In a cottage built for us humans in Carrick - a small village in County Donegal, North West of Ireland, a woman sat comfortable in a chair by a fireplace one winters eve as she cradled a baby wrapped in a forest green blanket in her arms after giving birth to her a little earlier.
Her husband stood by her side throughout the birth, never once leaving even for a pint.
Sorry, my apologies...I must have forgotten to mention that these people are in no way human at all.
They are, in fact, magical Leprechauns.
"Aw, look at the wee thing." The woman's husband cooed over the baby cradled in his wife's arms while the baby stared at its father. "She has her mother's eyes."
The mother smiled fondly at the baby, who in turn, had placed her hand around her mother's forefinger. "She may have my eyes, but by the luck of the Irish, I hope the poor girl doesn't end up with your personality."
The man did a double-take, looking at his wife incredulously. "And what's that supposed to mean, Mrs Mary Muldoon?"
Mary smiled innocently at him. "Oh, nothing, Seamus. Nothing at all. Where'd our son run of to this time? I bet you all the money in a single pot of gold that our Mickey is-"
"I'm right here, mother." A young lad said as he suddenly appeared in the cottage, and by using magic, no doubt.
He walked up to his parents and smiled at the baby. "Welcome to the world, little lad. Your older brother here will get you into a heap load of mischief with me and the other lads when you're a little older yourself. That's what it is to be a Leprechaun, yer know? Mischief and magic and all that."
Seamus and Mary exchanged glances and tried to stifle a laugh, but it didn't go unnoticed by Mickey, who stood there looking at his parents in confusion. "What's so funny? Was it somethin' I said?"
Seamus turned to Mickey and patted his shoulder lightly. "Mickey me boy, she isn't a lad. She's a lass."
Mickey's eyes went wide as he looked between his parents and the baby. "Seriously? I thought that was impossible! Well...with the exception of me mother and a couple other female Leprechauns we know of, but still..."
"You're not wrong there, but least we forget, it's the first time in less than a hundred years a Leprechaun baby was born." Seamus pointed out to his son. "And a female one at that."
Mickey nodded in understanding. "Ah, right, Jericho's younger brother, Barney, was the last Leprechaun to be born. The youngest of us all, and now that I have a little sister, Barney no longer holds the title as the youngest Leprechaun. He's not quite reached 80 yet himself."
He smiled at the baby again. "Sorry 'bout that. You're not even a year old, and your big brother has already made a fool of himself." The baby locked eyes with Mickey for the first time and smiled a little, making Mickey, Seamus, and Mary look at her in awe.
Mary chuckled. "And there I was, thinking that the wee thing would cry again, but it looks like she agrees that you're a fool Mickey."
Mickey rolled his eyes playfully. "Great. Thanks, Ma."
Seamus smiled widely. "She knows a fool when she sees one by the looks of it. That right there is proof that she's definitely a Leprechaun through and through."
He gently placed a hand on Mary's shoulder and looked around at his family proudly. "With the blood of a Muldoon running through her veins, the lass will grow up to be as strong and mischievous as us Leprechauns are known to be. Now, what should we name her?"
Suddenly, the air around them became thick as a raven flew into the cottage through an opened window before transforming into a powerful being taller than that of the average size of a human. "Seamus and Mary Muldoon, congratulations on the birth of you daughter, Amelia Muldoon."
Seamus rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath. "So much for naming her ourselves."
Mary glared at him. "I will have none of that behaviour from you, Mr. Seamus Muldoon. You know better than to speak to the Grand Banshee with that tone."
Taking Seamus' silence to her advantage, Mary smiled at the Grand Banshee. "Besides, I was just about to say that I think we should name our daughter Amelia after me own mother."
Seamus sighed in defeat and nodded. "Alright, fine. Sorry, Grand Banshee, and thank you."
Mickey looked at the Grand Banshee in confusion. "Now, hold on a minute, the Grand Banshee didn't just come here to congratulate us. She came here to warn us about somethin'. You know she only turns up to warn us about somethin', or if someone's about to die."
The Grand Banshee wore a frown upon her face as she looked upon the family gravely. "I'm afraid Mickey's right. The reason I have come here is not only to congratulate you, but you warn you about Amelia's future."
Mary held Amelia closer to her protectively. "Her future? Grand Banshee, tell us...what of her future? What'll happen to her?"
"As you know, it is extremely rare for a Leprechaun to be born female, as well as the fact that a Leprechaun hasn't been born in almost a hundred years. Mother Nature had spoken to me herself about your daughter's fate, and I too, have witnessed myself that once King Boric has gotten word that Amelia has been born, he will stop at nothing to get rid of her, by all means." The Grand Banshee told them.
Mickey looked at her in disbelief. "Why would those Troopin' Fairies want to get rid of a baby who has obviously done absolutely nothing to them?"
Seamus shook his head. "I won't let any of those stuck-up Fairies take away my little girl, even if it'll take each and every Leprechaun in all of Ireland to protect her...but might I ask why they would want her? She is but a wee baby, after all. What could they possibly want from her?"
The Grand Banshee sighed. "That is because Amelia is the key to bringing peace between the Leprechauns and the Trooping Fairies in the future. Amelia is the one who will finally put an end to this pointless war that never seems to end. That is, of course, when Amelia is a little older than she is now."
"Mother Nature and I have seen that if she were to be raised by you, King Boric will stop at nothing in order to get rid of her, even if it means that he wipes away her entire existence completely. I'm sure you can take a wild guess that he won't believe a word of it. He'd think that it is impossible to make a truce with you, Seamus Muldoon."
The Grand Banshee continued. "If something were to happen to Amelia...well, you could only imagine the riff between both sides will worsen greatly, and innocent people will end up suffering the consequences. It is already affecting the human world as we speak."
"Grand Banshee, what do you suggest we do in order to protect our little one?" Mary asked in a frightened tone.
Seamus looked at his wife in bewilderment. "And why won't you ask me, Amelia's father, for a suggestion?"
Mary gave him a pointed look. "Your 'suggestion' would be all about going to war right this second. That is why I didn't bother to ask for your suggestion, you great big fool."
Seamus held both of his hands up in defence. "I definitely won't argue with you there, love. Though, might I suggest-"
"No." Mary instantly turned him down without a second thought. "No, you most certainly will not have a 'little chat' with the Fairy King, or so help me-"
"Perhaps my suggestion may be a better choice then, if that is what you would prefer. For your daughters sake." The Grand Banshee interrupted them. "Agree or not, the only suggestion I have is that you allow me to take Amelia and have her mix in with the humans. Let her live amongst humans until the day comes for her to fulfil her destiny of bringing peace and prosperity to both Leprechauns and Fairies once and for all."
"Let's say you do that...isn't it going to be obvious to humans that she's a Leprechaun?" Mickey asked curiously.
The Grand Banshee presented the Muldoon family a silver necklace with a four-leaf clover on it that was shining in the light from the fireplace.
"Mother Nature will take care of that. I won't bore you with the details. She did, however, instruct me to give Amelia this necklace so that not only will it remind her of her heritage, but when she returns to Carrick, the four leaves of the clover will slowly turn green until her task has been completed."
"There is also a way for Amelia to return to that of her Leprechaun form, but that will not be revealed to her until she is old enough to understand our world, and if she continues to believe that Leprechauns and Fairies exist even if humans stop believing themselves at a certain point in time." The Grand Banshee finished explaining to them.
Mary and Seamus looked at each other as if they were having their own conversation telepathically. Both of them were thinking the same thing; either they allow the Grand Banshee to take their daughter and let her be raised by humans, or they risk losing her to the hands of King Boric and the rest of the Trooping Fairies forever.
Seamus looked Amelia with tears threatening to spill from his eyes before facing the Grand Banshee and nodded his head firmly. "All right. My family and I trust you, Grand Banshee. And so, we will heed your warning and allow you to take her to where you think the safest place for her would be...even if it does mean that she be raised by humans."
The Grand Banshee nodded. "Very well then. There's no time like that present. The sooner she is taken to safety, the better. By now, King Boric would have received word about her birth. I am truly sorry that the situation has come down to this. I truly am."
As Mary started crying, Mickey felt a sense of grief, knowing that this will be the last time he would get to see his sister until the time comes for when she returns to Carrick, just as the Grand Banshee said. "Is there really no other way around this, Grand Banshee?"
The Grand Banshee shook her head. "Mickey, if there was another way around this, I would have seen it for myself, but I haven't because there simply isn't any other way. Unfortunately, this really is all there is that can be done in order to keep your sister safe."
"If she were to be kidnapped by the Trooping Fairies on King Boric's orders, then Seamus would have a reason to have an all-out war with them with many innocent lives taken. All Fairies and Leprechauns should know that a war with each other will not end well. It defies the laws of nature."
"Sh-She's right, Mickey. A war isn't a place to raise a baby, a-and if what the Grand Banshee says about that being the safest and only option for Amelia...then so be it." Mary said between sobs.
Seamus motioned his hand for Mickey to move closer to them. "Son, you best start sayin' your goodbyes now. If you don't, you'll only regret it later."
Mary gently passed Amelia to Mickey. He bounced her a little when she started sobbing at the loss of her mother's warmth. "Careful not to drop her, Mickey."
Mickey laughed a little. "That's our mother for you Amelia. Always looking out for her family. Honestly, that woman worries too much. I guess that's what a mother's job is, I suppose. Now, you listen to me; if you bring home a young Romeo who tickles ya fancy, you introduce him to me first, you hear? Sean, Jericho, Barney and I'll take care of him-"
The Grand Banshee gave Mickey a look, making him stop what he was about to say and laugh nervously. "Uh...you know, we'll just give the lad a word and all. You need not worry."
He cleared his throat and smiled at Amelia. "Anyway, I would prefer it if I didn't say the word 'goodbye' because it sounds like I'll never see you again. So, instead, I'll say: 'See you later, little las.'"
Mickey placed a small kiss on her forehead before gently passing her to Seamus, who couldn't stop a tear from escaping. "Would you look at that? You're making a grown man such as myself cry, and believe me, men do not cry-"
"Grown man my-"
"But I'll make an exception for you, my daughter." He ignored Mary's interruption and continued talking to Amelia. "When you come back, we'll hold the biggest celebration in all of Ireland just for you. How's about that for a party, eh? 'Cause that's exactly what you'll be gettin'. There'll be, er...rum, the ol' whisky, of course, and, uh...other beverages and so on and so forth."
"You be a good girl for us, though we definitely won't be disappointed to hear that you've been up to some mischief with the humans." Seamus kissed Amelia's cheek and took in her features one last time. "We'll see you later, Amelia." He gently handed her over to Mary's awaiting arms before quickly wiping his tear stained cheek.
Mary tried to muster a smile as best as she could when she looked at her daughter, despite the tears that were spilling from her eyes. "I didn't think I'd have to say goodbye to you until you were off on your honeymoon after you marry the love of your life, whomever it may be. Of course, we can't have everything we've hoped for, can we? So, I guess I'll have to push forward my goodbye to you many years earlier than I had anticipated."
"Amelia, love, I'm so sorry that I haven't a thing to give to you to keep, but I do have a song for you that I think you'd love to hear. Me own Mammy used to sing it to me all the time when I was a wee las myself."
"They say if a mother sings a song to her baby just once, they'll remember it as they get older. I can't say for sure whether or not that's true, but perhaps it could be for you. That'll be the luck of Irish if it were, you know? We'll just have to work that out ourselves when the time comes, won't we? Now, I believe the song goes a little somethin' like this."
🎶How green are your valleys
How blue your great skies
Your mountains stand tall in their glory
Your rivers run free
The bright stars are your eyes
Your beauty is endless before me🎶
🎶For you are the song ever singing in me
And you are the heart ever true
For you are my land
And you always will be
The voice ever calling me home to you🎶
Amelia fell asleep once Mary finished singing the song to her, melting the hearts of those in the room, including the Grand Banshee's.
Before Mary passed her daughter over to the Grand Banshee, she said one last thing to her that all of them knew would be the very last sentence any of them would ever say to her until her return in many years to come.
"We love you, our precious little clover."
🍀🌷🍀🌷🍀🌷🍀🌷🍀🌷🍀
As days turned to months, and months turned to years, not one Leprechaun ever forgot about the youngest living Leprechaun in existence, especially the Muldoon's, for they lived in grief and sadness for a little while until eventually, they came to terms that the girl will one day be home with her family once again, and all was well.
However, King Boric was furious when he and the Trooping Fairies found not a single trace of Amelia Muldoon anywhere in all of Ireland.
He slowly started to believe that maybe the girl might one day return just as the Grand Banshee had told the Muldoon's, according to one of the Trooping Fairies the King had sent to spy on the Muldoon family at the time.
As stubborn as he is, King Boric refuses to think that one girl - a Leprechaun at that, is the key to bringing both Leprechauns and Fairies together one day.
From the moment all of the Leprechauns had learned of what had happened to the girl, as well as what was foretold by both Mother Nature and the Grand Banshee themselves about the girl's destiny, they made up a title for her that was soon caught on by the Fairies as well when talking about her.
And as such, the girl was henceforth known as:
The Legend of the Magical Leprechauns
🍀