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A whole new definition of strange

It's easy to open. You just press with your thumb, and the lid flips up, revealing...

A little human-shaped skeleton.

You almost drop the box in fright, your heart in your throat! But then, in a sudden swirling, the skeleton disappears. In a cloud of fiercely twinkling green lights, you see a little man appear, no taller than 2 inches, dressed as a leprechaun.

The small figure clutches his belly, points to you, and shrieks a high-pitched wave of laughter. He starts speaking to you in some sort of vaguely Irish-sounding gibberish, laughing all the time.

Your confusion, not curiosity, soon wins out now. "What did you just say?"

The little man cocks his head to one side and says something like, "Whulla Spekk agyn?"

"What *language* is that? I don't know what you're saying!"

Laughing Boy gets a little lightbulb above his head (not literally) and laughs his laugh again. With a nod, he snaps his fingers, releasing more fierce green sparkles. He suddenly becomes quite coherent. "'Tis olde Irish, I guess ye'd call it. And you be speakin' the Queen's English." You start to speak, but he stops you. "Now, I'd be guessin' this is where I'm to let ye be makin' with three wishes for rescuin' me from that terrible fate. Well, I shan't disappoint ye. Come on, lad - give me yer best shot! Wish away!"


Written by Arthur J. Pearson (edited by wanderer)

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