Lewis was overflowing with excitement. It was his favorite- absolute favorite holiday. St. Patrick’s Day. The air was crisp and it had a buzz to it as if it was electric. Lewis’s home town was sitting on a hill that over looked beautiful lakes, rolling hills and a lush forest. Earlier this morning he had stepped outside and found a four leaf clover. To see a leprechaun was his one wish. Soon after, Lewis and his family headed downtown for the big parade. Every short green object was closely-oh so closely- inspected by Lewis so the he was sure they weren’t leprechauns.  They finally reached the main square and settled in for the show. Only after most of the town was there did the parade begin.

Dancers in green performed cartwheels and flips as they moved down the cobblestone streets. Next came the floats. Giant four leaf clovers soared through the air. The crowd cheered and cheered and cheered. Lewis was the only one who failed to cheer for he was too busy searching for leprechauns. The next float was a humungous green top hat with a shiny, golden ring around it. Suddenly, Lewis sprinted out into the middle of the road. He had no care for the parade for all of his attention was fixed on finding little men in green suits. He peered high into the sky and looked inside the hat for hiding leprechauns. There were none. Only a few steps behind, Lewis’ mother ran into the road and scooped him up off the ground. The look- that evil look- on his mother’s face dared him to do it again. Lewis slumped his shoulders and let his mother drag him off to the side. The parade was approaching its last event, but Lewis had yet to find a leprechaun.

The last part of the parade was a traditional song performed by kilted men playing the bagpipes. The sound of the music was almost louder than the crowd’s cheers. The cobblestone road thundered as the men marched down the road. They were led by a leprechaun. A short happy leprechaun. ‘Real or not real?’ was the only thing that was going through Lewis’ mind. Real or not real? He failed to come up with an answer. It would be risky to run again but he decided his wish might depend on this very moment. He stepped slowly- oh so slowly- onto the street and looked around. Nobody had noticed him yet. He broke out of the crowd and ran. And ran. Straight towards the leprechaun. The poor leprechaun was being chased by Lewis who was being chased by his mom who was being chased by a policeman. Lewis reached out to grab the leprechaun. He was close- so close- to grabbing him. But just as he swiped the leprechauns scampered up a bagpiper’s tree trunk legs. Lewis grabbed the man’s kilt and pulled it back so that he could look for his leprechaun. There was no leprechaun! ‘How could it be?’ Lewis thought to himself. He then turned around and saw his mother quickly approaching him. He turned around again and ran off like he’d been shot out of a cannon. Lewis ran for about two feet before he ran right into a musician that was playing the bagpipes. Down he fell, like a rock tumbling off a cliff. As soon as Lewis hit the ground his mother picked him up. She took him straight home and put him in timeout. He was so mad- no not mad, he was furious. Finally Lewis slowly drifted into a deep, deep sleep, where he found his leprechaun floating on a four leaf clover in the hands of a tall, kilt-wearing bag pipe player.