Arthur Brown & The Silver Shamrock

In the Forest

Mr and Mrs Brown lived in a small house by the forest. They lived quite far from all the other houses of the village. They thought themselves to be 'proper' people. They believed that they were unlike the other folk of the village who they thought were lazy and didn't do anything to improve their lives. They thought that everyone ought to work hard and that holidays were just excuses for lazy people to do nothing with their time.

Mr Brown was tall, well-built and had a moustache. He had emerald green eyes and black hair. Mrs Brown was tall, thin, pale and had sea blue eyes. Mr and Mrs Brown kept themselves to themselves and hardly had anything to do with the other folk of the village. They thought that they would become just as lazy as the rest of them if they had anything to do with those at the village of Hillsbury.

The village was surrounded by tall mountains. It was an early morning in the summer and Mrs Brown was preparing breakfast in the kitchen.

"Arthur, come here this instant!" her voice rang through the house. Arthur had just got up and had a wash. When he heard his mother's voice he rushed to the kitchen.

"You called, mom?" he said coming into the kitchen.

"You have begun to turn lazy just like the people out there in Hillsbury village. I will not stand it. Go and fetch some mushrooms from the forest after breakfast." she said as Arthur sat down to eat.

It was bread, butter and jam. Arthur ate his breakfast. He got up and set off towards the forest. The sun was shining bright in a clear pale sapphire blue sky. There were skylarks flying high up in the sky. There was a mild breeze blowing. Tiny white clouds scudded across the sky at a slow pace.

Arthur walked into the forest. The trees cast cool shadows that dappled the floor with patterns of shadows. Inside the forest, the silence was broken by the sound of squirrels and the songs of the birds.

A thrush flew just in front of him. Arthur knew a place where mushrooms grew by an old oak. He set off towards the place with his basket hanging from his hand. Soon he came to the place where the mushrooms grew.

He squatted down beside the mushrooms and started picking them one by one. Soon the basket was nearly full. Then when he tried to get up and set off towards home, he thought he saw something shiny on the floor.

He was about to dismiss it as a trick of the light but he looked down to check in case. There amidst a clover patch was a silver shamrock! He wiped his eyes to make sure that he was not imagining things. He bent down and picked it up. It was cold to the touch. He looked around to see if there was anything else that might be lying there but there was nothing else to be seen.

Arthur looked at the Silver Shamrock that sparkled under the sunlight like a star that might have fallen from the night sky. He had seen shamrocks before but had never seen a silver one. He carefully put it inside his pocket. Then he thought he would pick some black berry's too and went deeper and deeper into the forest. Arthur didn't feel the time pass and when he went back home it was past lunchtime and his mother was in a temper.

"I see you have been loitering about. You ought to have come back before lunch. I know what will cure you of your laziness. There is nothing like an empty stomach to cure idleness. You will have no lunch today. Go to your room this instant!" she said once Arthur had handed over the mushroom basket to her.

Arthur went into his room. His stomach rumbled. He was tired after the long walk. He got into his bed and tried to fall asleep but ended up feeling hungrier than ever. Then he remembered the Silver Shamrock and took it out. While he had it in his hands he wished that there was something to eat. The Silver Shamrock started glowing bright as if it had been thrown into a fire. It grew so dazzlingly bright that Arthur shut his eyes.