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Description
Far away and long ago, when the world was full of fantasy, and magic really did exist, two strange little creatures in a dense forest huddled close together in collaboration. Both looked just a little bit human, but a human would have to know that to see the resemblance. One was a goblin; not the nasty, spiky kind that abduct children, but an ordinary animal--a squirrel, in this case--stretched to twice the usual size, with longer limbs and a better brain than the rest of its species. The other was an elf; not the kind who make shoes or toys, but an ordinary plant--poison ivy, in this case--that could sort its branches or vines into structures resembling limbs and grow a small brain among its roots.

This particular pair, the squirrel goblin and the poison ivy elf, had spent the last few hours forming their plan and preparing to put it into action. Unfortunately, neither one was particularly smart, only tricky as the magic that made them. As soon as they were ready to move their pile of work, they remembered that one had roots and the other had paws too small to carry several things very far. Their trouble did not last long, though, as a goblin beaver ambling past agreed to lend his broad, flat tail to the task. The squirrel goblin followed behind to be sure that no nuts were lost as the goblin beaver dragged the perfectly poison-ivied walnuts toward Puck's hutch. On a low shelf near the door sat a heavy-bottomed bowl full of gifts the forest animals had delivered to their keeper: berries, roots, and hazelnuts for the forest spirit, the Goblin General Puck.

The squirrel and the ivy goblins had been too stupid to think this far ahead, but Puck's own mischief helped them now. The beaver goblin had long legs that let him stand tall enough for his tail to reach the bowl so that the squirrel goblin could push all the poison-ivied walnuts in among the nuts, roots and berries. As soon as he was done, the squirrel goblin skittered an excited little dance around the room. He had done something clever, just like Puck, and he was very proud of himself.

Just then, a handsome red fox bounded into the hutch and leapt over and around the two goblins. They chirped and screeched in anger and reached out to claw the ordinary animal that dared to make fun of them, but the fox moved too fast to catch and because its entire tail was missing, there was nothing for the goblins to grab hold of. At last the fox gave up his game and pranced back toward the door, where he stretched and grew and shrank in different places until he looked like a young man with a fox fur collar around his filthy deerskin clothes.

"I thought I'd cleaned up that whole mess," he laughed as the alarmed goblins hurried to bow to their general, Puck. With a flick of his fingers, the squirrel and the beaver became ordinary once again, the first frantic to get back to his precious store of nuts and the second confused about how he got so far from his lakeside home. Puck picked up the beaver, took him outside, and set him on the round facing the direction of his lodge. "Mile and a half that way, my friend," he said. "And no one's going to bother you on your way back, right?" he called into the forest. The silence of local predators--all annoyed that Puck had protected a fine dinner--was answer enough. Puck chuckled.

Description
Far away and long ago, when the world was full of fantasy, and magic really did exist, two strange little creatures in a dense forest huddled close together in collaboration. Both looked just a little bit human, but a human would have to know that to see the resemblance. One was a goblin; not the nasty, spiky kind that abduct children, but an ordinary animal--a squirrel, in this case--stretched to twice the usual size, with longer limbs and a better brain than the rest of its species. The other was an elf; not the kind who make shoes or toys, but an ordinary plant--poison ivy, in this case--that could sort its branches or vines into structures resembling limbs and grow a small brain among its roots.

This particular pair, the squirrel goblin and the poison ivy elf, had spent the last few hours forming their plan and preparing to put it into action. Unfortunately, neither one was particularly smart, only tricky as the magic that made them. As soon as they were ready to move their pile of work, they remembered that one had roots and the other had paws too small to carry several things very far. Their trouble did not last long, though, as a goblin beaver ambling past agreed to lend his broad, flat tail to the task. The squirrel goblin followed behind to be sure that no nuts were lost as the goblin beaver dragged the perfectly poison-ivied walnuts toward Puck's hutch. On a low shelf near the door sat a heavy-bottomed bowl full of gifts the forest animals had delivered to their keeper: berries, roots, and hazelnuts for the forest spirit, the Goblin General Puck.

The squirrel and the ivy goblins had been too stupid to think this far ahead, but Puck's own mischief helped them now. The beaver goblin had long legs that let him stand tall enough for his tail to reach the bowl so that the squirrel goblin could push all the poison-ivied walnuts in among the nuts, roots and berries. As soon as he was done, the squirrel goblin skittered an excited little dance around the room. He had done something clever, just like Puck, and he was very proud of himself.

Just then, a handsome red fox bounded into the hutch and leapt over and around the two goblins. They chirped and screeched in anger and reached out to claw the ordinary animal that dared to make fun of them, but the fox moved too fast to catch and because its entire tail was missing, there was nothing for the goblins to grab hold of. At last the fox gave up his game and pranced back toward the door, where he stretched and grew and shrank in different places until he looked like a young man with a fox fur collar around his filthy deerskin clothes.

"I thought I'd cleaned up that whole mess," he laughed as the alarmed goblins hurried to bow to their general, Puck. With a flick of his fingers, the squirrel and the beaver became ordinary once again, the first frantic to get back to his precious store of nuts and the second confused about how he got so far from his lakeside home. Puck picked up the beaver, took him outside, and set him on the round facing the direction of his lodge. "Mile and a half that way, my friend," he said. "And no one's going to bother you on your way back, right?" he called into the forest. The silence of local predators--all annoyed that Puck had protected a fine dinner--was answer enough. Puck chuckled.