Once upon a time…

There was a boy in Holland named Klaas. He was about 13, and he loved cheese. He was going through a growth spurt, so he always felt like his mother never gave him enough food at dinner. Every meal, he asked for more cheese. And every meal, they told him no.

One evening he was sent to bed early because he’d stolen his sister’s cheese. He looked out the window, grumbling, and saw a fairy ring at the edge of the forest.

…For those who don’t know, a fairy ring is a group of mushrooms that grow in a big circle. They’re cool.

As he was staring at the ring, a fairy appeared and flew towards him. It whispered “come join us, Klaas, we have plenty of cheese!”

Klaas was very interested, but he couldn’t leave his room. The fairy left, but half an hour later another one appeared.

“Come join us, Klaas,” it called, “we have plenty of cheese!”

Klaas decided he had to join them, so he promised the fairy he’d sneak out as soon as his family was asleep.

A few hours later, everyone in the house was snoring away. Klaas opened his door and snuck down the stairs. He opened the front door as quietly as possible, and was met by a fairy.

“Come join us, Klaas,” it said, flying towards the fairy ring. “We have plenty of cheese!”

Klaas, not worried about things like how the fairies knew his name, ran after the fairy into the woods.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

When he got to the fairy ring, a party was going on. There was music and dancing, and juice and cheese. Klaas immediately snagged a slice of cheese, and stuffed a few wedges into his pockets, but the fairies insisted he dance with them. Not wanting to be rude, he agreed.

They danced for hours, having a grand ol’ time. Finally the stars started to fade, and the fairies declared the party was over. But they’d promised Klaas cheese, so cheese he would have. They let him eat all the cheese they had left over, and then zipped away and brought back more cheese. They brought cheese wheel after cheese wheel, every type of cheese. They piled it up around him, telling him to eat.

Klaas happily stuffed himself with cheese for fifteen minutes, but then he got full. He didn’t need any more cheese. But the fairies brought more, insisting he eat. So he ate for another ten minutes, as they piled cheese around him. By the time he decided he couldn’t eat another bite, the cheeses were stacked so high Klaas felt like he was at the bottom of a well.

He told them he couldn’t eat any more, he asked them to stop bringing cheese, but they just laughed. They put a giant wheel of parmesan on the top of the “well”, and told Klaas he couldn’t leave the fairy ring until he’d eaten all the cheese.

On a normal day, this wouldn’t have been an issue. But Klaas was already full! He couldn’t eat any more!

The fairies snickered, ordering him to eat. They teased him to eat everything, like he’d always wanted. Hadn’t he dreamed of being surrounded by more cheese than he could eat? Hadn’t he always asked for more cheese?

Well, wish granted!

Klaas started crying, trying to figure a way out. He pulled at a wheel of cheddar, and the balance of the walls was lost. The giant parmesan toppled, falling towards him at a near-lethal rate. It hit him, knocking him out cold.

When Klaas woke up, it was dawn. The fairy ring was gone, along with all the cheese. He… had mixed feelings about that.

He snuck back into his house, and back to his room. He looked out the window, deciding that from then on he’d never ask for more cheese. And that he’d never tell anyone about the fairy party.

When he changed his clothes, he found the wedges of cheese still in his pockets. …Which he quickly ate before his mother called him to breakfast.

----------------------------------------

Moral: Be careful what you wish for.