The Brewery of Egg-Shells

It is long and well-known in Ireland about changelings. The ‘Good People,’ or fairies, liked to swap small babies with one of their own. Which is why Mrs. Sullivan wasn’t truly surprised when she went to the cradle that morning.

Just overnight it happened. Where her bonny, blue-eyed baby boy had been was now a shriveled, dry and wrinkled thing. Its eyes were big and dark, and it began crying and squalling on seeing her. It made such a ruckus the neighbors came to see what was the matter. As soon as they saw him, they understood.

“It’s not bad, Mrs. Sullivan. Your boy’s with the Good People and they’ll take right good care of him,” they told her as she wept. They also had a lot of terrible advice to give her about what to do with the fairy child. One said to roast it on a griddle; another said, no, the way to go was to pull its nose off with hot pliers; and a third thought tossing it outside in a snowbank to freeze was a good idea.

But kind Mrs. Sullivan, though she believed it was a fairy, didn’t want to hurt it. Even if it was so wrinkled like a pink raisin and even if it was as skinny as her pinky. It still looked a little like her bonny baby. And harm him, she would not.

Then one day, who should she meet on the road but the famous healer, Ellen Grey. She always wore grey, from top to bottom. Even her eyes and shoes were grey. But she could do many wonderful things, like charm away warts or red spots, or find out if pets who had passed on were happy. She had the Gift, you see.

“You’re in…