Sadie Sunshine

Sadie Sunshine always had a smile on her face and she lived in the magic village of Emerald Springs. The houses changed their colors based on the holiday. On Valentine’s Day houses would change to blue, white, or red. On Easter the houses are robins’ egg blue or bright yellow. They would be red, white, and blue on the fourth of July. They turn orange and black for Halloween. On Christmas the houses would turn not only red or green, some of them become blue or white to look like frozen ice crystals. The sheen of a crystal blue or white house in the winter time looked so pretty that remembering them filled Sadie’s heart with joy.

The houses today were emerald green for Saint Patrick’s Day. Shamrock rain fell from the sky. The rain tickled as soon as it made contact.

“How is it raining shamrocks,” she thought. Just then she heard someone clear their throat. She spun around to find a leprechaun staring up at her.

“Phineas O’James is the name,” he said removing his top hat and bowing, revealing red shaggy hair. He placed the top hat back on his head and gave a friendly smile.

“What’s your name lass?” Phineas asked.

“Sadie Sunshine,” she replied. He chuckled in his throat.

“Well, that’s a cheery name,” he said.

“Shall we play a game?” Phineas suggested.

“What kind of game?” Sadie asked.

“All you’ve got to do is catch me,” Phineas said.

“That’s it?” Sadie scoffed. “That’s too easy.” Phineas narrowed his eyes at that.

“I’ll have you know that no one has ever caught Phineas O’James,” he said.

“I’m the fastest girl in my class,” Sadie boasted.

“No one is quicker than a leprechaun my dear,” he insisted.

“What do I get if I win?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you where my gold is,” Phineas said. Her eyes widened.

“You’ll tell me where your gold is?” she asked. He nodded.

“It’s the leprechaun’s code. You catch me and I have to tell you where I keep my gold.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m ready.” He ran off and she chased him but quickly found great futility in trying to catch the mythical creature. She saw him run into the woods and derived a plan. She grabbed some rope, a net, paint, and a half dollar. She painted the coin gold and set up a trap for the leprechaun. She covered the net with leaves and placed the fake gold coin on top of those leaves. Phineas saw the coin and dove into the pile of leaves to retrieve the coin. He found himself ensnared in the net and hoisted himself up high in the air. He looked down at Sadie Sunshine and sighed.

“You bested me lass,” he said. My gold is in the weeping willow.”

“Why is it called that?” Sadie asked.

“You’ll find out.” He hurried over to the weeping willow.

“Cover your ears,” Phineas said.

“Why?” Sadie asked. He placed a cotton swab in each ear and then helped Sadie do the same. The willow cried and wailed as Phineas removed the pot of gold from the tree.

They went to a quiet spot and removed the cotton from their ears.

“I don’t want to take your gold, but my mother is very sick, and needs an operation,” Sadie said. Phineas grabbed a bowl and caught some rain inside it.

“Why didn’t the shamrock rain melt when it touched the bowl?” Sadie asked.

“I use a special kind of varnish for the bowl,” Phineas replied. He boiled it into a soup and they went to feed Sadie’s mother. Her mom sprang up out of bed and grabbed her daughter’s hands; she began to sing and dance.

“I’m cured!” Jill, Sadie’s mom said. “Shamrock stew is the best medicine in the world!” Phineas boasted.

“You could sell this recipe and make a fortune,” Jill insisted.

Phineas wrote a cookbook and it made a lot of money. The leprechaun gave all the money from the book sales to Jill and Sadie.

“Why don’t you want any of the money?” Sadie asked.

“You let me keep my gold and it’s the source of my power,” he said. “I would cease to be without it.”

“That’s awful,” Sadie said.

“You saved me and I saved your dear mother!” Phineas said. Jill and Sadie wept tears of joy. On this Saint Patrick’s Day, they made something more amazing and magical than leprechauns or healing shamrock soup; they made a new friend and they were happy and healthy. Friendship, happiness, and health are greater treasures than a million pots of gold!!!!