~KRANDLEKEEP~
The Wisconsin Gnomelore Database
The Mumps Fairies
"These little green people were laughing at me! One was bent at the waist, pointing at me. It even slapped its knee."
From There Be Hodags, by C.A. McAllister:
The mumps fairies were a type of little people seen in Milwaukee in 1978, seen by a 13-year-old girl who was suffering from mumps. The girl saw two of these fairies standing on the sill of a window, pointing and soundlessly laughing at her. They appeared to have greenish skin and green clothing, with the color of their faces and mouths being a lighter hue than the color of their clothing. They wore pointed hats and seemed to be wearing suits that had attached shoes. Their limbs were long and slender, their eyes were big and totally black, and their noses were tiny. Their wide-open, laughing mouths also appeared to be pitch black, and toothless.
From Strange Wisconsin, by Kim Poeppy Del Rio:
In the summer of 1978 I got the mumps. Caught it from my younger brother. I was about 13 years old. Along with the mumps I developed complications. I was throwing up and had a fever. I lay in terrific pain on the couch for over a week. Everyone pretty much left me alone as they didn't want to contract the mumps.
One afternoon, my mom came into the living room to check on me. AS she left the room I noticed something strange on the windowsill across from me. There, standing on the sill of one of the twin, stained-glass piano windows were two little people! They were about eight inches tall. They had greenish skin and clothes. At least, I thought they had on clothes, as the color of their faces and hands were lighter than the rest of their bodies, giving the appearance of a suit of sorts, with attached shoes.
They both had on pointy hats--that, or their heads ended in curvy points towards the backs. They had big black eyes and wide open black mouths with no visible teeth. They had tiny noses, but no ears that I could see. The tips of their feet ended in a point just like their heads.
They were identical to each other except that one seemed a little taller than the other, The one thing that really disturbed me was not the fact that I was looking at two little green people, it was that these little green people were laughing at me! One was bent at the waist, pointing at me. It even slapped its knee.
But although they were laughing, I negver heard them make a sound. I don't recall how long I looked at them. I also don't recall what happened after that. I may have fallen asleep... or something may have distracted me. My brother would often tap on the window from outside and make funny faces, trying to cheer me up.
I think they were fairies, perhaps elves? I often wonder if I saw them because of the pain I was in. Now as an adult, whenever I get real sick I find myself looking around the room, hoping to catch another fleeting glimpse of a little green person.
