The Lonely Gnome

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Once upon a time in a typical backyard filled with muscadine grape vines, rose bushes, a lovely koi pond, a battered shed, and a fire pit; there lived a gnome. The gnome was under a millimeter tall, short enough to hide under the shortest freshly mowed grass. He had a bushy white beard, a big round belly, and a jolly laugh. This gnomes name was Zephyr.

The backyard had everything he needed to survive, and plenty of creatures to make friends with. Some of this gnomes favorite activities included sailing across the pond on the water lilies which floated above the koi and goldfish whom lived in it; climbing and standing atop dandelions to see as far across the landscape as he could; and scavenging for parts to rebuild or make additions to that days home. Sometimes he lived underground with the ants and helped them with tasks ants can not perform alone. Sometimes he lived under a mushroom cap in the wettest months of the year, and sometimes he built little shacks out of stones, thatch, petals dropped by flowers. Occasionally, he hitched a ride on a cockroach, cat, dog, frog, tortoise, or a seeding dandelion puff to different parts of the yard where other structures he previously erected still stood.

Despite having the biggest world in which to live and plenty to keep him occupied, Zephyr was extremely lonely. Yes, there were creatures all around him whom he considered good companions, especially his ant friends in the dozens of tunnels all over the backyard. However, after traveling the tunnels many, many times, and meeting hundreds of generations of ants over the years spent in this backyard, he longed for more. He wondered where the other gnomes like himself were, and felt like he really needed someone around who speaks the same as he does, has to complete the same daily tasks, can eat the same foods, and would enjoy riding the lilies across the pond with him. Poor Zephyr did not even know how he had come to be in the yard in which he lived. He could remember being there since he was a young gnome, but had no memories of any other gnomes like himself. He only remembers being alone here.

Zephyr wanted to share the lovely life he had with others. So, he began planning ways that he could possibly meet other gnomes. He thought of everything from magical spells, to signals he might create using electricity, or attaching a message to a dandelion and casting it to the wind. Maybe even attaching a note to a baby spider traveling on its silk to another place. The poor guy even considered traveling outside of the only yard he ever knew, but the preparation would be massive, and if he ever wanted to come back it would be nearly impossible. He also knew there was no guarantee he would find a friend in the closest yard, or even 3 yards away.

Finally, he came up with a plan. Since Zephyr was a master of herbalism and had magical inclinations, he knew he could make potions and attach a magical message to them. All he would have to do is produce appetizing potions and bottle them with labels stating their purpose, and any gnomes who found them could drink them to see visions of his backyard paradise and instinctually know how to travel there. He also knew his ant friends traveled much further than he did every single day. Sometimes, the ants that lived near the alleyway fence traveled across the alley into the next yard to pick up food to take back to the tunnels, and did it all in the same hour. The seeding dandelions and spiderlings using the wind for flight were also perfect options. All he had to do was gather the ingredients and move into the shed where all of his alchemical tools were kept, and start producing.

It took Zephyr several weeks to produce all the potions he wanted to send out into the world. After the special concoctions were produced, it took him several more weeks to attach the magical powers. After all, attaching magical powers is exhausting and time consuming. He had to produce his naturally occurring mana over time after putting so much into each potion, in order to do the next potion. After the potions were filled with the magicka that would potentially lead friends back to him, he put the rest of his plan into motion. He attached a few bottles to ants about to cross the alleyway over several days. He waited for windy days and attached bottles to everything he could find that was carried by the wind. One day, the wind was blowing west. The next it was blowing east. The next south. He took advantage of the changing wind patterns to reach as many places as possible. He even attached bottles to cockroaches that were near the sewer grates. By the time he was finished, he had sent out 50 bottles of his herbal and magical potion.

This was going to be the hardest part! Zephyr had spent so long doing such hard work, and now, he had to WAIT! Zephyr was growing impatient after only a few hours. He was so excited at the prospect of finding someone similar to him he couldn't concentrate on his normal tasks, and did not even want to sail across the pond or climb a dandelion. All he could do was sit and think about what he would say and do if any other gnomes showed up in his yard. He wanted to show them all the best things about his paradise! He wanted to craft herbal drinks and cook for his friends! Pretty soon, a month had gone by, then two months went by. Then, it was winter. The lonely gnome had given up on finding anyone like him and started to think he should just get back to his usually activities instead of waiting for something that wasn't going to come. He had made himself more lonely by trying so hard to find new friends rather than appreciating the friends he had. Since it was winter, he moved back underground with the ant colony. He spent the winter doing all of the things he spent every winter doing, and learned to be happy with the friends he had always had, but started to take for granted.

Soon enough, it was spring again, and after the last frost he emerged to begin working on a spring shelter and gathering new materials from newly blooming plants. Zephyr was in the process of gathering nightshade after a spring rain when he heard ants marching behind him. The ants usually didn't come to him, he usually had to go to them. He didn't think much of it though because they may have found a food source nearby, so he kept his back turned and continued picking nightshade. Suddenly, he heard an excited squeak. Squeak? It's a sound he'd never heard before. That was not the ants, and he knew it wasn't the cockroaches. He turned around to see what could have made such a unique sound.

In the distance, Zephyr saw 2 old gnomes and a younger gnome riding ants between blades of grass, and towards him! He did not believe what he saw, and rubbed his eyes hard, then looked again. The youngest gnome had jumped off of the ant and was running towards him while the older gnomes continues to ride toward him. Who were they? Did they get my elixirs? Is that why they are here? Before he could even think about the reasons, the little one was hugging him tightly. He looked down and saw the little gnome smiling.

"Hi Zephyr! I'm your little brother! Mom and Dad have been looking for you for ages.They never gave up. I'm 11 years old already and they still celebrate your birthday every year! They always knew you were out there but until we got a strange bottle last winter, we had no idea where to look! They never got over losing you in that terrible tornado 18 years ago. We are all so happy to find you! I can't believe how much alike we look, see!"

The little gnome lifted his shirt to show a big round belly. A belly just like Zephyrs.