This morning, I was giving Saffie a bath (cleaning my car), while Kit played in the bushes. Suddenly he came galloping towards me, squeaking, “Mum! Mum! There’s a leprechaun in the bushes.”
“I see,” I said, barely looking up (it is Saint Patrick’s Day), “And does this leprechaun have a name?”
“Buggered if I know,” he muttered, “You don’t believe me, do you?”
“We have to help him! Someone has buried him up to his neck. It might already be too late,” Kit insisted dramatically, beckoning.
In the past, I had been used to Kit’s adventures with his imaginary friends. This conversation was not going at all how I expected. It was out of control like a dog on a polished floor.
Intrigued, I followed him to the stand of trees and bushes where the proclaimed leprechaun was lurking. As we approached, I got a close look at it.
“Kit,” I said kindly, “That is in no more need of excavation than you or I. It is a garden statue.”
“Gnome,” he corrected, “Statues are called gnomes when they’re in gardens.”
According to his theory, this would mean that the statues all around Perth including our ‘founding fathers’, and also some down the road of prehistoric Aboriginal people would be considered ‘gnomes’. I remained prudently silent on that matter.
“Anyway,” he added defensively, “That’s not it. There was a leprechaun right in front there. Otherwise, I would have been able to see the gnome.”
“I see,” I said, “And this leprechaun was buried up to his neck, too?”
“Well, obviously not, or he couldn’t have got away,” Kit conceded.
Now would be a good time to point out that his ‘gnome’ was actually an ornamental Buddha’s head. I felt that that really did need addressing before he inadvertently offended any Buddhists.
So, with the aid of Google, Kit and I learned almost everything we needed to know about Buddhism.
In his usual style, Kit had to have the last word, “I think it’s wonderful that they revered him,” he said charitably, “Even though he had some terrible skin disease that made him all grey.”
He then added, “Funny thing that. The leprechaun’s skin was green.”