JOY AND RUMPELSTILTSKIN

The weekend was approaching, and Joy was as excited as can be. The Blue fairy had promised to take him to Fairy Land once again, and Joy couldn’t wait. As soon as he slept, the Blue Fairy came in his dreams, smiling as usual.
“I see you are all geared up to visit my land, Joy. But have you been good this week ?”
“I have been!!” exclaimed Joy, as he rattled off to describe all his good deeds to the fairy. The Blue Fairy chuckled, and said, “I know. Now let’s go.” She touched Joy lightly, and flew off. Joy flew right behind her, over the crescent moon and the twinkling stars into the huge white cloud of Fairy Land.
As they delved deep into the cloud, the seven rainbows shone through, and the lovely sight of Fairy Land came in view. Joy looked at the wonderful sight, and decided to taste at least one fruit tonight.
As they descended to land, Joy noticed a strange darkness. He realized that the castles were all unlit and dark, as if in mourning.
“Why are the castles so dark tonight, Blue Fairy?” he asked.
“Our Queen has recently given birth to a lovely child, Joy. But before the celebrations could end, a strange little man came and claimed the baby. It seems that the Queen had promised him her first child long ago. Now she has to guess the name of the stranger, or else she’ll lose the baby.”
Do you know who that strange little man was?
Joy knew. He also knew that a messenger will come to help the queen. “Don’t worry, Blue Fairy. Very soon, a messenger will come and help the Queen.”
“I’m afraid not.” replied the Fairy. “See, nobody really cared much about them until now. We thought we don’t need the messengers, and we left them on the old Fairy land. Now we know, of course, that every person is important and special in his own way. But time is running out for the Queen’s baby, and none of us can help her!!”
“I can.” exclaimed Joy. “I know the name of the strange little man. Take me to the castle.”
“No one will believe an ordinary child.” thought the blue fairy. She touched Joy lightly with her magic wand, and he was dressed immediately as a messenger. Now the fairy took him in the dark castle. The Queen sat sobbing on her chair, clutching her baby tight. The strange little man was standing right in front of her, laughing, and demanding her to fulfill her promise. As the little man tried to pull the small baby away from the queen, Joy shouted aloud: “Stop!!!”
He ran to the queen, and said “Your majesty, his name is Rumpelstiltskin.”
The Queen, bewildered and astonished, repeated what Joy said. Rumpelstiltskin cried hard and ran away, never to be seen again. The Blue Fairy quickly picked up Joy and took him back to earth, before anyone could realize that he was an ordinary boy, and not a royal messenger.
“You have done a great favor to the Fairy Land today, Joy. We have also learned how important every little thing and person is. I’ll take you to Fairy Land again next weekend.” promised the Blue Fairy.
“May be then I’ll get to taste the special fruit!!” sighed Joy, as he crawled onto his bed for the rest of the night.



PUZZLE:

Kids, do you remember the original Rumpelstiltskin story? Try answering these questions to find out:

Why did the Queen make that promise to Rumpelstiltskin ?
Whose daughter was the Queen?
What rhyme does Rumpelstiltskin sings that reveals his name to the original messenger?