Doodlebug & Dandelion Little Green Man

An English Fairy Tale

- Pamela Dell

“Doodlebug & Dandelion little green man!” Doodlebug Pinkley said, catching up with his sister and their cousin. “I just saw something really weird.”

Doodlebug and Dandelion’s mom had brought them to Woody-Woods Park for a nature hike billed as “an afternoon of fascinating fun.” Doodlebug had found the fun kind of boring though. He’d slipped out of line to look for insects along the edge of the trail, but had spied something much better.

“What?” Dandelion said, totally uninterested. The hikers’ guide was explaining why two rare treetop bristlebirds were braiding each other’s long tail feathers. Dandelion and Rudyard couldn’t look away.

“Listen, listen, Dandelion!” Doodlebug insisted, huffing and puffing with impatience. “I just saw a little green man crouching behind a bush. I said, ‘Hey!’ and he jumped.”

Now he had their attention.

“An alien?!” Rudyard sounded overjoyed.

“Wait,” said Dandelion. “Describe this person.”

“He looked human, not alien— but really small and short and old,” Doodlebug gushed. “And greenish. Green skin and strange green eyes and even green clothes. And he had gray-green whiskers and a black hat with a gold buckle on it. He said, ‘Catch me if ye can, laddie, and I’ll grant ye three wishes!’” Doodlebug tried to copy the little man’s strange accent, then added, “But he ran off!”

“Laddie!” Rudyard repeated, giggling with glee.