MOON ELVES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 400, 14 July 1928, Page 27

MOON ELVES

It was twilight, and close to the witching hour, when Maisie awoke • ruin a horrid nightmare. 8b« could not go to sleep again, so she jumped out of bed and slipped over to the winiow seat. The lovely crescent moon seemed to smile down at her. and she istinctly saw two very bright stars ink wisely down. Suddenly she saw a long silver mooneam stretch out from the moon and ill down to earth like a ladder of gosamer. Immediately afterwards. to laisie’s surprise and bewilderment, ive little men came sliding down—five ittle moon-elves. Each alighted graoeully on a barley stalk, and—Maisie :ave a little* gasp ot delight—began fainting her mother’s poppies. As each elf sat on a barley stalk, aainting away at a poppy, the breeze swayed the barley to and fro, but the elves gracefully kept their seats and began to talk: “Now,” quoth Penellop, the oldest and ugliest elf. “don’t forget that we must all be back at Moonland in time for our Queen’s banquet.” “Why, yes,” answer Ter tiff, the Grand Artist, “the star-bells will beckon us.” and with that, he pointed to the two bright stars that glowed with a pale golden light beside the moon. “Ah, they say that the Star-prince is going to ask for oqr Moon Queen's hand to-night,” remarked Penellop, “and tl iy also say the Queen is already head over ears in love with him, he is handsome.” “Now, Loolus,” said the Grand Artist t the little nervous elf, who generally did very foolish things, “don’t you be painting with your left hand. It is a crime, and the punishment is to be banished from Moonland for three years.” “Won’t Mother Trewin be pleased when she sees the beautiful colours of her poppies in the morning,” said Penellop. “I heard her saying last night how she wished she had some bright flowers to take to her little sick child in the hospital. They were talking about Maisie’s sister. Maisie was so grateful that she cried out aloud: “Oh, you dear little men: how I love you!” The spell was broken. There was a swish-swishing and the elves had disappeared. And then, was it a fact or only imagination that Maisie heard the sound of little silvery bells —tinkling, tinkling? Next morning Maisie ran down into the garden and there she saw the lovely bright poppies bobbing their gay heads to and fro among the barley stalks. Down the petals of a beautiful purple poppy there was a splash of red where the little nervous Moon-elf had dropped his paint brush in his surprise at being discovered by a mortal. “Of course!” said Maisie, nodding her head to the poppies; “of course, they say 1 was dreaming, but,” she added, nodding at the barley, “you know and so do I.” IVY QUAIFE (aged 15). OBEYING INSTRUCTIONS Jock: “Why are you wearing so many clothes on such a warm day. Pat?” Pat: “Because I’m going to paint my house, and it says on the paint tin, ‘Put on at least three coats.’ ”