Come And Play With Me

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, gorgeous land, still in the age of castles and princesses. There, the days went by like in any other: The sun rising and setting, and meanwhile, many things happened, many adventurous things. But none was so exceptional as that one day, on which the sun was rising into a rather misty morning. It seemed quite plain as any other, but for one thing. A bird sat on the edge of a cliff, watching over the valley. On the other side, lay a castle, quite hidden in the damp air of mist. But a light shone over it, and the bird too might have noticed, that something was about to happen.
In an old farm house, far away from the misty land, lived a little boy and girl. As brother and sister, they of course had times to argue, but also to play. They lived there together with their aunt and uncle, for their parents had died when they were still far younger. Every day passed as another. Until that one fateful day when the old bell on the door rang. The boy hurried to open it, but there was a sight which he had never seen before. In front of him, on the doorstep under the pouring rain, stood a little, pointy-hatted dwarf.

“Well, don’t just stand there!” the dwarf said. “Let me in!” The boy had been told, like any other child, not to let strangers into the home, but the dwarf’s tone could not be refused, and a fight with his sister left him grouchy.
“Ok,” he said. “But you have to play with me!”
“Dear boy, that’s what I’m here for,” the dwarf grinned. He marched into the house, and produced four balls: red, blue, green and yellow, and juggled them. The boy stared at him, mouth agape.
“Can you catch, lad?” the dwarf asked. The boy nodded. The dwarf tossed the balls one after another. The boy caught all but the last.
“Oh, nearly,” the dwarf laughed. “Shall we try again?”
“Yes!” the boy threw the balls back. Hearing the noise, his sister stormed out her room.
“Hush, brother! I’m trying…” she froze as she saw the dwarf. “Who’s that?”
“He’s my friend,” the boy retorted. The girl gasped.
“You know you’re not meant to let strangers into the house,” she said. “What will Uncle say?” the boy scowled.
“You’re just jealous because he’s come to play with me!”
“No, I’m just responsible,” she stomped down the stairs. “Make him go away!”
“Now, now, lass,” the dwarf took off his hat and bowed to her. “I’m just here to play! Don’t you want to?” Three dolls appeared in his hand, all dressed like princesses. The girl covered her mouth.
“They’re so pretty!” she said. “Can I bring my teacup set?”
“Why not use mine?” the dwarf laid the dolls down on the floor and pulled five teacups and a teapot out of his sleeve. The girl sat down beside him and picked up the teapot. “Would you like some tea, Mr Dwarf?” she said.
“Very much so,” the dwarf sat down and raised his teacup. The girl pretended to pour – and jumped as she saw real tea leave the colourful pot!
“I do beg your pardon, you should serve my friends, Eela, Neela and Reela first,” he motioned to the dolls. The girl first poured tea for herself. Still, the real thing. She sipped it: sweet. She poured for the others.
“No fair!” the boy cried. “He’s my friend! Stop stealing my friend!”
“Of course not,” the dwarf turned around. The balls appeared in his hand. He threw them all again. This time, the boy managed to catch only two.
“It’s all right, try again!” the dwarf raised his hand. The four balls flew to it. He tossed them again. The boy caught all four.
“I did it!” he shouted.
“Excellent! Try again,” the dwarf held out his hands.
“Don’t you want some more tea?” the girl asked him.
“Of course I do,” the dwarf turned around. “And look – my friends have all finished!” Not a drop remained in the three dolls’ cups.
“Do you want some more tea, Eela, Neela and Reela?” she asked. The dolls nodded. “Ok! I’ll pour for you.”
“But what about me?” The boy asked. “You were playing with me!”
“Maybe you should play with us,” the girl retorted.
“No!” the boy said. “You’re stupid!”
“At least I’m not savage like you,” she said. “I’m civilised!” The boy’s eyes widened – two words he didn’t understand.
“Civel… no, you’re not!” he said.
“Yes I am,” the girl responded.
“No, you’re not!”
“Yes I am!”
“NO, YOU’RE NOT!” The boy threw the balls down. They bounced on the wooden floor and scattered. One broke the window and disappeared in the long grass. Another knocked a vase to the floor, shattering it. The third smashed an old picture and crashed into the fireplace, filling the air with soot. The last fell between the dolls, destroying the teapot. Strangely, not a single drop of tea spilt.
“Now look what you’ve done!” the girl dropped the teapot handle. “Uncle’s going to be so mad!”
“Now, now, don’t worry, children,” the dwarf rose to his feet. “It doesn’t matter – we’re all here to have fun!”
“Ok, but you must have fun with me!” the boy insisted.
“No, me!” the girl said.
“Don’t worry,” the dwarf rubbed his hands. “I’ll be with you both!” he parted his hands – and there, pressed against his left hand was another dwarf – exactly the same!
“How would you like to play with this?” one dwarf held out a black ball the size of his palm to the boy.
“Ok!” the boy nodded.
“Let us go find another teapot,” the other dwarf said to the girl. She nodded and led him into the kitchen.
The first dwarf tossed a ball to the boy. The boy held out his hands, but an inch away from his hand, the ball stopped mid-air. The boy reached for it – it rose away from his hand.
“The faster you move, the faster it moves!” the dwarf said. “Let’s compete – see who catches it first!”

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the dwarf tapped the teapot twice, and magic filled it with sweet tea. The girl took out five teacups from the cupboard. The dwarf filled them, and the three dolls drank ravenously.
“What about cookies?” the dwarf asked. “Are there any you can serve us?” The girl looked to the brown jar in the corner.
“Well, I’m not supposed to…”
“Why not?” the dwarf asked. “Will you not serve your guests? Don’t worry about your uncle and aunt – they’re not here, are they?” The girl shrugged. She pulled the cookie-jar out of the corner and put four chocolate-chip cookies on a small plate.
“Come, take more,” the dwarf said. “Take for yourself, too!” he poured seven more cookies into the plate and shoved two into his mouth. The dolls together grabbed one, broke it into thirds and devoured it in seconds. The girl nibbled on another.
“Come, give us more!” the dwarf emptied the jar onto the plate and took a handful. The dolls ate the rest. The girl stepped away, hesitant. In five minutes the four had finished all the cookies.
“More! More!” they cried.

Meanwhile, the boy and the other dwarf chased the black ball through the lounge, up the stairs, into his uncle and aunt’s bedroom. The boy froze at the open door – he wasn’t allowed in!
“You’d best hurry, or I’ll win!” the dwarf ran into the room.
“Wait!” the boy hurried after him. “We’re not allowed!”
“Says who?” the dwarf turned around. The ball floated in front of the boy, taunting. “Your uncle and aunt? Don’t worry about them – they’re not here, now, are they?” the dwarf asked.
“Well, I…”
“All right, I’ll go play with your sister,” the dwarf trudged towards the door.
“No! Wait,” the boy snatched at the ball. It flew out of his reach. The dwarf jumped onto the bed after it, muddy boots and all. The ball hovered over the boy. He pounced on it. The ball shot against the wardrobe and smashed its door. The boy fell onto the bedside table, toppling it over. He rubbed his aching side.
“I’m winning!” the dwarf climbed onto the curtains and reached for the ball. The boy winced as he heard the curtain rip. The dwarf jumped back onto the bed, tearing the pillow in two. Feathers filled the air. Terrified, the boy studied the mess.

In the kitchen the girl had given all that she could to her hungry guests, and still they shrieked like baby birds, “More! More!”
“There is no more!” the girl brushed tears away. “There’s nothing more!”
“What an awful host!” the dwarf said. “Surely there’s more in those cupboards!” The dolls ripped the cupboard door off and tossed out the pots and pans. “
“No!” the girl screamed.
“Then perhaps in there!” the dwarf pointed to the pantry door. The dolls pushed the door into the dark room open. The girl held her breath as she heard tins clang on the floor and bags of rip and spill their powder contents.
“More! More!” they called. The girl ran out to the lounge, just in time to find the boy hurrying down the stairs.
“This is all your fault!” she screamed at him. “You let him in!”
“Yes, isn’t it!” the boy growled. “Everything’s my fault – just because I’m a boy!”
“Yes, and because you’re stupid!”
“Well, if you’re so smart, you fix it!”
“No! It’s your mess!”
“What’s the matter?” the two dwarfs entered the lounge. The two children looked at each other, then back to the dwarfs – and now there were four!
“Make them go away!” the girl cried. “You brought them here; you make them go away before Uncle comes back!”
“I can’t!” the boy responded. “I don’t know what to do! You’re the smart one – you do something!”
“Why should I clean up your mess?” the girl screamed.
“Won’t you play with us?” the dwarves asked – now eight surrounded the children.
“Wait!” the boy said. “I have an idea!”
“Then do it!” the girl said.
“I’ll need your help,” the boy said. “These dwarves aren’t any bigger than us – together we can fight them out!”
“That’s a stupid idea,” the girl responded. “How can we fight all of them?”
“Don’t fight! Come and play with us!” Sixteen dwarves.
“We don’t have a choice!” the boy said. “Please! We must work together!” The girl looked around. The sixteen dwarves were turning the lounge upside-down.
“Play with us!” they screamed.
“Ok,” she said. “Let’s do this together – brother.”
“What?” the sixteen dwarves looked at the two children holding hands. Eight disappeared.
“Go away!” the boy said.
“We don’t want to play with you!” the girl added. Four dwarves disappeared.
“Please, please,” the other four lined up in front of them and fell to their knees.
“No!” the two children called together. Two of the dwarves disappeared.
“Let’s get them!” the boy said. He stormed up to the first dwarf. The girl grabbed the other. As they did, the two dwarves merged and became one, and the two children tossed him outside and slammed the door shut. The two leaned against it and studied the lounge. It was as if a storm had raged inside.
“I’m sorry, sister,” the boy said. “I started all of this. I was just so… so angry with you.”
“I’m sorry too,” the girl said. “What were we fighting about?”
“I don’t remember,” the boy mumbled. The two chuckled – stopped as a blue bird flew through the broken window into the lounge. The doorknob turned. The children moved aside. Their uncle entered.
“By the old Torbies,” he uttered. The two children backed away.
“Please, Uncle, I can explain…” the boy said.
“It was my fault…” the girl added.
“Don’t worry,” a woman’s voice said. The three turned to find a tall sorceress in a blue silk dress.
“Ah, so they passed the test?” The uncle smiled.
“They have,” the sorceress clapped twice and the lounge rearranged itself neatly. “We thank you and your wife dearly. You know this shall not be forgotten.”
“I acted only in the best interest of my country,” the uncle guffawed.
“Uncle?” the girl whispered. “What is going on? Who is she?”
“Who is she?” the uncle coughed. “Why, she’s the Royal magician!” The sorceress put her hands on the two children’s heads.
“You two are the children of the King and Queen of this land,” she explained. “They perished for the same reason my dwarf could stir trouble here – they cared only for themselves. But now that you’ve learnt the importance of working together, it is clear that you shall make excellent rulers in the future. Come with me to the palace – you have much to learn of being King and Queen and time is precious.”

And so the boy and girl went with the sorceress to the palace, and there they learnt all that good rulers should know. Under their joint rule, the kingdom flourished in peaceful, plentiful times. Both found consorts and had children of their own, and they lived happily ever after.

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Total words WITHOUT opening paragraph: 1996
Total words WITH opening paragraph: 2217

(c) Ori Ben-ze'ev, Wednesday 11 January 2006
All comments are gladly welcome.

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