Psst! Hey, you! Yes, you, reading this with your eyes wide open. Did you see that quick shadow that just zoomed over your head? The one that looked like a mix between a mischievous child and a dragonfly? That's me! My name is Puck. Welcome to my home: the Magic Forest. But shhh, keep your voice down. It's nighttime now. We don't use flashlights here; we have flowers that glow in the dark like tiny blue and purple lightbulbs. The ground is made of moss, softer than your bed! It's the perfect place for hiding and making... well, mischief.
I'm the fastest and most playful goblin of all, but I have bosses. And what bosses they are! I work for King Oberon and Queen Titania. They rule over all the fairies. They sound important and serious, right? Well, let me tell you a secret: right now they're fighting like little children! They're arguing really loudly! And when the fairy rulers fight, the forest weather goes crazy: it rains in summer and shines in winter. What a mess! All because the Queen has a cute new page boy and won't share him with the King. Oberon is really upset and has called for me. I think he wants me to play one of my special tricks! This is going to be fun...
It turns out King Oberon had a plan. He called me to a dark corner and said: "Puck, do you see that purple flower over there? It's called 'Love-in-a-Blink.' If you squeeze its juice onto someone's eyes while they sleep, poof! They'll fall madly in love with the first thing they see when they wake up. I want you to put it on Queen Titania! That way she'll fall in love with some weird creature and forget all about our fight." Hee hee hee! What a wicked and brilliant plan! I flew off to find the flower.
But while I was flying, I saw something strange. Humans! In my forest. There were two boys and two girls who had gotten lost. You could tell they had love problems: one girl was chasing a boy who didn't like her, and the other boy was looking for the other girl... Phew, being human is so complicated! King Oberon, who also saw them, felt sorry for the girl nobody wanted and told me: "Puck, while you're at it with the flower, put a little juice on the rude boy, so he'll fall in love with her." "Piece of cake, boss!" I said.
I found one of the human boys sleeping on the ground. He sounded like a snoring log! I crept up quietly, took out the magic flower and... Drip, drip! I put two drops in his eyes. The problem is... oops! I think I got the wrong human. This wasn't the rude one. And to make it worse, the first person he saw when he opened his eyes wasn't the right girl—it was the other one! Now both boys are chasing the same girl, and the poor girl nobody wanted is still alone, and everyone is running in circles shouting romantic and silly things. Oh my! I think I broke the humans. The Boss is going to be upset...
While the lovesick humans were running in circles screaming, I heard a terrible noise near some bushes. "Oh, what a dark night! Oh, my love is gone!" someone shouted with a voice like a rusty saw. I went to look. They were actors! A group of humans from the village had come to my forest to secretly rehearse a play. How boring! The loudest one was a fellow called Nick Bottom. He thought he was the best actor in the world, but he was terrible. I decided that rehearsal needed a bit of... Puck magic. When Nick hid behind a tree to wait for his turn, I flew up invisibly and... WHOOSH! I played my best prank: I changed his human head for a DONKEY head. A real one! Fuzzy, with long ears that wiggled, and huge teeth.
When he came out from behind the tree, his actor friends screamed: "A monster!" and ran away leaving a cloud of dust. Nick stayed alone, scratching his new fuzzy ear without understanding anything. But wait, it gets better. Remember King Oberon's plan? Right at that moment, Queen Titania woke up from her nap on her bed of flowers. She had the magic flower juice in her eyes. She opened her eyes, saw the donkey-man, and screamed: "Oh, what a beautiful creature! What elegant ears! What a sweet voice when you say 'Hee-haw'!" The Queen fell in love with the donkey! She stroked his fuzzy snout, put flowers on his ears, and sent her little fairies to bring him the best carrots in the forest. I was hiding in a branch, dying of laughter. Oberon's plan had worked too well!
King Oberon had laughed so much watching his wife hugging the donkey that his belly hurt. But then, he got a little bit serious (just a little) and told me: "Okay, Puck. I've had enough fun. I feel a bit sorry for the Queen. And the poor humans are exhausted from all that running. Fix everything before the sun comes up!" "Yes, boss!" I said. First, I went to where Queen Titania was sleeping next to the donkey. I used a special magic herb and... Poof! The spell broke. She woke up rubbing her eyes and said: "What a strange dream I had! I dreamed I was in love with an ugly donkey." Oberon took her hand, they made peace, and they flew away dancing through the air. What a relief!
Then I took the donkey head off poor Nick Bottom. Now he was a normal actor again (well, still a bad actor, but with a human head). He woke up and ran home, thinking he had a great story to tell. And finally, the hardest part: the lovers. I made sure each sheep was with its right partner. I blew some magic mist over them so they would sleep deeply. When the morning sun touched their faces, they woke up. They looked at each other and smiled. No more screaming or fighting. Everything was fine.
"What happened last night?" one of them asked. "I don't remember well, it seems like it was all a blurry dream." "Yes," said the girl, "a midsummer night's dream." They walked away hand in hand, happy, not knowing that I, Puck, was watching them from the leaves. And you, little reader friend... if my story seemed a bit crazy or strange to you, don't worry. Do like them: close your eyes, think that it was all a fun dream, and that I'm just a mischievous shadow. Until the next prank! THE END.
