Halloween-stories-Twinkling-Feets-Halloween-short-stories-for-kids
Twinkling Feet’s Halloween
One Halloween, a group of merry fairies danced around a green circle in a meadow. In the centre is Little Fiddler, playing his funniest music and keeping time with his head and one tiny paw. The faster he played, the more happily the little creatures danced. What a wonderful sport it is to spin and twist to the rhythm of the fairy-tale music that the cheerful little elf emits from his tiny instrument. No wonder the fairies laughed so much that their sides hurt. And really, so does their little musician. Sometimes, he was forced to stop playing for a few seconds to catch his breath.
Now, there was a little fairy named Twinkling Feet, the best dancer in the ring, and he could cut such strange little capers that his companions screamed with laughter as they looked at him. Suddenly, he thought about what kind of sport it would be to prank all the little dancers. Very mischievously, he tripped over his companion, and they both fell to the grass, dragging one pixie after another until all in the circle were lying on the ground. They lay there for a few seconds, a writhing pile of blue coats and red hats. It took a while for them to stand up on their own. Many laughed cheerfully at the mishap, but a few were bruised so badly that they were forced to hide and bathe their shins in the afternoon dew.
“Who stumbles first in the ring?”
“Who made us fall on our coats?”
“Who ruined our Halloween dance?” One fairy after another asked.
“Twinkling Feet and I fell first,” said the best dancer. “I don’t know what got us caught up, do you?” He asked, smiling and turning to his companion.
But Twinkling Feet’s little brown face was so sad and sober that his partner quickly asked: “Why, what’s the matter with you?”
“I don’t know,” the little elf said.
“Why, look at him,” cried another pixie.
“Is anything hurting you?” several small creatures asked together.
“I feel very strange,” Twinkling Feet said.
“Do you have what mortals call ‘pain?'” his partner asked.
“I don’t know what it is, but I feel very, very strange. Ask Little Fiddler if he knows what happened to me.”
The group of pixies gathered around Twinkling Feet moved away to let the goblin musician get closer to the strange-looking fairy. Little Fiddler looked at him intently, shook his white head and said slowly: “Something terrible has happened. Twinkling Feet has lost its laughter!”
“Laughing is gone!” all the other little elves shouted.
“He’s lost his laugh!” Fiddler Pixie repeated.
“I’ve lost my laughter,” Twinkling Feet groaned. “Oh, please tell me what to do.”
“There’s nothing to do but find it. You can’t dance in a pixie ring without laughing and marking what I said; you must find it before midnight.”
“But what if I can’t find it?” The goblin cried out in fear.
“Then you will be a little fairy who cannot smile – that’s all,” declared the Little Violin.
At these terrible words, every fairy’s face became sober. They looked at each other very solemnly and said: “A little fairy who doesn’t know how to smile! It is so awful!”
Then, one by one, they cried out. “Find it, Twinkling Feet. Maybe you’ll find it before midnight. Start now. Think how sad it would be if you never got to dance in the ring again.”
“Where am I going, Fiddler Pixie?” Sparkly Feet asked.
“Well, you can ask Jack-o’-Lantern,” the musician said. “He’s been walking around in the pasture all evening. Behold, he passed by the stream.”
The little fairy ran as fast as he could. It was challenging getting so close to Jack-o’-Lantern to make him hear. Twinkling Feet was almost ready to give up the chase when the little man stopped, poked his head out of the lantern and called, “Do you want to talk to me?”
“Don’t you know me?” the little fairy cried out. “I am Twinkle Feet.”
“Why, what happened to you?” Jack asked. “You are the strangest-looking person I have ever met.”
“I have lost my laughter. Tell me, Jack-o’-Lantern, have you seen it?”
“Laughing is gone!” The lantern man repeated, looking very serious. “No wonder I don’t know you. I am sorry to say that I have never seen your laughter.”
“Do you know anyone who can help me, Jack?” Sparkly Feet asked. “Oh, help me find it.”
“Let me see. You can ask the Jolly Little Witch. Her eyes were sharp. She was in the ragweed meadow, looking for a good riding crop. As soon as she finds one, I’ll take her to the village where she’ll have a lot of fun at the children’s party. It’s Halloween, you know. Come, jump in my lantern, and I will take you to her.”
Twinkle Feet jumped into the little lantern and entered the ragweed field. As they approached, the Little Witch happily said, “Jack, I found a good ragweed stalk, but I lost my goggles. Come, maybe you can help me find them. I can’t enter the village without goggles. Why, who is that person standing in the lantern with you?”
“A little fairy wants to ask you something,” Jack-o’-Lantern said, opening the door to let Twinkling Feet out. Then, the lantern man rushed to find the Witch’s goggles.
“Please, Jolly Little Witch, I’ve lost my laughter,” said Twinkling Feet.
“Laughing is gone! And on Halloween! Well, no wonder I don’t know you. You are the strangest-looking fairy I have ever seen. Tell me how you lost your laughter?”
But Sparkly Feet did not answer her question. He said meekly, “Have you seen it?”
“No, my little friend. I am sorry I have not seen your laughter,” said the jolly little Witch.
“A pixie can’t dance without laughter,” Twinkling Feet sighed.
“No, of course he can’t. Dear dear! I’m so sorry for you,” the little Witch said, shaking her head.
“And if a pixie loses anything on Halloween, he must find it before midnight or leave it forever.”
“I could help you any other night, but you see, I always celebrate Halloween in the village with the children. I’ll be home late tonight if I don’t find those goggles.” And again, she began to look for them.
The little fairy looked at her for a moment. Then he asked, “Do the children laugh happily on Halloween?”
“Why, my little friend, this is the time of year when people laugh the most. There will be a witch’s party tonight. I would secretly join the children and show them all sorts of tricks to amuse them. It’s so annoying that I lost those goggles.”
“I will help you find them, Jolly Little Witch,” said the fairy. “I guess I had to stop laughing because I didn’t know anyone to ask. Tell me what your goggles look like.”
“Those are the two round glass windows that I wear over my eyes when I fly through the air,” said the Little Witch.
Away sets out to Pixie to search for them. He carefully looked around at each ragweed stalk in the meadow, but he could not see anything like “two round glass windows.”
“Maybe they can’t find anything that was lost on Halloween,” he said to himself.
He slowly walked back to where he had left the cheerful little Witch. As he approached her, he stared at something above her head.
“Please tell me more about your goggles,” Twinkling Feet said. “Are they like the two glass windows in the front of your hat?”
“Cross the front of my hat!” cried the Witch, raising her hand to find out what the little goblin meant. Then she laughed and said, “Oh, okay! Strange things happen on Halloween! Come, Jack-o’-Lantern! Arrive! The fairy found my goggles. They are always on my head!”
And turning to Twinkle Feet, she said, “You will come with us into the village and watch the fun if you like. I’m sure Jack will carry you in his lantern.”
“Of course I will,” said the lantern man. “And while you play tricks at the children’s party, I’ll carry him wherever he wants. It’s still a long way until midnight.”
“I want to see the kids and hear them laugh,” Twinkling Feet said.
The cheerful little witch pulled her goggles down her nose and attached a ragweed stem. The fairy jumped into the lantern, and the three sped away through the air.
As they approached the village, the little witch knelt on the ground.
“Meet me here before the party’s over, Jack-o’-Lantern,” she said. “I will leave before the children take off their masks. In the meantime, let Twinkling Feet see how much fun the kids will have on their way to the party.”
She ran up the village street to a corner, where she joined a group of merry boys and girls on their way to the party. They wear black dresses, tall pointed hats, narrow brims, and funny little masks. No one said a word, but their merry laughter reached Twinkling Feet’s ears.
He slipped out of the lantern and ran towards the group of children as fast as he could. Before he reached them, however, the most diminutive creature, somersaulting faster than anyone could count, rushed at him. It climbed up the little fairy’s body and disappeared into his mouth. Twinkling Feet laughed best and then ran back to Jack-o’-Lantern and cried: “I found it! I have found my laughter! My dear little laughter! Oh, how happy I am! Jack-o’-Lantern, please take me back to the fairy arena. I have found my beloved laughter!”
He jumped into the little man’s lantern and flew over the fields. As they approached the green circle where the fairies were still dancing, the fairy happily exclaimed, “I have found my laughter! I have found my beloved laughter!”
“Welcome back, Twinkle Feet,” the dancers replied.
He jumped out of the lantern and joined the other happy fairies. When they stopped dancing momentarily, Fiddler Pixie snuck up to Twinkling Feet and whispered mischievously, “Always be careful when you laugh when you dance.”
