The Playful Pixie

        Cathy was a spiteful little girl, who hated her brother because the pixies who lived in the garden would play with him, but they wouldn't play with her.
        "Why won't the pixies play with me? Why will they only play with you?" she asked.
        "Because you're spiteful and I'm not," replied her brother. "Pixies won't play with spiteful children."
        This made Cathy very angry, because, like most spiteful children, she thought she was really very pleasant and ever-so-much fun to be with.
        One morning, after her brother had come back from an especially long time playing in the garden with the pixies, Cathy decided to do something about it. She took an old shoe box, placed inside it a bent spoon (for some reason, pixies adore bent spoons), and left it at the bottom of the garden. Then, she waited.
        After a while, she saw a pixie appear, whistling. He noticed the shoe box, and wandered over. When he saw what was inside, he clapped his little hands, and eagerly climbed inside for the spoon. At that moment, Cathy pounced!
        "Got you!" she shouted, gleefully, as she slammed the lid on.
        "Let me out!" cried the pixie.
        "Not unless you promise to play with me!" she said.
        "But you're spiteful," he replied. "I don't want to play with anyone spiteful."
        "Well I shall just have to leave you here For All Time, then", said Cathy, sternly.
        "Eek! I promise, I promise," wailed the pixie. "Now please, let me out."
        Cathy opened the shoe box and tipped the pixie out onto the grass.
        "You promised to play with me," said Cathy.
        "That I did," replied the pixie, frowning.

So

The pixie turned Cathy into a ball, and played with her all afternoon.

Illustration by Roy Bartle
Image size: approx. 20K.