Shamrocks

Pen Jen's Inkwell Podcast

An Irish Faerie teaches a pig, a goat, and Leprechaun Elves that luck simply isn’t enough to get you by—you also need faith, hope, and love.
Long ago in a land called Shamrocks lives a pink pig Mr. Hancocks and his closest friend Basil, a goat that sells fool’s gold near the end of the rainbow where luck and faith blend. Then there are Leprechaun Elves who eat three-leaf clovers four times a day, insisting it makes them lucky. Mr. Hancocks thinks clover tastes horrible, is unsure about “luck” and prefers faith. Basil the Goat who wears one Leprechaun shoe, believes in luck, especially in a sticky situation. Mr. Hancocks the Pig makes fun of anyone who believes in lucky numbers. Insulted, Basil challenges the pig to grow wings, since all kinds of outrageous things will happen by faith when pigs fly. Of course, the only way pigs will fly is if there is enough luck to reach the sky. But Mr. Hancocks tells Basil that he can definitely fly and higher than him.
The Elves visit Basil’s shop to buy fool’s gold then re-sell it to the highest bidder. As the Elves dance around acting like hooligans, one tiny Leprechaun tells Basil the story he heard from a Faerie that the three little leaves on the Shamrock are faith, hope, and love. They’re not a lucky charm but a blessing, which is why they taste so good. Instead of being magic, the Shamrocks provide faith to believe, hope to achieve, and love that covers over much wrong. Since the Elves thought they’d found luck, they forgot about love in order to make money.
Meanwhile Mr. Hancocks imagines flying from the rafters in the barn, but falters on the beams as he remembers the ground is farther than it seems, and he might soon be bacon. He realizes he needs wings more than he thought. When the Elves try to sell him fool’s gold for “luck,” he scolds them fourfold. Just when Mr. Hancocks is about to give up on flying, Basil stops by with wheelbarrows full of clover and a measuring cup. He tells Mr. Hancocks that if he eats two cups of the clover a day, then he will be able to fly away. The pig tells the goat that he needs more than luck or chance, and he is perplexed why “faith” has not been enough to fly.
Basil explains to Mr. Hancocks that luck and faith are second fiddle to love with hope. The secret to the Shamrocks is not luck, but love. Basil tells Mr. Hancocks to eat Shamrocks for dinner and lunch and then he will be filled with love. So, Mr. Hancocks gobbles up the Shamrocks, grows wings, and soars from the highest rafter to the clouds. Eventually, Basil stops selling fake gold to fools and instead sells Shamrocks. Mr. Hancocks becomes a famous pig with wings. The Irish Faerie shares the wisdom of the wise, just like she did to the tiny Leprechaun who shared her secret with Basil. She says: “Luck is not enough, as St. Patrick would say. Faith, hope, and love—be with you ’till the end. May the road rise up to your feet at every bend.”