When you least expect them

 

I don't have a photo of a leprechaun for you yet, but it's coming... (just kidding).

 

In case you can handle it, see the footnote under the closing text and the photo of the place where the leprecauns... uh stones have hidden...

And then I came into contact with a small group of leprechauns...

It is 10 July 2025. I am standing at the petrol station near my work. It is quiet, no one else is around. While I'm filling up, I get a shock, and so does the car, I feel. It immediately reminds me of an experience I had a few years ago. Back then, I felt the ground moving beneath me, also at that petrol station. Now this. I know what it could mean, so I ask: who are you? A small group of leprechauns respond: we are languishing. I thank them for their trust.

The giant dwarf

I didn't ask how many there were. It's high time they got out of there. That can be done with stones. Last time, a nature spirit appeared to me that looked like a giant dwarf. Someone later corrected me: it was a leprechaun. It was trapped in the concrete and couldn't get out on its own. I went looking for a sturdy stone, one that wanted to leave the place where it lay. I thought of a nice place for the giant dwarf: a piece of forest with water not far from the petrol station, with nice footpaths and suitable for a leprechaun trail with children. I placed the stone on the ground where I had felt the ground move at the petrol station. The giant dwarf got in it and we drove to the woods, while I kept the stone on my lap and close to me. Together we got out of the car and into the woods. When we reached the water, I felt the giant dwarf become completely ecstatic. That's where I put the stone down.

Transport

So now it was about a small group of leprechauns. I indicated what kind of stone I had in mind, about the size of my fist, and showed it to them. They almost laughed at me. Ten stones, they told me. I went back to the same place where there are plenty of stones: along the river. I looked to see who wanted to come with me, and decided to go for a size larger. I could barely lift those ten stones. I felt that they would be happy with these stones as a means of transport. At home, I laid a wool blanket on the passenger seat. I took the stones to the petrol station, laid them on the ground, and a little later, two by two, on the blanket. Then to the grove. And from there I carried them two by two to the spot. Then I had each stone separately in one hand. Together in a bag with leprechauns on or in it (how should I imagine that?) didn't feel right.

Where to?

I walked to the water with the first two stones but was stopped before I got there: here! To my right stood a heavy beech tree. I placed both stones behind it, a little way off the path, out of sight, between low-growing bushes and leaves. Two by two, like that. When the last ones were laid, I didn't know if the wool blanket had picked up anything. I took it to the spot and put it back in the car, with an explanation. I also wanted to go back and feel where they were now, how it was for them. I had been busy arranging everything properly and keeping everything connected. I went back again to get a sense of the leprechauns. But there was no trace of the leprechauns, they had disappeared. What happened? I asked. They went straight to another dimension. Ah

Finally

By the way, when I was carrying the stones into the forest, I was given a subtle badge, a leprechaun badge, as a sign of being a leprechaun friend. My reaction was: how sweet. Immediately, I was told that this was not correct. I corrected myself: how extraordinary.

After a few weeks, I went to see what the stones wanted. I didn't expect them to want to go back to the river, because they had indicated that they wanted to be taken away. But maybe they would rather be somewhere else. And who knows, maybe I would get some information about the leprechauns, if anyone had seen them there.

So I went looking, first for the stones. I didn't find them. I knew what that meant. Then they don't want to be found. Then they can play it so that you don't find them. But they had to be here...  I checked everything again carefully and realised that the bag and I were standing on them. That's why I couldn't see them. A very good hiding place. Very clever. So I left them where they were.

And the leprechauns... There was a slight tension in the air when I walked into the leprechaun forest. I was being watched. No one said anything. I don't think they've been seen again...

 

I took a photo of the spot. And there is one. For anyone who wants to see it. At the top, slightly to the right of centre, with two eyes and its nose in the photo.