A Little World for Little People

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1058, 23 August 1930, Page 29

A Little World for Little People

FRIENDSHIP IS A STEADY LIGHT SHINING IN DARK PLACES U * , THE PEPPERMINT THAT ROLLED UPHILL “W 11Y so crestfallen, little friend of mine?” asked tlie Woodif pecker, gfizing mildly down on the smallest Pixie Postman, who was leaning against the Hollow Tree, staring moodily into space. “I’m feeling very lonely,” answered tlie smallest Pixie Postman, his voice breaking on a sob of self-pity. “I sat up nearly all last night writing a story by the light of my glow-worm lamp, and now that it is finished I can’t find anyone to read it to. The Dawn Lady is busy with some competition stories, the Doorkeeper is spring-cleaning the Place-of-You-Never-Can-Tell, the Joyshop man is dressing his window, the Little Thought is helping Doctor Spring Sunshine to bath some baby freesias, all the other Pixie Postmen are delivering mail, and it’s just my luck to have a halfholiday !” “Well, come itp here and tell me all about it,” said the Woodpecker, kindly. “Sit down on that paper-weight and make yourself at home. What title have you given your story?” “It’s called ‘The Peppermint that Rolled Uphill’,” answered the smallest Pixie Postman, with a rainbow smile, spreading his manuscript on his tiny knees, “and it’s about a girl named Madge Ilill and three pixies called Simper, Slim and Smudge. II got the pixies’ names out of a dictionary). It begins like this: Good King Semibreve had lost one of his chariot wheels, and he had promised to spend a musical evening at the palace of the neighbouring king, Semiquaver. (I got those names out of the same dictionary). Well, what could he do? He couldn’t walk —it was too far. He couldn’t fly—he had no wings. He couldn’t swim—the country was hills and mountains. He couldn’t ride a bicycle—he’d never even seen one. ‘My kingdom, my kingdom for a chariot-wheel!’ he shouted, and the three little pixies, Simper, Slim and Smudge, overheard his rash offer. Away they went into the upper world, looking for anything that might resemble a chariot-wheel. Slim found a button, but it was too small; Simper found a brass ring, but it was bent; and Smudge saw Madge Hill drop a peppermint as she came running out of a sweet-shop. It rolled across the footpath and almost went down a grating before the three pixies could rescue it. ‘The very thing,’ they said and, setting it up on end, they pushed and pushed. ‘Just look,’ the peoplp said, ‘there’s a peppermint rolling uphill!’ They could not see the pixies, and they thought it was a freak of gravitation. Well, it took Simper, Slim and Smudge two hours and ten minutes to roll it to King Semibreve’s castle and, when they arrived there, they discovered that the missing chariot-wheel had been found and that he had left for the party. Of course, they felt very sad, hut they were really too young to rule a' kingdom, so they shared the peppermint and made up poetry about Madge Hill.” “But wasn’t the peppermint very dusty?” asked tlie Woodpecker. “Oh,” said the smallest Pixie Postman, with a horrified gasp, “I’d forgotten about that!”