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The Treasure of Happiness Finally,
Allison’s mother and father just couldn’t take it anymore.
“We’ve given you everything! You have more expensive toys
and fancy dresses than most little girls your age have, or will ever
have! Why aren’t you happy?” “I want
more!” screamed Allison in the whiney voice that she now had down
to an art form, “Once I have all of the toys and all of the
pretty clothes in the whole wide world, then mother, then I’ll be
happy.” With that,
Allison stormed out of the room and went off to sulk in a corner by
herself. Her parents decided that this could not go on any longer.
First, they called in the local children’s doctor and they asked
him if he could find a cure for Allison’s never ending misery.
This doctor was an older, grandfatherly man, so the parents immediately
assumed that Allison would like him, and maybe even tell him what was
making her so unhappy. Of course, they
were wrong. When the doctor began asking Allison questions about things
she liked to do, Allison just replied by saying, “I don’t
know, just stuff I guess.” Then the doctor
asked the one question that the parents were so eager to hear the
answer to, “Allison, can you tell me what exactly makes you so
angry and unhappy?” Allison’s
only reply was, “Once I have all of the toys and all of the
pretty clothes in the whole wide world, then doctor, then I’ll be
happy,” and without looking back, she trudged out of the room
with the same somber look plastered onto her tiny little face. “I’m
so very sorry that I haven’t been of any help,” said the
doctor as a grave look began to cross his face. “Out of all my
years of experience, I’ve never been stuck with a challenge such
as this. Allison needs a more powerful kind of help and that’s
something that I just can’t give her.” At that moment, the
doctor’s voice got lower as he whispered to both parents,
“Go to the creatures of the forest, and there you will find the
kind of magical help that Allison needs. Trust me, they are your last
hope in bringing some smiles and happiness into your child’s
life. Just ask and the mystical forest creatures will surely know what
to do.” With that, the doctor slowly made his way to the door.
Once outside, he allowed his eyes to fix on the giant, green forest
right in the middle of “Creatures
of the forest,” both parents said simultaneously. “No
one’s ever seen them before, let alone talked to them. How on
earth are we supposed to find them anyway?” They decided
that once Allison went to sleep that night, they would both sneak out
of the house and go as quickly as they could to the great They continually
cried out into the night to anything or anyone that might listen. Then,
a rustling came from a nearby cluster of trees. Silence followed, but
soon after, shadows began to appear all around the two frightened and
confused parents. One of the small figures hidden by the darkness spoke
first, “We know who has sent you and we are more than willing to
help. We have seen your daughter many times when she ventures into our
forest and we have also noticed the frown that constantly remains on
her face. We would truly like to help because it saddens us when we see
a child so young look so gloomy.” “Oh thank
you, thank you,” replied both parents. “The doctor said
that you would know what to do!” The parents continued to praise
the small people for some time until the same figure who had spoken
before, raised his tiny hand to silence them both. “We will
help you and we will make your child happy again. Just follow our
instructions and all will be well. Tomorrow morning it will rain, and
following the shower will be a very large and bright rainbow. Tell your
daughter that if she follows the rainbow to its end, she will find an
enormous pot of gold and jewels and everything else that she could ever
imagine having. Now, we all need to get going, so don’t forget to
tell the child exactly what to do.” “Wait!
Before you go, could you please tell us who or what you are?”
Both of the parents were eager to know just exactly what these
‘forest creatures’ were that the doctor had told them
about. All of the
little people chuckled before replying, “We’re leprechauns
of course! What did you think we were?” And with that, every
single one of them disappeared in the blink of an eye. The parents were
equally amazed at what had just happened, but they knew that their only
hope for bringing Allison happiness was to listen to these phenomenal
little creatures and do what they were told. The next morning
when Allison awoke, it had already begun to rain. She spent the entire
first part of the day sitting on the ledge of the window, staring out
into the crystal clear downpour. She remained there, on that same
windowsill, until the last drops of the drizzly rain had fallen. Then
her mother called to her from the front doorway. “Allison
darling,” began her mother, “what do you say about going on
a treasure hunt for the rest of the day?” Now, that got
Allison’s attention, “Treasure! There’s something I
don’t have yet. Do I get to follow a map?” “No honey,
this is a different kind of treasure hunt. Do you see that beautiful
rainbow that the rain left behind?” Allison’s eyes were now
fixated on the rainbow her mother was describing, as she nodded her
head. Her mother continued, “Well,
at the very end of that rainbow is an enormous pot of gold that the
leprechauns left for you to find. In it there will be everything that
you have ever wished for!” “Leprechauns?
Gold? Mother, what on earth are you talking about and why would the
leprechauns put that whole pot of gold there for me?” Allison
stood quizzically staring up towards her mother. “They want
you to be happy too. If all of the things that you have ever dreamed of
are in that pot of gold, you could have everything! You even said
yourself that once you have all of the toys and all of the pretty
clothes in the whole world you will finally be happy. Hurry now because
you will want to make it through the forest before nightfall.”
With that said by her mother, Allison hastily threw on her little pink
and green jacket and her fluffy white gloves and speedily took off
through the front doorway to the start of her journey. Following the
bright colors of the rainbow, Allison somberly skipped through the
forest. On the outside, she appeared to be her usual dismal self, but
inside she secretly felt a type of curious excitement about discovering
a pot of gold that would have everything she had ever wished for in it.
Allison began to ponder what she could do with all the things in the
world. She truly started to believe that she could finally become the
happy little girl that her parents so longed for. Allison made her
way through the forest for about an hour until she came upon a clearing
and just then, the rainbow seemed to fade away into the clear blue sky.
Not too far off though, she faintly heard the sounds of music,
laughter, and dancing. For a moment, she forgot all about the pot of
gold and instead she decided to go find out where all the noise was
coming from. She swiftly ran through the clearing, and right there in
front of her were hundreds and hundreds of little leprechauns. Also in
front of her was a brightly shimmering pot filled with everything any
ten-year-old girl could imagine. Allison stared at it, with intensity
such that she was in a trance. She started for the gigantic pot full of
treasures, but just as she was reaching a hand out to touch the
shining, golden exterior, she was stopped by a tiny bearded man. “Allison,”
he started, “do know who I am? I am the one that told your
parents to send you here to us. I, along with all of the others here,
would like to help you. We really would like to see you happy, and I
bet your parents would also.” Allison stomped
her feet and crossed her arms, “Once I have all of the toys and
all of the pretty clothes in the whole wide world, then Mr. Leprechaun,
then I’ll be happy.” “Ah, yes,
I guess I should introduce myself,” the toddler-sized leprechaun
cleared his throat and took off his hat, “I am the doctor who
spoke with you earlier yesterday. My name is Garvery Manton Bane
Brehony McGruff IV, but you may call me Mr. McGruff.” “Well Mr.
McGruff, my mom said that if I followed that rainbow I would find a pot
of gold and everything that I could think of would be in it. I’m
sure that I will be happy once I have everything in the whole wide
world! I’m just sure of it!” With that,
Allison tried to maneuver around the leprechaun who was blocking her
path to happiness, but he wouldn’t let that happen, “Do you
really and truly believe that once you have everything that
you’ve ever wished for, your life will be full of joy and
laughter? The rest of the leprechauns and
I have fun without all of those things. All that we have is our music
and each other. When one of us is unhappy or sad, the rest work really
hard to cheer him up.” “But I
want everything in the world! I’ll never be happy if I
don’t have everything!” Allison went on and on for a couple
more minutes on how no one will ever see her happy if she doesn’t
have every single thing in the whole wide world. Finally, Mr.
McGruff told her to sit down and be quiet, “Listen to me! There
are ways that you can have fun and be happy without all of those
material items that you seem to be craving. Every week, we leprechauns
have a party where we can sing, dance, and play music and at the end of
the party, we all sit around a campfire and tell stories. How about you
stay for the party tonight, and at the end you can decide if you had
fun or not, but I can almost guarantee you that you will enjoy
yourself, and you might even be able to crack a smile. You don’t
look like you’ve smiled in a while, so I sincerely hope that the
first time you do, your face doesn’t break or anything. Well,
don’t worry about that right now, just enjoy yourself and have
fun!” As soon as
McGruff finished talking, the music started playing, the hands started
clapping, the feet started stomping, and the leprechauns started
laughing. With all the excitement going on around her, even little
Allison began to clap her hands and stomp her feet. Eventually a grin
started to spread across her face too, and before she knew it, she was
laughing right along with the others and she was actually enjoying
herself. At the end of
the night, she realized how much fun she was having with her new
friends and how little fun she had ever had with her dolls, clothes,
and other toys. Once the story telling was done and the fire had gone
out, Allison turned to Mr. McGruff and truly thanked him for teaching
her how to have fun and smile without having everything in the world.
There was a full moon that night and many, many stars in the sky to
light Allison’s way home through the deep forest. Once she
arrived close to home she began to skip with a light airiness in her
step. She walked into her home and as soon as she saw her parents, a
wide grin spread across her face and she ran into their waiting arms.
Tears of joy flooded through her parents’ eyes and they asked
her, “What could have been on the other side of the forest that
has made you so happy?” Allison replied
in her sweet little voice, “Nothing much except for a few short
men and their music. They taught me how to have fun without owning
everything in the entire world. They showed me also how to be happy
with just little things instead of all the big things that I dream
about every night. I’ve found new friends and new ways to become
happy. I realized that I can discover ways to be content and cheerful
with what I have and I don’t need a whole bunch of new toys and
clothes to make me happy. Mom and Dad, I’m so glad you sent me on
that treasure hunt this morning.” From that day
on, this family was the happiest family in all of
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