Catch a leprechaun

I headed straight for the park after school on St. Patrick's Day. It was the perfect day to catch a leprechaun and get his pot of gold for my mom so she wouldn't have to work any more. My teacher said leprechauns are make-believe, but how does she know?

The sun shone bright, but patches of brown grass showed here and there where the snow had melted. I looked behind all the bushes but couldn't find a single leprechaun. I was almost ready to give up when I saw something green through the trees. I crept toward the green, staying out of sight, and peered from behind a tree trunk.

Shamrocks made a green carpet on the ground in front of me. And on the shamrocks, a group of little people dressed in green danced in a circle and sang.

When one danced close to the tree, I reached out and grabbed him. He screamed so loud, I almost dropped him. The other leprechauns scattered in all directions, screaming all the time. The little fellow in my hands started to shake and cry.

"Don't be scared," I said. "Just lead me to your pot of gold and I'll let you go."

The little fellow cried harder and struggled to get away.

"My name is Amber. What's your name?" I spoke in a soft voice and tried to calm him.

"Oliver," replied the leprechaun.

"Look, I'm not mean or bad or anything. I just want the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow so my mom won't have to work any more."

"But people aren't supposed to go there."

"We'll come right back," I said and squeezed him tighter.

"OK, OK," he sniffed and pointed one tiny arm. I ran, following his directions, until I saw the rainbow. A big pot of gold sparkled in the sunshine at the rainbow's end. Four tiny guards stood beside it.

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I set Oliver down by a tree, ran and snatched the pot of gold before the guards could stop me. They started shouting as I ran away. I stopped when I reached Oliver.

"Now see what you've done!" Oliver cried. He pointed to the end of the rainbow, which had started floating up to the sky. The guards were clinging to the rainbow's edge, trying to pull it down.

"The rainbow will be lost forever!" Oliver shouted. "The pot of gold holds it down!"

By the time I reached the rainbow, I had to jump to reach it. Another minute, and the rainbow and guards would have been goners. I pulled with all my might to get it back to the ground.

Soon all the little people came running. They surrounded the pot of gold and dragged it to me. I picked it up and set it back on the end of the rainbow.