The steadfast tin soldier
A toy soldier was part of a run of 25 of the same mold which were made from melted down tin spoons. The first 24 looked identical, but the toy maker ran out of tin while creating the 25th and so he was made with only one leg. The soldier belongs to a boy and lives in the same room as a paper ballerina, who has a bead on her belt and who is also balancing on one leg (I like to think she is in mid-pirouette). The soldier falls in love with her because of the one-leg thing (they have so much in common!). Unfortunately, a goblin/ jack-in-the-box is also in love with her and sees the soldier as competition so he threatens the soldier and warns him to stop making eyes at the ballerina. Of course, the soldier doesn’t listen so the goblin makes him fall out of a window. The soldier is found on the street by two boys who put him in a paper boat which they release into the gutter. The soldier journeys through a storm drain, is confronted by a menacing rat and finally makes his way into a canal where he is gobbled up by a fish. After the fish is caught, sold and cooked it is cut open and the soldier is delighted to find out that he has wound up in the same room he started in, with the ballerina. The goblin is still jealous and vengeful so he figures out a way to get the toy soldier tossed into the fireplace. Tragically, a gust of wind blows the ballerina into the flames as well (aww, fate!) and together the two are reduced to ash. The next morning when the maid is sifting through the ashes she finds a tin heart (which is the shape the soldier melted into) and the ballerina’s bead.
