The Fairy Tale Chronicles
Chapter 1: A Little Bit of Sole
Once upon a time (like all good fairy tales) lived an old cobbler and his wife. The cobbler and his wife were both very nice and very kind, and the cobbler had a lucrative shoe making business.
People from all around the kingdom had their shoes either made or repaired by the kindly old cobbler. Lords and Ladies as well as your average town butcher and baker all went to the shoemaker for their footwear needs. The cobbler's shoes were the finest in the kingdom, and thus he and his wife lived in decent splendor.
At the time the cobbler did not know this, but he had help. Help by the way of five little creatures. They would creep into the house of the kindly old cobbler every night and finished the work for him.
What did these little creatures look like? No one really knows cause neither the cobbler nor his wife has ever saw an elf in real life. At first they thought about getting their place exterminated; however, when the tiny beings finished working on the leftover unfinished shoes, the cobbler thought better of it.
"Wife!" exclaimed her husband, "Thank our lucky stars for we have elves!"
"That's nice dear," she replied while sitting on her rocking chair darning her husband's socks. "I do hope they are housebroken and pick up after themselves."
And so on a bright and sunny Spring Monday morning the cobbler's day begins.
It was almost like Christmas every morning for the cobbler. He had to make 125 pairs of shoes and repair 75 over the weekend, but was unable to finish Sunday evening. But sure enough, come the next morning all 125 pairs of shoes were made and all 75 were repaired.
Sadly, for one happy cobbler there are also five very tired elves.
"You would think he would grow use to this." stated an elf that tried to stifle a yawn.
The other three agreed though the smallest and youngest just yawned.
The eldest elf had to hush the others for fear of the humans finding out where their hiding place was.
"And to think we have to do this without any clothes on!" the middle one grumbled, "One of these days I'm afraid that I will accidentally stitch a certain body part if I'm not careful." That remark made the other wince.
Yes that was right. These poor elves had to do their nightly work without one stitch of clothing on their little bodies. Being spring it wasn't so bad, but the little ones were concerned if they had to keep doing this over the autumn and the bitter cold of winter.
"Well Mr. Yorn did warn us that this was a lowly job, but we took it anyway cause we needed the money." The eldest and tallest elf stated, "However, we must go back to our beds until he needs us again tonight."
And so the five elves ended their busy day by going back their modest tiny home while the rest of the kingdom started theirs.
The first person to enter the cobbler's shop was a beautiful young lady who needed a new pair of blue slippers for the up coming ball at the palace. The cobbler was more than pleased and honored to make them for her.
The next person to come in was the Lord of the county. He was an older gentleman wanting his hunting boots repaired. Again the cobbler was more than honored to have someone come from far away just to have his boots repaired by him.
This went on for the good part of the day up until the late afternoon when the cobbler received his last customer.
From where the cobbler worked he saw the door open but nobody entered. At first he thought it was a phantom, "But why would a phantom need shoes?" he pondered.
Just at that moment a voice rose from the bottom of the counter. "Hello?" it asked.
The cobbler looked to his right then left then right again only to realize that perhaps he should look down.
There she was standing and leaning on her cane. She was all but three feet eight inches tall as her head barely touched the top of the cobbler's counter. She had with her a red wagon that she pulled whenever she was in town. Inside her wagon was a pair of shoes that were in dire need of repair.
The cobbler smiled and asked, "What can I do for you today m'dear?"
She took a deep breath and said, "My name is Sphera Spindle, and I was wondering if you could please repair my shoes? They were specially made for me by a cobbler many years ago who had since moved too far away for me to travel, and I thought you might be able to help me."
All the cobbler did was nod as she continued, "It took me about an hour to walk all the way here from where I live in these old regular shoes, and I would be ever so grateful if you could help me." She carefully placed a small bag of silver on the counter saying that she was willing to pay whatever she could, so she could have her shoes back to their near perfect condition.
"Oh bless your iddy biddy heart!" He cried out, but just as quickly came back with, "I can't promise anything, but I will see what I can do."
"That usually means no luck kid." thought Sphera, "Take what you can get and move on."
She did her best to smile without sighing while not only thanking the cobbler for anything that he might be able to do, but also at the same time placing the pair of shoes that needed repair on the end of the counter. She left cursing under her breath as she nearly tripped over the doorframe while dragging her wagon. The only thing on her mind now was the long lonely walk back to her home.
The cobbler sighed when she was out of ear shot, "Poor thing being cursed with clubbed feet." He gazed at the shoes and boots from his earlier patrons, "I'll have to work on those first and foremost. I mean it's not she's going to a ball any time soon (if ever), or that she is a Lady of the county; therefore, when she comes back tomorrow I will inform her that I do not have the materials needed for her "special" shoes.
There, he rationalized everything, and just in time for his wife to call him for dinner.
Later that very evening after dinner and working on a few shoes the cobbler yawned and stretched and announced he and his wife was going to bed for the night.
That was the cue for the elves to begin their work.
Five pairs of golden eyes peered from their hiding place.
"You think he knows?" asked the middle elf as the others just looked at him. He gave a sheepish smile, and said, "Well you never know."
The eldest elf gave the orders for tonight work. "The four of us will work on the boots first, then move on to the slippers, and lastly make repairs."
"But what can I do tonight?" the youngest elf begged. Since starting this job he had not been able to do much of anything except keep watch on the store's counter top.
The second oldest elf patted the youngest one on the back, "Everyone has a job, and yours is to keep an eye out for the cobbler and his wife."
"That's all I ever do!" the smallest one whined, "I want to help make shoes! I want to be useful like all of you!" He sat down and began to cry, "I'm not useless you know."
"Yes, we do know." his four older brothers replied kindly.
The oldest sighed, and told everyone that time was being wasted, and for the youngest to stand watch on the counter like the nights before. The little one sighed, and agreed to do what he was told.
The counter was mammoth sized for the tiny elfin creature, but it was no problem for he just flew up there. From out of nowhere black bat wings spread forth from his back and lifted him up onto the counter.
"If anyone finds out that we are not elves, we will be fried from our assignment." He thought, "Therefore, I guard my brothers every night while they make shoes, boots, and slippers for his majesty's subjects."
So like a tiny steadfast tin soldier he straightened his back, held his head up high, and proceeded to walk back and forth on the counter. However, as minutes passed into hours, the just less than one-foot guard found himself becoming rather sleepy.
"I wish there was a place for me to take a nap," he muttered to himself, "Guarding makes me very tired." At that moment he spied the shoes sitting at the very end of the counter. He called for his brothers to let them know there was another pair of shoes for them to work on, but was told that it would be much too difficult to carry them back and forth from the counter without it looking like they have not been moved.
"If the shoemaker had wanted the shoes to be worked on, he would have placed it with the others." quipped the next to the youngest creature as he read from the book "Shoemaking for Dummies". The others told their youngest sibling not to worry and to stay on guard while the others went back to their work.
Sighing at his older and bigger by foot and a half brothers, the little solider of the counter top (as he called himself) shrugged, and went to inspect the shoes that sat there on the counter along side him. He carefully tip toed around them noticing that they did not look like everyone else's shoes. They were wide and black as well as worn at the back of the heel and the tip of the front. The shoelaces were also missing their tips. He then looked inside the right shoe and saw that the sole itself needed some repairing as well.
"I do believe my brothers and the cobbler could have worked on this if they just tried, but for now I do believe I could make this my bed for a little while." he yawned.
The others did not notice that their youngest brother slipped and squeezed his way into the left (and less worn) shoe for his forty winks. It was not easy for he had to scrunch down as far as he could go so as not to be seen by either his brothers or anyone else for that matter. He used the tongue of the shoe as blanket and drifted off to sleep.
Morning was beginning to break, and the cobbler and his wife woke up to start yet another hectic day knowing full well what they were going to find in the store's workshop.
The four brothers who had worked nearly all night long were too tired to take notice that their youngest brother was sleeping inside Miss Spindle's worn left shoe.
And for four very tired elf like beings there was also one very busy cobbler. He was so busy in fact that he never paid any notice to Miss Spindle's shoes and the little being that was sleeping peacefully inside one of them.
As the four were making their way to their modest beds, customers were entering the cobbler's shop. The first person to enter was in deed Miss Spindle and her little red wagon.
The cobbler was amazed that she had the fortitude to make it here so early, but Sphera just wanted to get the disappointment over and done with and get on with the rest of her day.
"Good morning Mr. Cobbler." Sphera called out, "Were you able to fix my shoes?"
"Good morning to you and bless your teeny tiny heart for walking out here ever so early!" He replied with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye but in an instant his face became somber. "I'm afraid I am unable to help you my dear. I do not have the materials needed for your unique feet."
Sphera let out a sigh and thanked the cobbler for his time. The cobbler gave back not only her shoes but her bag of silver coins as well since he never ever cheated anyone out of their hard earned money. He never once took notice what or who was inside Miss Spindle's left shoe.
Sphera was too disappointed to notice as well, but nevertheless placed her worn shoes in the wagon and left for home cursing to herself for nearly tripping yet again at the doorframe.
It wasn't until the late afternoon when the little ones realized their fifth family member was missing.
"Where is Cu...?!?" the eldest cried out, but was interrupted by the second oldest.
"Remember brother," he recounted the events from the night before," He told us about a pair of worn shoes on the counter, but we declined to work on them since moving them back and forth would be too difficult for us."
The middle brother continues, "We could have repaired it, but alas there were so many shoes that we selfishly thought that one pair on the counter surely not be missed."
"Unless you was the human needing it done." The oldest sighed, "We were very selfish indeed."
"He must have taken a nap in one of them since it must be very boring guarding the counter all night long." the oldest kept on.
He then shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and exclaimed, "Why are we talking?!? We must go out and find him! He must be afraid!"
"He must be hungry!" exclaimed the second oldest.
"He must be lonely!" exclaimed the middle.
"He's still naked!" the next to the youngest chimed in with the others giving him a look like they did the middle brother the night before.
The eldest looked outside the window and proclaimed that there was still enough daylight and time to go out looking for their little brother before they needed to start this evening's work.
How they hoped with all their hearts that nothing bad has happened to him and that they find the place where the person with the unrepaired shoes lives without too much trouble. Perhaps they could make it up to the human by repairing the shoes. Yes, that would make amends!
So the four of them hastily dressed themselves for they did not want to go out and about the kingdom in their birthday suits, and went off into the kingdom searching for their youngest brother.
Chapter 1: A Little Bit of Sole
Once upon a time (like all good fairy tales) lived an old cobbler and his wife. The cobbler and his wife were both very nice and very kind, and the cobbler had a lucrative shoe making business.
People from all around the kingdom had their shoes either made or repaired by the kindly old cobbler. Lords and Ladies as well as your average town butcher and baker all went to the shoemaker for their footwear needs. The cobbler's shoes were the finest in the kingdom, and thus he and his wife lived in decent splendor.
At the time the cobbler did not know this, but he had help. Help by the way of five little creatures. They would creep into the house of the kindly old cobbler every night and finished the work for him.
What did these little creatures look like? No one really knows cause neither the cobbler nor his wife has ever saw an elf in real life. At first they thought about getting their place exterminated; however, when the tiny beings finished working on the leftover unfinished shoes, the cobbler thought better of it.
"Wife!" exclaimed her husband, "Thank our lucky stars for we have elves!"
"That's nice dear," she replied while sitting on her rocking chair darning her husband's socks. "I do hope they are housebroken and pick up after themselves."
And so on a bright and sunny Spring Monday morning the cobbler's day begins.
It was almost like Christmas every morning for the cobbler. He had to make 125 pairs of shoes and repair 75 over the weekend, but was unable to finish Sunday evening. But sure enough, come the next morning all 125 pairs of shoes were made and all 75 were repaired.
Sadly, for one happy cobbler there are also five very tired elves.
"You would think he would grow use to this." stated an elf that tried to stifle a yawn.
The other three agreed though the smallest and youngest just yawned.
The eldest elf had to hush the others for fear of the humans finding out where their hiding place was.
"And to think we have to do this without any clothes on!" the middle one grumbled, "One of these days I'm afraid that I will accidentally stitch a certain body part if I'm not careful." That remark made the other wince.
Yes that was right. These poor elves had to do their nightly work without one stitch of clothing on their little bodies. Being spring it wasn't so bad, but the little ones were concerned if they had to keep doing this over the autumn and the bitter cold of winter.
"Well Mr. Yorn did warn us that this was a lowly job, but we took it anyway cause we needed the money." The eldest and tallest elf stated, "However, we must go back to our beds until he needs us again tonight."
And so the five elves ended their busy day by going back their modest tiny home while the rest of the kingdom started theirs.
The first person to enter the cobbler's shop was a beautiful young lady who needed a new pair of blue slippers for the up coming ball at the palace. The cobbler was more than pleased and honored to make them for her.
The next person to come in was the Lord of the county. He was an older gentleman wanting his hunting boots repaired. Again the cobbler was more than honored to have someone come from far away just to have his boots repaired by him.
This went on for the good part of the day up until the late afternoon when the cobbler received his last customer.
From where the cobbler worked he saw the door open but nobody entered. At first he thought it was a phantom, "But why would a phantom need shoes?" he pondered.
Just at that moment a voice rose from the bottom of the counter. "Hello?" it asked.
The cobbler looked to his right then left then right again only to realize that perhaps he should look down.
There she was standing and leaning on her cane. She was all but three feet eight inches tall as her head barely touched the top of the cobbler's counter. She had with her a red wagon that she pulled whenever she was in town. Inside her wagon was a pair of shoes that were in dire need of repair.
The cobbler smiled and asked, "What can I do for you today m'dear?"
She took a deep breath and said, "My name is Sphera Spindle, and I was wondering if you could please repair my shoes? They were specially made for me by a cobbler many years ago who had since moved too far away for me to travel, and I thought you might be able to help me."
All the cobbler did was nod as she continued, "It took me about an hour to walk all the way here from where I live in these old regular shoes, and I would be ever so grateful if you could help me." She carefully placed a small bag of silver on the counter saying that she was willing to pay whatever she could, so she could have her shoes back to their near perfect condition.
"Oh bless your iddy biddy heart!" He cried out, but just as quickly came back with, "I can't promise anything, but I will see what I can do."
"That usually means no luck kid." thought Sphera, "Take what you can get and move on."
She did her best to smile without sighing while not only thanking the cobbler for anything that he might be able to do, but also at the same time placing the pair of shoes that needed repair on the end of the counter. She left cursing under her breath as she nearly tripped over the doorframe while dragging her wagon. The only thing on her mind now was the long lonely walk back to her home.
The cobbler sighed when she was out of ear shot, "Poor thing being cursed with clubbed feet." He gazed at the shoes and boots from his earlier patrons, "I'll have to work on those first and foremost. I mean it's not she's going to a ball any time soon (if ever), or that she is a Lady of the county; therefore, when she comes back tomorrow I will inform her that I do not have the materials needed for her "special" shoes.
There, he rationalized everything, and just in time for his wife to call him for dinner.
Later that very evening after dinner and working on a few shoes the cobbler yawned and stretched and announced he and his wife was going to bed for the night.
That was the cue for the elves to begin their work.
Five pairs of golden eyes peered from their hiding place.
"You think he knows?" asked the middle elf as the others just looked at him. He gave a sheepish smile, and said, "Well you never know."
The eldest elf gave the orders for tonight work. "The four of us will work on the boots first, then move on to the slippers, and lastly make repairs."
"But what can I do tonight?" the youngest elf begged. Since starting this job he had not been able to do much of anything except keep watch on the store's counter top.
The second oldest elf patted the youngest one on the back, "Everyone has a job, and yours is to keep an eye out for the cobbler and his wife."
"That's all I ever do!" the smallest one whined, "I want to help make shoes! I want to be useful like all of you!" He sat down and began to cry, "I'm not useless you know."
"Yes, we do know." his four older brothers replied kindly.
The oldest sighed, and told everyone that time was being wasted, and for the youngest to stand watch on the counter like the nights before. The little one sighed, and agreed to do what he was told.
The counter was mammoth sized for the tiny elfin creature, but it was no problem for he just flew up there. From out of nowhere black bat wings spread forth from his back and lifted him up onto the counter.
"If anyone finds out that we are not elves, we will be fried from our assignment." He thought, "Therefore, I guard my brothers every night while they make shoes, boots, and slippers for his majesty's subjects."
So like a tiny steadfast tin soldier he straightened his back, held his head up high, and proceeded to walk back and forth on the counter. However, as minutes passed into hours, the just less than one-foot guard found himself becoming rather sleepy.
"I wish there was a place for me to take a nap," he muttered to himself, "Guarding makes me very tired." At that moment he spied the shoes sitting at the very end of the counter. He called for his brothers to let them know there was another pair of shoes for them to work on, but was told that it would be much too difficult to carry them back and forth from the counter without it looking like they have not been moved.
"If the shoemaker had wanted the shoes to be worked on, he would have placed it with the others." quipped the next to the youngest creature as he read from the book "Shoemaking for Dummies". The others told their youngest sibling not to worry and to stay on guard while the others went back to their work.
Sighing at his older and bigger by foot and a half brothers, the little solider of the counter top (as he called himself) shrugged, and went to inspect the shoes that sat there on the counter along side him. He carefully tip toed around them noticing that they did not look like everyone else's shoes. They were wide and black as well as worn at the back of the heel and the tip of the front. The shoelaces were also missing their tips. He then looked inside the right shoe and saw that the sole itself needed some repairing as well.
"I do believe my brothers and the cobbler could have worked on this if they just tried, but for now I do believe I could make this my bed for a little while." he yawned.
The others did not notice that their youngest brother slipped and squeezed his way into the left (and less worn) shoe for his forty winks. It was not easy for he had to scrunch down as far as he could go so as not to be seen by either his brothers or anyone else for that matter. He used the tongue of the shoe as blanket and drifted off to sleep.
Morning was beginning to break, and the cobbler and his wife woke up to start yet another hectic day knowing full well what they were going to find in the store's workshop.
The four brothers who had worked nearly all night long were too tired to take notice that their youngest brother was sleeping inside Miss Spindle's worn left shoe.
And for four very tired elf like beings there was also one very busy cobbler. He was so busy in fact that he never paid any notice to Miss Spindle's shoes and the little being that was sleeping peacefully inside one of them.
As the four were making their way to their modest beds, customers were entering the cobbler's shop. The first person to enter was in deed Miss Spindle and her little red wagon.
The cobbler was amazed that she had the fortitude to make it here so early, but Sphera just wanted to get the disappointment over and done with and get on with the rest of her day.
"Good morning Mr. Cobbler." Sphera called out, "Were you able to fix my shoes?"
"Good morning to you and bless your teeny tiny heart for walking out here ever so early!" He replied with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye but in an instant his face became somber. "I'm afraid I am unable to help you my dear. I do not have the materials needed for your unique feet."
Sphera let out a sigh and thanked the cobbler for his time. The cobbler gave back not only her shoes but her bag of silver coins as well since he never ever cheated anyone out of their hard earned money. He never once took notice what or who was inside Miss Spindle's left shoe.
Sphera was too disappointed to notice as well, but nevertheless placed her worn shoes in the wagon and left for home cursing to herself for nearly tripping yet again at the doorframe.
It wasn't until the late afternoon when the little ones realized their fifth family member was missing.
"Where is Cu...?!?" the eldest cried out, but was interrupted by the second oldest.
"Remember brother," he recounted the events from the night before," He told us about a pair of worn shoes on the counter, but we declined to work on them since moving them back and forth would be too difficult for us."
The middle brother continues, "We could have repaired it, but alas there were so many shoes that we selfishly thought that one pair on the counter surely not be missed."
"Unless you was the human needing it done." The oldest sighed, "We were very selfish indeed."
"He must have taken a nap in one of them since it must be very boring guarding the counter all night long." the oldest kept on.
He then shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and exclaimed, "Why are we talking?!? We must go out and find him! He must be afraid!"
"He must be hungry!" exclaimed the second oldest.
"He must be lonely!" exclaimed the middle.
"He's still naked!" the next to the youngest chimed in with the others giving him a look like they did the middle brother the night before.
The eldest looked outside the window and proclaimed that there was still enough daylight and time to go out looking for their little brother before they needed to start this evening's work.
How they hoped with all their hearts that nothing bad has happened to him and that they find the place where the person with the unrepaired shoes lives without too much trouble. Perhaps they could make it up to the human by repairing the shoes. Yes, that would make amends!
So the four of them hastily dressed themselves for they did not want to go out and about the kingdom in their birthday suits, and went off into the kingdom searching for their youngest brother.