Delilah and the Autumn Elf

Delilah was a very inquisitive child. She always pondered on such peculiar things, that her friends never took her seriously. How the Earth managed to stay suspended in mid air, why rainbows always appeared in arcs, were things that made her curious.

One day, sometime in autumn, Delilah was gazing out of her window. She watched the leaves swirling in the wind for sometime, lost in thought. “They’re all brown and yellow,” she suddenly thought. And so she began to wonder why all the leaves turned this colour during autumn.

She went outside, thinking of possible solutions. Then she jerked her head up, attentively.

The wind howled around her but she was certain that she heard a peculiar sound. And then she heard it again clearer this time. It sounded like a very high pitched squeak.

Delilah looked all about her. Nothing. Then for some reason, she looked down, and was quite taken aback at the sight of a tiny elf scurrying around her feet, tightly clutching on to an equally tiny paint brush. Delilah crouched down slowly.

“Hello?” she tried to speak to it.

The Elf stopped running and gazed up at her. “Oh Delilah,” it instantly squeaked.

“I am in such trouble! Every year I am assigned to paint all the leaves in your garden for autumn, but this time I over slept, and I won’t be able to finish it in time!

Delilah looked up and studied their garden trees. Indeed, theirs were still sprightly green. “Don’t worry little elf. I will help you,” she said, kindly.

“Do you really mean that? Oh, how gracious of you!” the elf exclaimed, leaping into the air.

It thrust a paint brush at her, which he conjured from mid air. “This is a magical paint brush. All you have to do is think of a colour and it will appear,” the elf explained. Delilah accepted the brush, and together, they set to painting the leaves.

“So this is how the leaves change colours during autumn,” Delilah thought as she painted away.

“Elves come and do it!” When the job was finally done, the elf thanked Delilah and gave her the magic brush to keep as a gift.

And ever since, she took it as her responsibility to paint the leaves in her garden as a favour for the elf.

Shenali Boteju,

Holy Family Convent,

Bambalapitiya.

A magical moment

Once upon a time there was a girl named Alexa. She lived in a small house with her best friend Alex. Even though their house was small, they had a lovely garden. They were poor but because of the beautiful garden, they earned a little money. They did everything together.

One day Alex went to bed early without even telling Alexa.

Alexa was making sandwiches to eat with her. When she discovered that Alex was already asleep, Alexa thought that Alex was not having dinner because they ate sandwiches every night. “I can’t eat without her’, thought Alexa.. So, she just kept the sandwich dinner aside and went to sleep.

In the morning when Alexa woke up she realised that Alex was not in bed. She looked for her everywhere but she was not in the house. Then, Alexa, went to the garden and searched again. She thought that she maybe hidding somewhere, but she was wrong. Alex had left the house.

When Alexa went out to look for Alex in the village, a big storm occurred suddenly. She then ran fast as she could to the forest. However, after a little while the storm subsided.

Alexa came back to the garden and noticed how the storm had ruined the beautiful garden and the small house. She did not waste any more time. She ran far in search of Alex. On the way she met a fairy who said, “I am hungry”. Alexa gave her a piece of sandwich. After a while the fairy said, “I can help you”. She was amazed to hear that! Alexa asked, “How”? The fairy said, “You helped me by giving me a sandwich. I will help you by looking for your friend”.

By the way, the fairy knew everything. She helped Alexa find Alex and also repair the damaged house. After Alex was found, Alexa asked her, “Where did you go?” Alex replied that a fairy had told her, “There’s a beautiful flower in the forest.

If you could find it, you could earn a lot more money than before.” So, Alex had gone to look for it.

The people in the city didn’t know about the village Alexa and Alex lived in. The fairy flew around and pasted posters about the garden, everywhere in the city. Many people came to buy the beautiful flowers. Alexa and her friend could sell the flowers and earn a large sum of money. They lived happily together and the fairy also was happy for them.

Prabhani Maheesha Senanayake,

Class 6-K, Musaeus

College, Colombo 7.