WORDS TO USE: leprechaun – polish – spider – giggle – orange
Larry hated March. It was St. Patrick’s Day that really annoyed him. The silly “normal” people of the world made ridiculous fun of the day. Stores went crazy selling four-leaf clover stuff, supposedly for good luck. And there was all that talk about pots of gold, especially at the ends of rainbows. Seriously?
He glanced across the table in his favorite pub and watched his girlfriend Alice fight back another giggle. All because he’d made the dumbest admission of his life. He blamed the crazy, noisy partyers around them, the second glass of Guinness.
Most of his life, he’d kept his background a secret. Why should it matter where he came from? What his ancestors did? Yes, he admitted to being Irish. But he didn’t make shoes like the rest of his family. He didn’t have particularly good luck. He certainly didn’t have a pot of gold.
“A leprechaun?” Alice questioned, her blue eyes dancing with amusement.
He heaved a sigh, looked down at the floor, kicked at a spider daring to crawl across the toe of his tennis shoe. “You accept that I’m Irish,” he said, frustrated with the conversation.
“Yes, even if I thought all Irishmen had dark hair or red hair at least, and you’re blond.” She cocked her head, smiling. “Still… you don’t even like Shepherd’s pie or bangers and mash. You’re eating goulash. And I’ve never seen you wearing green.”
Determined to end the discussion, he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his wallet. He snagged a picture of his family. One of his grandfather, father, and older brother. They all sported thick, dark orange hair and beards and were wearing green coats and hats on their way to a town holiday gathering.
She blinked at the photo, then at him, frowning. “Yes, there is a resemblance in the green eyes.” But it was clear they were all diminutive in comparison to him at 6’. Plus, there was his blond hair, being beardless, and his only having a wardrobe of nothing but T-shirts and jeans.
“Can you at least do some kind of Irish jig?”
