Emma and Fred grew up in the tiny village of Gnomeville. You could find their family homes nestled in the valley along the mighty Riverdale River. It was the pinnacle of everyone's childhood dream, surrounded by family, friends, and nature as they were.
Gnomes loved to garden and spend as much time outside as they could. All school classes were performed in the open air so no one felt suffocating from the dry, stale air trapped inside hand-built schools.
A Gnome's first priority was to keep their tree homes alive and healthy. You see, while they did carve out spaces inside their unique trees, a room was only made with the tree's permission.
Not any tree could house a gnome.
You needed their love and affection to make your home inside one of the humongous trees. If you lied to the council about how in tune you were with your future home, and the tree died, you were sent underground to live out the rest of your days.
Those punished and sent underground were given the softest beds, decadent foods, and the best tobacco money could buy. It did not matter, though. A gnome trapped underground could count their last days on a hand and a foot.
Gnomes needed fresh, clean air and sun on their faces to thrive. It only took a few days underground to lose the will to live.
Emma and Fred met like most young gnome couples did. They were of the same age and found themselves in many of the same classes in school. Both excelled when it came to academics. They found themselves partners for most school projects because no one else could understand what they were talking about most of the time.
With their head on academic matters, their conversations were all about solving problems. How to make better food for the village. How to have cleaner water and, most of all, how to keep the trees the happiest and, in turn, make sure no gnome ever has to live in a human building again.
The old family homes were living on borrowed time. The only thing that was keeping them alive was the love they had for their families. Yet the trees were tired. They needed to be retired.
With the paths kept in pristine condition, none of the seedlings that took root were ever transplanted to other areas to make extra groves of unique trees. Soon the village of Gnomeville would crumble and die if something drastic wasn't done.
The future of Gnomeville weighed heavily on Emma and Fred's minds. So heavy that all they talked about and thought about was how to save the dying village. The rest of the young gnomes had better things to think about than trees!
There were parties to attend, beer to be drunk while being held upside down by your buddies, and girls to snuggle with on a chilly night while watching the campfire slowly become embers in front of them.
On Sunday, Emma and Fred were seen walking to school together. Everyone had a giggle in the village as word got around how ditzy they were, not even knowing there was never school held on the Sabbath. A fact the two forgot each and every week. However, this Sunday would change their lives forever.
Just as the youngsters were rounding the oldest tree in the grove, a root from the tree was seen growing at an incredible rate out of the ground in the main path. Having walked this same path for the last fifty years, Emma and Fred were thrown to the soft dirt path when each tripped over the root of the most ancient tree.
Fred landed first, face up. Emma lands right on top of Fred. With their faces centimeters away from each other, the two finally looked straight into the deeply colored eyes of the other. Before either could breathe, ears were grabbed, faces pulled together, and the most tender kiss was had. Followed by one of the most prolonged makeout sessions the village had ever seen.
How did so many of Gnomeville know something was happening by the old ancient tree? As it happened, a chatty purple squirrel witnessed what was to come and what would be. They were more than happy to spread the tale far and wide, so delighted to finally see the two young gnomes open their eyes long enough to see how much in love they were.
The rest of the village had known it was just a matter of time before the two young gnomes figured it out too. Everyone was so happy for the pair they flocked to the site a little too early! The young gnomes had not come up for air yet. As a good village should, they all turn around and face the other way to give the young loves the privacy they deserve.
The wedding of Emma and Fred, plus the blessing of the couple's responsibility for their fantastic new home, was performed on the path where they fell in love. It was a wedding unlike any other. The whole village chipped in to marry off the couple in grand style.
The incredible detail everyone noticed was how the ancient tree had transformed itself. A stunning blue from the door now stood between the base roots of the tree. The door window showed you a fully functioning kitchen, table, chairs, and living room. The only touches needed were soft cushions and linins to sit on.
The winding stairs took you to a library that perfectly fits all of the books Emma and Fred owned. The master bedroom was a site to behold with the four-poster bed with its own stepstool, which was needed to climb up on to reach the softest down mattress the town had chipped in to get them as a wedding gift.
The spiral staircase wound its way up to the top of the tree where the finest laboratory in the history of Gnomeville was ever seen. The tree had made sure to leave room to grow for the couple. There was plenty of space to have as many baby cabbages as they wanted.
The one room no one was talking about led down into the earth. Tiny window shutters could be seen along the top of the room. Off to one side on a throne of sorts was a bassinet intricately woven as if for a princess.
The scary part about the room was the raw sharp nail spikes that formed the bed of the bassinet. The young couple never showed anyone the room below nor talked about it with each other. It was best to forget it was there and go on with their lives figuring out how to save Gnomeville.
Emma and Fred had a long tiring day as they kept trying to propagate more seedlings from their tree. They had found a beautiful area just downstream that could handle another twenty large trees if placed correctly. The problem happened when transplanting the saplings in the new location. More soil samples were needed to figure out what was going on.
Exhausted beyond measure, the two lovers went upstairs to their soft bed. They fell asleep holding hands. It was all the energy they had left.
As the moon traveled across the sky, lighting up the village below, a shadow could be seen moving from tree to tree. As dark clouds covered the moon, the shadow could be seen in front of Fred and Emma's home. No one had to wait long to know what was left on their doorstep that night.
A cry unlike anything heard of in the village broke through the night. It woke up every sleeping gnome for miles around. Those sentenced to live underground felt happiness. They were safe down in the bowels of the earth.
Fred and Emma woke with a start and almost fell out of their very tall bed! Scrambling down, Emma pushed Fred out of her way as she ran down the spiral staircase faster than one thought possible and still lived. She opened the front door with a crash. With a shaking hand, Emma slowly lifted the bundle with both hands.
Fred's beard appeared over Emma's shoulder as he whispered to his wife. The movement of the beard on the bundle made the bundle giggle. Emma scooted over to the kitchen table and started to unswaddle the bundle. As she did, one tiny hand emerged to grab the bright red beard of Fred. Fred beamed down on that little green hand, holding on for dear life to his beard.
The bright green of the hand registered with both of them simultaneously. Emma slowly, with trembling hands, took off the rest of the swaddle and uncovered the most beautiful baby girl to ever have been born. It just so happened that her skin was the shade of ripened avocado.
Emma saw Fred going for the papers that spilled out when they had unswaddled the baby. She asked him to wait to move until she returned. She had a few things to get for the little girl before he took his beard away, and she went back to fussing.
In a blink of an eye, Emma was back with arms filled with all baby items. The alarm on Fred's face made itself known. Emma promised she would explain later. Right now, she needed to wash, feed, and clothe the new bundle of joy God had seen fit to leave at their doorstep.
Fred didn't say much but lifted an eyebrow while grabbing all the papers. He went to find his glasses and discovered more about the mystery bundle left at their door.
Emma bathed, fed, and clothed the incredible bundle of joy. She just wishes she knew what to call her. The baby wasn't a name she was fond of. Just as Emma opened her mouth to ask Fred what he had discovered from the papers, Fred shouted to Emma that the baby's name was Gwen!
The tree started to shake from the roots. Emma holding Gwen, ran down the stairs to the room no one talked about to see. The princess' bassinet now had the name GWEN carved into it in fancy scrollwork writing.
With white knuckles, Emma lay Gwen down into the bassinet. She watched in shock as Gwen snuggled deep into the nails and fell fast asleep.
Gwen had her best sleep ever on her new bed of nails.
@Grindan will write part two of this story, which will be posted on her blog. We both needed help to start writing, so we decided to have fun and share each other's stories!
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!!
Thumbnail: River: Photo by Ian Turnell
All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.
