horror upon seeing it, it was covered in blood and about the size of his son. With similar wounds to the various animals that had been killed recently. Only these were much neater. The Father knelt down and grabbed the Small Child in his arms and cradled it. He wept harder than he had ever throughout his entire life. He ran his hands through the small boy's hair and realized it was not the right colour to be his son's.

…

The Little Boy had hid himself in a tree's ragged roots by the gentle stream while he waited for his parents to arrive and help him. He knew his parents would find him, and he sat quietly so as to be sure that nothing else could find him.

The Father couldn't help but smile, for all he knew his son was still okay. He immediately scolded himself at the idea, this poor Small Child was someone's cherished one. Some poor parent would have to be informed of their child's brutal and bloody death. He continued to weep, “I'm so sorry, what's your name? Is there anything I can do for you? Where are your parents?”

The Small Child's mouth slowly began to move as though he was about to say something. The Father listened eagerly and attentively. You can not imagine the horror of the father when the voice that croaked out of the little creature's lips was deep, low, gravelly and had so much anger in it that the Father could feel his own heart growing cold. The sounds that what he had thought had been a Small Child had made could surely not be human. The Father immediately dropped the Little Creature and shuffled backwards a few paces. The Little Creature scrambled to his feet and, to the Father's surprise, attacked.

The Mother soon arrived at the stream and changed direction running up the stream instead of crossing it. It wasn't very long before she felt something grab her left leg and she fell to the ground with a harsh thump. She was ready to kick whatever may have grabbed her when she saw it was her Little Boy. She grabbed him and pulled him close, kissing his face multiple times. She rubbed the Little Boy's hair out of his face and kept muttering “Don't you ever do that to me again, don't you ever. I was so scared.” She couldn't stop herself, she kept repeating those words over and over as she picked her Little Boy up and began to walk towards their home.

The Father had his hands full with the childlike Little Creature. He scrambled in the wet and soggy fields to find a footing. Both participants up-rooted the grass and clover as they wrestled in the mud. Eventually the Father escaped the grasp of the vicious childlike creature and ran as fast as he could towards the forest. The Little Creature was fast on his pursuit, nearly tackling the Father several times only to miss due to the blood that disturbed his vision.

It wasn't long before the Father reached the forest, albeit longer than he would have preferred. He picked up one of the old rotting fallen logs that laid on the forest floor and smashed it over the Little Creature's head. The Little Creature stumbled and fell, the Father didn't stick around to see if it would stay down. Instead he ran as fast as he could, calling out for his wife.

The Mother could hear her husband calling out to her, she called back to him. “We're over here, we're okay!” she shouted as loud as she could. She wasn't sure if he could hear her. The Little Boy who rested in her arms, stayed silent, his blue eyes watching the happenings all around him.

The Father couldn't hear his wife over his own shouts, he called for her to run. The Mother was startled by hearing this. “We have to go back.” the Little Boy said so quietly that the Mother nearly didn't hear it.

The Mother was surprised, “Your father needs us. We have to go to him.”

“He'll catch up, Mommy. Don't worry about Daddy, he'll catch up.” The Little Boy seemed so sure in this notion that the Mother decided to go back to where they were. She decided that if her sweet Little Boy had been able to hide there for as long as he did without being harmed, that surely they could hide there a little longer.

The Father reached the river and found himself nearly drowning in it. The Little creature had tackled him from behind and shoved his face into the cool water as hard as he could. The Father managed to get his hands beneath him for support then pushed off and landed on his back with the Little Creature pinned beneath him. The Little Creature squealed and bit the Father who then cried out in pain. He reached behind his head and managed to jab one of the Little Creature's eyes. The Little Creature released the Father and tumbled toward the ground.

From a distance, the Mother and Little Boy could hear the Father's screams amidst strange noises and splashing. The Mother tucked the Little Boy farther into the roots and made a silent hushing gesture to him and gestured for him to stay there. The Little Boy nodded and his Mother started to run down the stream towards the strange sounds. She arrived in time to find her husband being drowned by some little bloody creature. She screamed and grabbed a handful of the Little Creature’s hair with one hand, and its legs with the other. She smashed its head into the river rocks and shoved its head underwater until the bubbles stopped rising. She cried hot sticky tears as she shuddered and gasped for breath. She felt like her entire chest was about to collapse in on itself. She didn't release the Little Creature's body, she continued to hold it under the water.

“Honey, I think it's dead.” The Father put his hand on his wife's shoulder in an attempt to console her.

The Mother shook her head, “it isn't! I know it isn't! I know this little bastard isn't dead.” She continued in a loop of “it isn't, it isn't dead. Evil doesn’t die so easily. I know it.” for a few minutes but what felt more like an eternity before the Little Creature began to thrash and jerk again, she pushed the Little Creature farther into the water and screamed at her husband to “GRAB A ROCK AND SMASH IT'S FUCKING HEAD IN!” Her voice was shrill with terror, but her husband immediately obliged and began to smash the Little Creature's head with a rock.

After both parents' faces were thoroughly splashed with a mixture of the Little Creature's blood, their own sweat, tears and water from the stream; the body went limp and the Mother tentatively released it's corpse. She reached inside the Little Creature's head.

The Father's eyes widened and his complexion took on a sickly pale look. “What are you doing?”

“I have to see!” The Mother seemed irritated and short tempered, she thought it should have been obvious what she was doing.

“What do you have to see?” The Father cautiously continued.

“I HAVE TO MAKE SURE ITS BRAINS ARE SQUISHED!” she shouted, then paused to take a deep breath and regain her composure before she continued. “I have to make sure it's dead.” She looked sternly at her husband, “I have to make sure it can't try to hurt us, our family, or anyone else ever again.” She returned her gaze to the Little Creature's bashed head and shoved her hand in deeper to the skull, “I just, I have to be sure.” She looked back at her husband for a moment and did her best to smile in a reassuring way, only to fail and smile a morbid, disturbed smile that unsettled her husband to his very core.

The Father nodded, with a cold pit growing yet larger in his stomach. He was terrified, shocked, in pain and just flat out exhausted, and despite his fear and nausea he could more or less understand where his wife was coming from. He reached forward, gently took his wife's hands in his own and then rinsed them off in the stream.

“I'm not done!” she began to grow agitated again, “I'm not done! I'm not...” She trailed off when her husband brought her mostly cleaned off fingers to his lips and placed a delicate kiss on the cleanest parts of them.

“I know, watch.” He reached over to the Little Creature’s cadaver and placed his fingers in the wound and strained to force the skull completely open. Brain matter flowed into the cool waters of the stream and he looked up at his wife, “Do you see?” He barely managed to repress the urge to throw up, but he saw that his wife's expression softened momentarily before she manically nodded her head and he decided that he had made the right decision and allowed himself to vomit into the river a few times before continuing on.

The Mother looked lovingly at her husband and told him she had found their child, and that they should go to him now that they were safe. The Father nodded and they took each other's hands and walked towards where the Little Boy was hidden. Their walking pace was just shy of running, they continuously tripped over the different roots and rocks that were scattered along their poor excuse of a path. The Father began to feel the anxiety drain away from his body, clearing a warm place in his chest.

The Mother, however, began to come to terms with what was happening, what had happened and began to feel more panicked than ever. 'What if your Little Boy isn’t where you left him? What if there were more of those Little Creatures? What if one of them got him and he's already dead? And it's all your fault! you left him behind! YOU’RE SUCH A FOOL!' She heard the voice of doubt panicking in her ear. She released her husband's hand and began to sprint to where her Little Boy was hidden.

The Father looked confused and began to shout, “What is it? What is it? Honey, what's wrong?” When his wife gave no answer he began to run after her.

The Mother reached the hiding spot of the Little Boy, she crouched down on all fours to look inside, she saw nothing. She stood up and began to scream at the top of her lungs for her child. When the Father rejoined her he asked what was happening. She couldn't stop yelling for her child but she managed to point at the Little Boy's hiding spot. The Father bent down and looked inside. He saw nothing and said as much. The mother nodded and continued to scream for her child.

Suddenly, very suddenly, the parents heard a rustling in the bushes. Both parents quickly became absolutely silent. They heard the faintest voice “Mommy, Mommy are you there?”

“I'm here sweetie! I'm...” The Mother was cut short by the father placing his hand over her mouth.

With his other hand he made a silent gesture to quiet her, placing his finger against his lips. He then whispered to her, “What if it's a trap?” He glanced in the direction that the little voice was coming from, “What if there are more of those creatures, what if they're trying to draw us out?”

The Mother shook her head, “I don't care. I really don't. My baby needs me. He needs us. I'm going to find him, I don't care what you do.” With a look of disgust on her face she shook free from her husband's grasp and began to march in the direction of her son's voice.

The Father stood listless for a moment; his body twitched slightly with his indecision, he couldn't decide what to do. After a few moments of complete cognitive halt his thoughts began to flow again. He nodded to himself in agreement with his decision then started to run away from where he had heard his son's voice. His plan was to run around and approach from behind, that way if it was a trap he would catch the monsters by surprise and be able to save his wife and son.

The Mother caught up to her Little Boy after four or five minutes. She found him crouched over some bizarre opening; his face was not visible, he dropped the velvet sac into the strange opening. She gently put her hand on the little child's shoulder. “Sweetie, what are you doing? It's dangerous out here. Come with me, we'll go home.”

The Little Boy looked up at his Mother. She took a small step back when she saw the nearly manic smile on his face. “Come closer, Mommy.” The Mother hesitated a moment then slowly drew nearer to her son. The Little Boy put his hand around the back of his Mother's neck. She smiled and put her arm around his back, she was about to pick him up so she could carry him home. Very suddenly, she felt a jarring pain flit across her neck and a warm wetness trickle down her chest. She shuddered and collapsed into the strange opening. The Little Boy then began to continue marking her with a small silver blade in the same manner that the animal mutilations had been committed.

The Father entered the clearing from the far end to see what he could only justify in his mind to be yet another Little Creature that simply looked like his son mutilating his wife. “WHO ARE YOU?” He shouted before he started to run across the clearing towards his endangered wife.

…

A few months before when the Little Boy had been crossing his family's fields, like he usually did, he came across a strange Little Creature. The Little Creature seemed displeased at the fact that it was out in the open during mid day. It kept looking left and right over its shoulders to check it was alone. It seemed to be aware of the Little Boy's presence despite not being able to see the Little Boy directly. It's behavior seemed to alter, it was even more cautious than before. Suddenly the Little Creature ran off across the fields away from the Little Boy. The Little Boy decided he wanted to chase that Little Creature, to see where it was going and what it was. The Little Boy’s Little Puppy Jo-Jo stumbling behind to follow in pursuit.

The Little Boy didn't take long to catch up to the Little Creature. The Little Boy's legs were strong and unimpeded. He reached out to grab the Little Creature, but it quickly turned and swung its walking stick at him. The Little Boy hadn't noticed that the creature had that, but when he thought back to it he realized that the Little Creature's strange movements made much more sense with this information. The Little Boy ducked under the Little Creature's staff and pulled it's legs from beneath it. He pulled the shoes off of the tiny being's feet and began to hit it with them.

The Little Creature did its best to shield itself from the Little Boy, but to no avail. The Little Boy’s Little Puppy had managed to rejoin them and quickly commenced barking at the Little Creature, threatening with exposed teeth to bite at it should it move too much. The Little Boy eventually beat the Little Creature out of consciousness and tied it up with some rope that his Father had given him at some point in the past, the Little Boy could not remember when. He then dragged the Little Creature into the forest, where he would be able to play with it later. In the meantime, the Little Boy ran back across the fields to have lunch with his parents, his puppy following close behind him throughout the entire adventure.

After finishing his lunch with his parents, the Little Boy immediately returned to where he had hidden the Little Creature, this time leaving his puppy to nap at home. When he arrived he found the Little Creature awake. “Release me, child, and I shall reward you with gold of the finest quality. Quality unknown to any man!” The Little Creature tried to bargain with the Little Boy.

The Little Boy looked the Little Creature up and down before he asked, “What are you?”

The Little Creature did not want to respond to the Little Boy's question and instead continued to offer him gold. The Little Boy didn't want the creature's gold, the Little Boy wanted knowledge. His Father had taught him that knowledge was the most important thing. Each time the Little Boy asked the question, the Little Creature would refuse to answer, and the Little Boy would hit the creature. They cycled through these steps for about an hour before the Little Creature screamed and roared after revealing himself to be a Leprechaun, effectively startling away most of the birds overhead.

The Little Boy laughed and hit the creature again. “There's no such thing!” he exclaimed.

The Leprechaun sneered at the Little Boy, “You clearly have such an elaborate grasp on the world. Little child of what, five years? You've barely lived and you barely ever will. You will die before the blink of my eye! I only need to wait.”

The Little Boy was about to correct the Little Creature before he had an epiphany, “How long do leprechauns live then?” he folded his arms over his chest and began to pout.

“We never die.”

“Never say never.” The Little Boy sneered, tone dripping with arrogance.

“I say never!” The Little Creature shouted at the top of his lungs, startling the few remaining birds in the overhanging tree branches.

The Little Boy and the Leprechaun stared at each other in silence for a few moments. “I get five wishes now.”

“For what?” the Leprechaun scoffed.

“For capturing you, I get five wishes now! Those are the rules!” The Little Boy flushed slightly with anger as the Leprechaun began to laugh a wicked laugh.

“That's not how things work. You can continue to beat me if you'd like! I won't die. I can't die. I'll just wait for my friend in the trees to come release me.”

The Little Boy seemed startled for a moment before visibly thinking through the problem. He laughed after a few seconds, “If you had a friend in the trees, he would have let you go already!”

The Leprechaun sneered and looked away. This confirmed the Little Boy's suspicions.

“For my first wish, I want to learn all of your secrets. Every single one of them. I won't let you go until you tell me everything.” The Little Boy sat down in front of the bound Little Creature. This was going to be a long conversation and the Little Boy considered himself to have infinite patience.

It took just over a month before the Little Boy managed to beat the secrets out of the little Leprechaun. Both beings fought each other on whatever front they were able, resentment boiled until neither could stand the sight of the other. Over the span of their conversation the Little Boy had learned much. He now knew that Leprechauns weren't born in the traditional sense, that Leprechauns were rather solitary creatures, and he learned the ways of their magic.

The Little Boy decided he would no longer need so many wishes. Instead his last wish was for proper supplies, which the Little Creature begrudgingly granted him after yet many more weeks of beatings. The only thing left to do was to practice. There were various unsuccessful attempts, various unsuccessful sacrifices, it wasn't until he had used little Jo-Jo that he could even properly use the magic to find the clovers. He learned that there had to be a personal cost to the magic.

…

The Little Boy dropped the knife and looked down at his Mother. He began to shutter and cry. Upon seeing this, his Father who had been running upon the scene slowed and knelt down to his son, “What happened? What happened son?” The Father brushed his Little Boy's blood spattered hair out of his face and tried to wipe the rest of the blood away as best he could. ‘Those damned monsters possessed my Little Boy! They possessed him and made him kill his Mother!’ The Father thought to himself, ‘I may have lost my wife, but I don't have to lose my son too. We will get through this!’ Thoughts burst through his lips, from his mind into reality, “We'll get through this.” The Father began to console his weeping child.

Long claws began to grow from the Little Boy's fingers. He pressed his face farther into his Father's shirt to hide his malicious grin before he abruptly shoved back and slashed his Father's throat. The Father stumbled back and tried to strike out at the child, but failed. The Little Boy directed his Father's body so most of the blood would enter the strange opening in the ground, flowing over his Mother's corpse.

The Little Boy smiled with delight, he could barely contain his excitement. He quickly removed his blood stained clothes and jumped into the strange opening.

…

It was morning when the Little Boy finally crawled out from his strange opening and from under his parents lifeless bodies. When he finally did emerge, his body was much stiffer than it used to be, with skin almost as stiff as shards of bark. His eyes a pale, lifeless blue that almost appeared to be powder, a permanent scowl etched upon his brow. The rain still fell from the heavens, and amongst the scattered rays of dawn grew a rainbow trailing from the strange opening where the little boy stood to above and beyond. The Little Boy reached inside the opening and pulled out his velvet purple sac in which he had placed his clover leaves. He opened the bag and emptied some of its contents into his hand. Gold jangled upon his palm.

What was formerly the Little Boy smiled, there was only one thing left to do. He went to where he had heard the sounds of his escaped prisoner attacking his parents. He faintly remembered the fear that struck him when he had realized his captive had escaped and was attacking his parents. Perhaps his prisoner had truly had a friend in the trees. How late the rescue attempt had been, had there been one at all. He contemplated for a few moments the possibilities and the possible repercussions, but ultimately he decided to let such thoughts pass. He remembered the relief when his parents had killed the creature, sparing him the effort and saving themselves for him. The Former Little Boy found the corpse of the Little Leprechaun and sat next to it. The tiny creature, despite having no mind left, was trying to move, twitching and grasping at nothing. The Little Boy slowly began to eat the Leprechaun until there was no more to eat and the Little Boy had no more room to eat all while humming and singing “is it true you never die?”

…

All clovers were once four leaf clovers, filled with luck and love. Their extra, luck filled leaves harvested for their magic.