The Apple-elf

The Apple-elf is a strange kind of creature, a little bigger than a fairy but a little smaller than a gnome  who steals things and leaves apples in their place.
He does this because the Apple-elf lives in the trunk of an apple tree in the forest and some say was even born from a giant apple.
If ever you come home and find something of yours missing but also a pile of apples, its most likely that the Apple-elf has stolen your possessions and it's unlikely you will ever get them back unless you happen to know a witch.
However, if you do know a witch then you may get back your stolen property, infact if you find all the treasure that the Apple-elf has stolen over the years you may even become rich.
For example, there was once a young man named Tomic who had a bag of money stolen by the apple elf and came home to find his bag full of green apples instead.
Fortunately the young man knew a witch called Granny Buckthorn, who lived in the forest and was wise about all the fairy folk that were her neighbours.
And Granny Buckthorn told him to tie a gold bell to a string and to shake the bell by pulling upon the string.
"The apple elf has magic ears you see and if you ring a bell, the elf can tell just by listening wether its a bell of brass or silver or gold and, if its gold, the apple-elf will come to steal it but as long as you keep hold of the end of the string then the elf will be stuck to the bell and will not be able to untie or break the string to get loose", she said.
And so Tomik tied a small golden bell to a string and let the bell dangle out of his cottage window and, keeping hold of the other end of the string, he tugged upon it so as to make the bell ring.
He rang it three times infact and the first time the apple elf pricked up its pointed ears and listened, he was not interested because he thought it was just a bell of brass and not worth stealing but then the second time he rang the bell the apple elf was sure it was not a bell of brass but might be a bell of silver and not worth travelling far for; the third time he rang the bell however the apple elf was sure that it was a bell of gold and gold was the apple-elfs favouritest thing of all.
So then, fast as a forest whirlwind, the apple-elf ran through the forest to Tomiks cottage and seeing the golden bell was so overcome with greedy glee that he did not even stop to think wether the golden bell may be the bait in a trap.
However, the moment that the apple-elf grabbed hold of the bell with both its little hands, because Tomik was holding onto the other end, the apple-elf got stuck to it and couldn't break free.
Desperately, the apple-elf slid off its elf shoes and tried to undo the string that was attached to the bell with his toes but however hard he tried he could not undo the string.
So then he tried to bite through the string with his buck teeth that were as large as those of a rabbit but the string wouldn't break, infact it appeared tougher than a steel wire to the apple-elf.
So then the apple-elf tried to pull with all the might of a whirl-wind but just by holding on tight to the other end of the string, though he was no Hercules, Tomik was able to keep him from escaping.
Then, finally, when the apple-elf had given up struggling, Tomik yanked hard upon the string and pulled the elf in through the window.
"Why you rascal, you", said the elf, seeing Tomik holding the other end of the string, "How dare you go playing your foul tricks upon we innocent elves".
"Innocent?", asked Tomik, "Was it not you who stole all my money and left nothing but apples in its place?".
"Well", said the apple-elf, looking guilty, "It might have been".
So then Tomik made the apple-elf lead him to the tree where he kept his stolen treasure, saying that he would not let go of the other end of the string until he did.
And when he got to the tree and the elf opened up a magic door in its trunk so much gold and jewels poured out of it that Tomik almost couldn't believe it possible.
But then, eager to grab hold of as much treasure as he could, Tomik let go of the string and the moment that he did, the Apple Elf was freed.
But then the Apple Elf started to suck air into its mouth, inflating itself and, as it did, it started to get bigger and bigger and bigger until the tiny man had grown as big as a giant.
And seeing the giant elf towering above him, Tomik was so frightened that he ran off through the forest.
Unfortunately, when he looked back over his shoulder, he could see the giant elf stomping after him.
In desperation, Tomik ran to the house of Granny Buckthorn and pleaded with her,
"Help me Granny, please. Theres a giant apple-elf after me".
Seeing all the gold and jewels that the man was clinging onto, the witch tutted.
"Tut-tut-tut", she said, "That is where greed will get you".
But the old woman didn't want to see any harm come to the man and so, whistling like a bird, she spoke to all the birds in the nearby trees and asked them for help and, in a big flock, they flew up the trouser legs and in the shirtsleeves of the giant elf, tickling him with their feathered wings so much that the elf started to laugh.
And you see the apple-elf could only remain a giant as long as it held its breath so the moment it started to laugh, it let go of all the breath it was holding and when it did that the apple-elf started to shrink again.
It shrank until it was no higher than the shin of a man and then, frightened of what an angry Tomik might do in retaliation it ran as quick as the whirling wind back to its tree trunk, locking itself behind a magic door.
Fortunately, Tomik was happy with the treasure he had managed to get and so left the little Apple-elf alone but he gave Granny Buckthorn some of the treasure too and always kept a piece of string with a little gold bell on it just incase the Apple-Elf should come back.