For the first time in years, Sean woke up without the voice of Lily demanding that he get out of bed. Even with his eyes closed, he could tell that the room was much brighter than normal. He yawned and said, "I must have left the light on last night."
Upon opening his eyes, he glanced at the clock and saw that it was after seven in the morning.
He couldn't remember ever being allowed to sleep that late. Surprised, he sat up in bed and said, "I wonder if Lily is okay."
Feeling much more awake than usual, he got out of bed and dressed. Leaving his room, he stopped and looked in Lily's room. She was still asleep in bed with a peaceful expression on her face. He watched her sleep for a minute, but his bladder made its demands known. He headed to the bathroom. The massive quantities of soda that he had consumed the previous evening took a long time to leave his system. He zipped up and washed his hands.
Walking into the kitchen, he found his mother seated at the kitchen table working over a stack of papers. He said, "I can say for once that this is indeed a good morning."
"The day is almost over," his mother said absently.
"This is a perfectly reasonable time to wake up," Sean said.
His mother looked up from her work and said, "When it gets hard, use your pants and willpower on it."
"That's not what I said," Sean replied rolling his eyes. He had a feeling that he was going to be hearing a lot of comments like that.
"That's right. It was use your willpower to get it hard and then bust out of your pants," his mother said laughing.
Protesting, Sean said, "I was half asleep."
"You must not have been that tired, you got up and cleaned the backyard last night," his mother said. She had been surprised at how neat and clean everything was when she woke that morning.
"Uh, I don't remember doing that," Sean said wondering how she would react to the news that it was probably Brownies who had cleaned up the mess.
"Someone cleaned it up and it wasn't me or your father. We were a little busy last night," his mother said with a private little smile.
That clinched it for Sean. It was definitely Brownies who cleaned up the mess. Sean asked, "Are we having another movie night tonight?"
"Of course," his mother answered. She looked over at him and said, "You will run the projector and Suzie will run the concession stand. You might want to make sure that you keep it in your pants. Her father was a little upset at finding you groping her."
"I wasn't groping," Sean protested.
"Groping, fondling, squeezing, massaging, and generally appreciating a girl's breasts are all the same to a father," his mother said brightly.
"I was asleep," Sean said.
"That's a poor excuse for letting your lust run rampant," his mother said.
"I give up," Sean said. He eyed the stack of papers and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I've been researching Leprechaun traps," his mother said.
"You believe Liam is a Leprechaun?" Sean asked.
His mother answered, "Of course, I'm part Irish."
"There's no Irish in our family," Sean said surprised by the claim.
"I know, I just feel Irish this morning and that makes me part Irish," his mother said dismissing his objection.
Knowing that arguing wouldn't do any good, Sean asked, "So what did you find?"
"Most of these traps are just too small," his mother said. She lifted a sheet of paper and said,
"This one says to use a shoebox. Can you imagine that Leprechaun trying to fit in a shoebox?"
"Ah, no," Sean said.
"This is going to be tricky," his mother said looking over another sheet of paper.
"I imagine," Sean said thinking that he should probably warn Liam that his mother was taking up the hunt.
She said, "You have to understand your prey in order to catch it."
"That's a good start," Sean said.
"Did you know that Leprechauns are cobblers?" his mother asked.
"Desserts are in high demand," Sean said with a smile.
His mother looked over at him and saw his smile. Ignoring his comment, she said, "I need some bait. I think I've got a pair or two of shoes that need to be repaired."
"I've heard Dad describe your shoe collection in terms of tonnage," Sean said. One night his father had created a shoe train that extended from his mother's closet and ran all of the way out the backdoor.
"Posh! He's always exaggerating," his mother said dismissively.
"He's not the only one in this family with a propensity to exaggerate," Sean said.
His mother said, "I remember reading how the tendency to exaggerate was tied to the Y chromosome."
"You don't have a Y chromosome," Sean said.
"I know," his mother said smiling at him.
Giving up, Sean said, "I guess I had better eat breakfast."
"Do you work today?" his mother asked.
"I don't know," Sean said scratching the back of his head.
His mother said, "You haven't had a day off since you started that job."
"I hadn't realized that," Sean said. He had spent a week painting the building when no one else was around. Before that, he had worked a couple of days and then had worked yesterday in the kitchen.
"You're supposed to have a day off occasionally," his mother said.
"I'll ask Mr. Catchums about it," Sean said grabbing a cereal bowl.
Lily came out of her bedroom rubbing her eyes. She saw her mother seated at the table and, in a very surprised tone of voice, said, "I'm not an orphan."
"Of course you aren't," her mother replied looking at her surprised. She asked, "Did you have a bad dream?"
"No. I thought you would be busy trying to catch Liam," Lily answered.
"Oh. I imagine that we'll have him by the end of the week," his mother said confidently.
Lily looked over at Sean and said, "It is you and me against the world."
"Do you want some cereal?" Sean asked.
"Yes," Lily said. She looked at her mother and said, "I'll have the one with the Leprechaun on the box."
Sean handed her the box of cereal saying, "Here you go."
Lily said, "Mommy, you might want to hold on to this box after I'm done with it."
"Why?"
"I've got a feeling that it is going to be as close as you get to catching a Leprechaun," Lily said solemnly.
"Your faith in me is truly inspiring," her mother said.
"And well deserved," Sean added with a smile.
"Oh, yes," Lily said.
"I'm wounded to the core," their mother said theatrically holding her hands over her heart.
"I'm sure you are," Sean said.
"I guess I better go. Suzie's mother and I are meeting to plan how we're going to catch that Leprechaun," his mother said rising from her seat. She gathered the papers together and straightened them by rapping the edges against the tabletop.
"When will you be home?" Sean asked.
"I'll be here for lunch," his mother answered distracted by the material on the top sheet.
"Where's dad?" Sean asked afraid that he'd have to skip work to watch Lily.
"He's in the living room reading the paper. There's an article that people have reported seeing Fairies and Dwarves in the woods around here. There's another article saying that local officials are worried that there is something in the water affecting the mental health of the people living in this area," his mother answered.
"Is there any chance the two articles are related?" Sean asked.
"I would think not. It makes sense that if there are Leprechauns running around, that Dwarves and Fairies wouldn't be too far away. To think otherwise would be crazy," his mother answered.
"Of course," Sean said.
She smiled and said, "It is going to be a busy news week this week. First there will be the article about my film festival. I have enough material for a whole page. Then there will be the article about how I caught the Leprechaun. I'm sure they'll print up a special edition for that."
Lily poured her cereal and said, "I better eat up. I don't think we're going to get lunch."
It was a little after eleven when Sean showed up at the Dairy King. Mr. Catchums was busy getting the shop ready for another day of business. When he saw Sean come in, he said, "Ah, you're here."
"I thought that is where I was. I appreciate your confirmation of it," Sean said nodding his head in agreement.
Mr. Catchums shook his head thinking it was better just to have the kid working than to spend any time talking to him. He reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a check. He said, "Here's your pay."
"Oh boy! I forgot completely about that," Sean said taking the check. He looked at the check to make sure that his name was spelled correctly. Surprised by the amount, he said, "This is a big check."
"I got an estimate on how much it would cost to paint the place. You earned it," Mr. Catchums said. The amount was slightly less than half of the estimate he had gotten. With the amount he had for Suzie, he had gotten the building painted for about one-third of the price he had been quoted.
"Wow. Maybe I should be a painter," Sean said. He held his arm out with his thumb pointed up like he was some sort of artist.
"I imagine that you'd like a day or two off to take that little lady of yours somewhere," Mr.
Catchums said.
"That would be wonderful," Sean said thankful that he didn't need to bring up the subject of having some time off.
"Hold on," Mr. Catchums said on noticing that someone was already at the service window.
Business had really picked up since the building had been painted.
"Okay," Sean said still looking at his check. It was for a little over eight hundred dollars. He remembered the price of gold and thought, 'This is one more ounce of gold.'
After taking care of the customer, Mr. Catchums returned and said, "It looks like it will be a busy day. Everyone keeps asking if the place is under new management."
"I'm sure that everyone is overjoyed upon learning that I've joined your customer service team," Sean said.
Mr. Catchums nearly choked. Recovering he said, "I need you to work Monday. You're going to be on your own for a while. I'm going to the bank to try to get a loan to improve the business."
"Alright!" Sean shouted. He started doing a little victory dance.
"What?" Mr. Catchums asked taken aback by Sean's rather exuberant reaction.
"I've been on the job for less than a month and I've already been promoted to day manager!"
Sean said.
"Oh," Mr. Catchums said wondering how asking Sean to watch the store for a couple of hours translated into a promotion.
Sean said, "Don't worry Mr. Catchums. I won't let you down."
"Well, I'll see you Monday," Mr. Catchums said shaking his head. He hoped that he wasn't making a mistake.
"I'll be here wearing a suit," Sean said.
"No need. Just wear your regular work clothes," Mr. Catchums said.
"Ah, I get it. Casual Mondays," Sean said.
Ignoring the comment, Mr. Catchums said, "I'd appreciate it if you would tell Suzie that I have a check here for her."
"I'll do that," Sean said.
Another customer came to the window. Mr. Catchums said, "It is going to be a busy day, today."
Sean left the Dairy King and decided to stop at the convenience store for a little conversation and a soda. He would have gone straight to Suzie's house, but he wasn't quite ready to face Mr.
Emery yet. Entering the store, he said, "Hello, Sam."
"Hello, Sean," Sam said looking up from what he was doing. He noticed the splotched white pants Sean was wearing. He asked, "Working today?"
"No. I got the day off," Sean said.
"Lucky you," Sam said. He bent down and scribbled some notes on a piece of paper.
"What are you doing?" Sean asked.
"I'm trying to come up with an ad for my truck," Sam answered.
"Are you trying to sell it or are you advertising the store on it?" Sean asked.
"I'm trying to sell it. I'm going to be leaving for school in three weeks. Since I can't keep a car on campus, I'm going to place an ad in the Saver to sell it," Sam answered. He was returning early to school because he worked in the athletics department to help cover the cost of tuition.
The football team would be starting practice two weeks before the fall semester started.
"How much are you asking for it?" Sean asked thinking that it was fortuitous that Sam had a truck he wanted to sell and that he wanted to buy a car.
"Eight-fifty," Sam answered.
Sean pulled his check out of his pocket and looked at the amount written on it. He sighed and said, "You work and you work, but before you know it you've spent all of your earnings and find yourself in debt."
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked wondering if he really wanted to know the answer.
"I got my first paycheck," Sean said holding it up for Sam to see.
"Oh," Sam said thinking that didn't explain anything.
Looking down at his check, Sean asked, "Would you take eight hundred for your truck?"
Sam frowned at the question and said, "I wasn't expecting to sell it today. The only reason I was working on the ad was that I have to get it in later this week for it to appear in the Saver next week. I figured that it would take at least a week to sell."
"That's okay. I don't need it today; I'd just like to get a car before school starts," Sean said.
"I guess eight hundred would be okay," Sam said thinking that he wouldn't have to pay for the ads or worry about selling it.
"Excellent. I'll have my mechanic check it out," Sean said trying to sound very adult about the sale.
"Your mechanic?" Sam said looking at Sean surprised at the suggestion that he had a mechanic.
He asked, "You have a mechanic?"
"Oh yes. I'm sure that I have a mechanic around here somewhere; I just don't know who it is yet," Sean answered.
"You don't carry one around in your pocket?" Sam asked with a laugh.
Patting the pockets of his pants, he said, "I would, but my pockets are too small."
"So are you really serious about buying my truck?" Sam asked. He was never sure when Sean was serious or not.
"Yes, I am," Sean said. He paused for a minute and then said, "There are lots of trucks parked around here. Which one is it?"
"It is the white one parked in back," Sam answered.
"White? White is a good color for a truck," Sean said.
Sam said, "Well, the passenger door is kind of a gold color."
"That's an interesting choice of color schemes," Sean said.
"It was like that when I bought it," Sam said.
Sean shook his head and said, "Sometimes people have no idea what treasures they are giving away when they sell something. Imagine that; a white truck with one gold door. I bet Detroit didn't make many of them."
"They didn't make it that way. It was in an accident," Sam said.
Sean shook his head and said, "I don't think so. You don't paint a door gold by accident. That sounds like something a person would intentionally do."
"It was a replacement door," Sam said wondering how his conversations with Sean always ended up being like something out of the Twilight Zone.
Nodding his head, Sean said, "This truck is beginning to sound very intriguing. I've never heard of a truck door up and quitting its job. Are there any other major labor disputes in progress that might cause other parts to quit?"
"The truck was in an accident," Sam said. "It is mechanically good, but looks like hell. I bought it at the beginning of summer so that I wouldn't have to walk everywhere. Now I'm selling it."
"Maybe I ought to go look at it."
"That might be a good idea," Sam said rolling his eyes.
Sean went behind the store and found the truck. The body was in pretty bad shape. There were dents, dings, and scratches on nearly every square inch of the body. Even the hood was dented.
It looked like someone had jumped up and down on it. He walked around it a few times and then studied the gold door. He said, "I can always tell Suzie that I am giving her gold door service when I open it for her."
"What are you doing?" Chom asked.
"I'm thinking of buying this truck," Sean answered wondering how Chom had snuck up on him like that.
"Why?" Chom asked.
"So that I won't have to take the bus to school this year," Sean answered.
"Ah," Chom said looking up a Sean. After a long pause, he asked, "What's a bus?"
"Do you remember that big vehicle in the film last night?" Sean asked. He didn't remember if there was actually a bus in either film, but figured the odds were pretty good that there was one.
"Maybe," Chom answered unable to remember any of the details of the film except for that busty actress with the nice name.
"It is one of those," Sean said.
"So why would you want to take one of those buses to school with you?" Chom asked.
"I don't. That's why I'm thinking of buying this truck," Sean answered.
"That makes sense," Chom said nodding his head sagely.
Sean said, "It sure is beaten up."
"It looks like some idiot metal smith let his apprentice take a hammer to it," Chom said shaking his head.
"That it does," Sean said.
Chom walked around the truck pausing to look under it and over it and inside it. Coming back to stand beside Sean, he said, "It would be easy to fix that. Any halfway decent metal smith could have that straightened out in ten minutes."
Pip joined them and said, "I could do it in five minutes."
"It would only take me two minutes," Chom said.
"On second thought, I could do it in a minute," Pip said.
"I could do it in half a minute," Chom said.
"I could snap my fingers and it would be done," Pip said.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Then do it," Chom challenged.
"I will," Pip said.
The pair stood there for half a minute with Chom tapping his foot impatiently. Finally, Chom asked, "When?"
"When I feel like it," Pip answered crossing his arms.
"Do you feel like it now?" Chom asked.
"No," Pip answered.
A few seconds later, Chom asked, "Do you feel like doing it now?"
"No."
Sean listened to the bickering and then said, "I'm going to go get a soda."
"Soda?" Chom asked looking over at Sean with renewed interest.
Looking up at Sean, Pip asked, "Is that the beverage that you served at the party last night?"
"Yes," Sean answered.
"We'll fix the metal on this carriage for a soda," Chom said.
"Two sodas. One for each of us," Pip said pointing a finger at the two of them.
"Can you fix it?" Sean asked.
"Of course we can," Pip answered insulted that his ability should be questioned.
"We're Dwarves! We're the best metal smiths in the world," Chom said proudly.
"Okay. After I buy the truck, you can give it a try," Sean said wondering if he was making a mistake. Of course, it would be pretty hard to make it look worse than it was. He took another walk around the truck looking it over.
"Aren't we going to get a soda?" Chom asked impatiently.
"Come on," Sean said heading towards the store.
"What's going on?" Liam asked joining the little parade.
Chom answered, "Sean is buying us sodas."
"I like sodas. Can I have one?" Liam asked.
"We're fixing his carriage in exchange for the sodas," Chom said.
Liam said, "I can fix his carriage, too."
Sean asked, "What can you do?"
"I'm a cobbler. I can do the leatherwork," Liam said.
"Okay," Sean said thinking it would be nice to have an all leather interior.
"What's up?" Clea asked joining the small group.
Chom answered, "We're putting together a team to repair Sean's truck."
Wondering what everyone was doing here, Sean said, "Don't you have anything better to do?"
"No," Pip answered.
"Thur and I are the best Dwarves at working with mechanical things," Clea said.
Pip said, "He's buying us sodas for being on the team."
"Who is Thur?" Sean asked.
"I am," the Dwarf Sean had never met said. He was a little shorter than Pip, but about twice as round. The overall appearance was of a rather cheerful individual.
"It is nice to meet you, Thur. I'm Sean."
"I told you he was polite," Chom said nudging Thur.
"You did. Yes, you did. I remember you telling me that," Thur said.
"I take it you're joining the team," Pip said.
"What team?" Thur asked.
"We're going to fix his truck," Liam said.
"I have really wanted to take one of those metal chariots apart. I'm glad to see that I'll have my chance now," Thur said rubbing his hands together excitedly.
"Hold on," Sean said watching another Dwarf and Leprechaun as they arrived.
"I'm joining the team, too," Clea said raising her hand.
"I'm Grum," the Dwarf said.
"I'm Agar," the Leprechaun said with a wave of his hand.
"It is nice to meet you, Grum and Agar. I'm Sean."
"They've got to join the team, too," Thur said.
Sean looked around at all of the magic folk. He said, "Okay, you are members of the team, too.
Are we missing anyone?"
"No. This should be enough to fix up that little truck," Chom said.
"What truck?" Grum asked.
"That one over there," Crom answered.
Grum looked in the direction of the truck. Shaking his head in disgust, he said, "It looks like some idiot metal smith let his apprentice take a hammer to it."
"I said the same thing," Crom said patting Grum on the back.
Grum said, "Great minds think alike."
Eyeing the truck with interest, Clea said, "I can't wait to get started on it."
"You're going to have to wait. I haven't bought it yet," Sean said. He didn't think Sam would appreciate finding his truck taken apart when getting off of work.
Chom cleared his throat and said, "Speaking of buying things, you said you were going to buy all of us sodas."
"I guess I did," Sean said grabbing the handle of the door to the store.
Sam looked up at Sean and took in the herd of little people that followed him into the store. He had never seen so many people with beards. Looking over at Clea, he realized even the women had beards. He said, "I see that you brought some of your friends in with you."
"Uh, they're my mechanics," Sean said even as the Dwarves and Leprechauns dispersed across the store.
Chom held up a can of soda and shook it. He shouted, "There's water inside this and there's no hole."
Thur said, "I think if you pull that little thing on the top that it will open."
It was too late to prevent the inevitable by the time Sean realized what was happening and shouted, "Don't!"