On Halloween night, a little pixie named Twinkling Feet was dancing merrily with his friends when a mischievous trick changed everything. He suddenly lost his laugh, and unless he found it before midnight, he would never laugh again. This Twinkling Feet Halloween story follows his strange adventure through the fairy world, with help from Jack-o’-Lantern and the Jolly Little Witch.
One Halloween evening, a band of happy pixies gathered in a meadow to dance around a bright green fairy ring.
At the centre of the ring stood a tiny musician known as the Little Fiddler.
He played his liveliest music, nodding his head and tapping one little foot to keep time.
The faster he played, the faster the pixies danced.
They turned, twisted, and skipped around the ring.
Their laughter filled the meadow.
Sometimes the Little Fiddler laughed so much that he had to stop playing to catch his breath.
Among the dancers was a pixie named Twinkling Feet.
He was the finest dancer in the ring.
His movements were so funny and unusual that the other pixies often laughed until their sides ached.
Twinkling Feet enjoyed entertaining his companions.
But that evening, he decided to play a trick on them.
While everyone was dancing, he slyly stretched out his foot and tripped his partner.
Both pixies tumbled into the grass.
As they fell, they pulled another dancer down.
Then another.
And another.
Before long, every pixie in the dancing circle lay sprawled upon the ground.
There was a great tangle of little green coats and red caps.
The fallen dancers struggled to separate themselves.
Some laughed heartily at the confusion.
Others were not so pleased.
A few had bruised their legs and slipped away to bathe their sore shins in the evening dew.
When everyone finally stood up, the pixies began asking what had happened.
“Who fell first?” one asked.
“Who made us tumble?” cried another.
“Who spoiled our Halloween dance?” demanded a third.
Twinkling Feet’s partner explained that the two of them had fallen first.
He could not understand how their feet had become tangled.
Turning to Twinkling Feet, he laughed and asked whether his companion knew what had happened.
But Twinkling Feet did not laugh.
His little brown face looked strangely serious.
The other pixie stared at him.
“What is the matter with you?” he asked.
Twinkling Feet shook his head.
“I don’t know,” he answered.
The other pixies gathered around him.
Some wondered whether he was hurt.
Another asked whether he was suffering from what humans called pain.
Twinkling Feet could not explain.
He only knew that he felt very strange.
He asked them to call the Little Fiddler.
Perhaps the musician could discover what was wrong.
The pixies stepped aside as the Little Fiddler approached.
The little musician examined Twinkling Feet carefully.
He studied his face and shook his white head.
Then he announced that something dreadful had happened.
Twinkling Feet had lost his laugh.
The other pixies cried out in astonishment.
A pixie without a laugh!
Such a thing seemed almost impossible.
Twinkling Feet was frightened.
He begged the Little Fiddler to tell him what to do.
The musician explained that there was only one way to recover what he had lost.
He must go and search for his laugh.
But he warned Twinkling Feet that he must find it before midnight.
If he failed, he would remain a pixie without a laugh.
Everyone became quiet.
The other dancers looked at one another solemnly.
They knew that a pixie could not properly enjoy dancing in the fairy ring without laughter.
They urged Twinkling Feet to begin searching immediately.
But where could he look?
The frightened little pixie asked the Little Fiddler for advice.
The musician suggested speaking to Jack-o’-Lantern.
Jack had been wandering around the meadow all evening.
Perhaps he had seen something.
The Little Fiddler pointed towards the brook.
There was Jack-o’-Lantern, moving through the meadow.
Twinkling Feet hurried after him.
But catching Jack was not easy.
The little lantern man moved so quickly that the pixie could scarcely come close enough to speak.
Twinkling Feet ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
At last, just when he was ready to abandon the chase, Jack stopped.
He poked his head out of his lantern.
“Do you wish to speak to me?” he asked.
Twinkling Feet hurried forward.
“Don’t you know me?” he asked.
Then he told Jack who he was.
Jack looked at him in surprise.
His old friend appeared so strange without his cheerful expression that he was almost unrecognisable.
Jack asked what had happened.
Twinkling Feet explained that he had lost his laugh.
He wanted to know whether Jack had seen it.
Jack was sorry.
He had seen nothing of the missing laugh.
But Twinkling Feet begged him to suggest someone who might help.
Jack thought for a moment.
Then he remembered the Jolly Little Witch.
She had unusually sharp eyes.
Perhaps she had noticed something.
Jack explained that the witch was in a meadow filled with ragweed.
She was searching for a strong stalk on which she could ride through the air.
Later that evening, she planned to visit a village where children were holding a Halloween party.
Jack offered to take Twinkling Feet to her.
The little pixie gladly accepted.
He climbed inside Jack’s lantern.
Together, they travelled towards the ragweed meadow.
Explore more stories from our British & Irish Folktales collection.
When Jack and Twinkling Feet reached the meadow, the Jolly Little Witch was searching anxiously among the ragweed stalks.
She had already found a suitable stalk for her journey.
But now she had lost her goggles.
Without them, she could not fly to the village.
When she saw Jack approaching, she called for his help.
Then she noticed someone sitting inside his lantern.
She wanted to know who the little passenger was.
Jack explained that a pixie wished to ask her something.
He opened the lantern and allowed Twinkling Feet to climb out.
Then Jack hurried away to search for the missing goggles.
Twinkling Feet approached the witch.
He explained that he had lost his laugh.
The Jolly Little Witch stared at him in astonishment.
Losing a laugh was bad enough.
Losing it on Halloween was even worse.
She asked how he had lost it.
But Twinkling Feet did not explain the trick he had played during the dance.
Instead, he asked whether she had seen his laugh.
The witch shook her head.
She had not.
Twinkling Feet sighed.
He explained that a pixie could not dance without his laugh.
And if a pixie lost anything on Halloween, he had to find it before midnight or surrender it forever.
The Jolly Little Witch felt sorry for him.
She wished she could help.
But she was already worried about reaching the village in time for the children’s celebration.
If only she could find her goggles.
Twinkling Feet watched her searching.
Then he asked a question.
“Do the children laugh much on Halloween?”
The witch assured him that they did.
Indeed, she explained, Halloween was the time of year when children laughed most.
That evening, the children were holding a special witches’ party.
The Jolly Little Witch intended to join them secretly and perform amusing tricks.
Twinkling Feet listened carefully.
A place filled with laughter seemed exactly where he wanted to go.
But first, he decided to help the witch.
He offered to search for her goggles.
The witch thanked him.
Twinkling Feet asked what they looked like.
She explained that they resembled two little round glass windows.
She wore them over her eyes when riding through the air.
The pixie began searching among the ragweed stalks.
He examined the ground around one plant after another.
He looked carefully for anything that resembled two round glass windows.
But he found nothing.
At last, he began to lose hope.
Perhaps nothing lost on Halloween could ever be found again.
Slowly, he returned to the witch.
Then he noticed something peculiar.
There were two round glass objects resting across the front of her hat.
Twinkling Feet stared at them.
Could those be the missing goggles?
He asked the witch whether her goggles looked like the two glass windows on her hat.
The Jolly Little Witch raised her hands to her head.
There were her goggles!
All the time she had been searching the meadow, they had been resting on top of her head.
She burst into laughter.
Then she called for Jack-o’-Lantern.
Twinkling Feet had found her goggles.
The witch was delighted.
She thanked the little pixie and invited him to accompany her to the village.
There he could see the children’s Halloween merriment for himself.
Jack gladly agreed to carry him.
He reminded Twinkling Feet that there was still plenty of time before midnight.
Twinkling Feet knew exactly what he wanted.
He wanted to see the children.
More than anything, he wanted to hear them laugh.
The Jolly Little Witch pulled her goggles down over her nose.
Then she climbed onto her ragweed stalk.
Twinkling Feet settled inside Jack’s lantern.
Together, the three companions flew through the air towards the village.
As they approached the houses, the witch lowered herself to the ground.
She told Jack to meet her again before the party ended.
She intended to leave before the children removed their masks.
Meanwhile, Jack could show Twinkling Feet the fun the children would have on their way to the celebration.
The Jolly Little Witch hurried along the village street.
At a corner, she found a group of cheerful boys and girls.
They were dressed in black clothes.
They wore tall, pointed hats with narrow brims and funny little masks.
The children were on their way to the Halloween party.
The witch quietly joined them.
Nobody spoke.
But the children laughed merrily as they walked together.
Their laughter floated through the evening air.
Twinkling Feet heard it.
He listened eagerly.
Then he slipped out of Jack’s lantern and began running towards the children.
He hurried as fast as his little feet could carry him.
But before he reached the group, something extraordinary happened.
A tiny creature came tumbling towards him.
It was so small and quick that it was difficult to see clearly.
It turned somersault after somersault, faster than anyone could count.
The strange little creature came straight towards Twinkling Feet.
Then it scrambled up his little body.
Before he knew what was happening, it disappeared into his mouth.
At once, Twinkling Feet burst into laughter.
His precious laugh had returned.
He laughed more merrily than ever.
His little face became cheerful again.
He was no longer the unhappy pixie who had wandered away from the fairy ring.
Twinkling Feet hurried back to Jack-o’-Lantern.
“I’ve found it!” he cried.
He had found his laugh.
He was so happy that he could scarcely stop laughing.
He begged Jack to take him back to the fairy ring.
Jack gladly agreed.
Twinkling Feet climbed into the lantern.
Together, they flew away over the fields.
Soon they approached the bright green ring where the other pixies were still dancing.
Twinkling Feet called out joyfully to his companions.
He had found his laugh.
The dancers welcomed him home.
Twinkling Feet jumped out of the lantern and joined his friends.
Once again, he danced merrily around the fairy ring.
He twisted, skipped, and performed the strange little movements that always made the other pixies laugh.
The Little Fiddler continued playing his lively music.
The dancers were happy to have their friend among them again.
After some time, they stopped dancing to rest.
The Little Fiddler quietly approached Twinkling Feet.
He leaned close and whispered a mischievous warning.
Twinkling Feet must always watch his laugh carefully whenever he was dancing.
And that was the end of Twinkling Feet’s Halloween adventure.
The little pixie had begun the evening as the merriest dancer in the fairy ring.
His careless trick had caused his companions to fall, and he had suddenly lost the very thing that made his dancing so joyful.
His search had carried him through the meadow, into the company of Jack-o’-Lantern and the Jolly Little Witch, and finally to a village filled with laughing children.
There, the tiny tumbling creature returned his missing laugh.
The story makes laughter seem like a precious possession that can be lost and recovered.
It also shows how an innocent-looking prank can have unexpected consequences.
Twinkling Feet had wanted to amuse himself at the expense of his companions.
But before the night ended, he had learned what it meant to be without laughter himself.
Explore our complete European Folktales archive
Moral Lesson
Laughter and happiness are precious gifts that should never be taken for granted.
Twinkling Feet enjoyed making others laugh, but his careless prank caused several pixies to fall and left him without his own laughter.
His adventure reminds us to think carefully about how our jokes and actions affect others.
The story also shows the value of kindness and helping one another.
Jack-o’-Lantern offered assistance, the Jolly Little Witch welcomed the unhappy pixie, and Twinkling Feet helped her discover her missing goggles.
Through friendship and the laughter of the village children, Twinkling Feet finally recovered what he had lost.
The lesson is to enjoy happiness, share laughter kindly, and avoid making others suffer merely for amusement.
Knowledge Check
- Who was Twinkling Feet?
Twinkling Feet was a little pixie who was the finest dancer in a fairy ring and was famous for making his companions laugh.
- How did Twinkling Feet lose his laugh?
He lost his laugh after playing a trick on his dancing partner, causing the other pixies to tumble into a heap during their Halloween dance.
- Why did Twinkling Feet have to find his laugh before midnight?
According to the Little Fiddler, anything a pixie lost on Halloween had to be recovered before midnight or it would be lost forever.
- Who helped Twinkling Feet search for his missing laugh?
Jack-o’-Lantern helped him by taking him to the Jolly Little Witch, who later invited him to visit the village where the children were celebrating Halloween.
- Where did the Jolly Little Witch find her missing goggles?
Her goggles had been resting on top of her head all along. Twinkling Feet noticed them after searching unsuccessfully among the ragweed stalks.
- How did Twinkling Feet finally recover his laugh?
While listening to children laughing on their way to a Halloween party, Twinkling Feet saw a tiny creature tumbling towards him. It climbed up his body and disappeared into his mouth, immediately restoring his laughter.
Source
Adapted from Eleanor L. Skinner, “Twinkling Feet’s Halloween,” an adaptation of a Cornish legend published in The Topaz Story Book: Stories and Legends of Autumn, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, compiled by Ada M. Skinner and Eleanor L. Skinner, fifth edition, Duffield and Company, New York, 1928 (copyright 1917), pp. 287–297.
