User blog:TheBigGnome/The missing gnome

Years ago I had a large house, with a large yard, and lots of wee helpers. Now I lived in a very cold clime, and the outdoor gnomes liked to find a warm spot for the winter, so I would help them. Each had their own home (box), which was often what they were hiding in when I first met them. Every fall, I helped them back into their homes, and in the spring, I helped them out again.

Late one fall, I spent a day helping the folk into their homes for the winter and found I had one more home than I had gnomes. Now some have been know to run free for a while, but they always returned home in the end, so I knew he must be around somewhere. I hunted and searched, but he must not have wanted me to see him. His job was not done yet.

I checked his home again, and noticed from the picture on it that this one was an artist. He carried a paintbrush and palette so he could paint the flowers. Armed with this new information, I surveyed the landscape once more. This was late fall, as I said, so the flowers were long gone, and had been for weeks. At least I thought they were, anyway. On a low branch on the side of the rose bushes, I spied one lonely rose which seemed to have missed the memo that winter was on its way.

I thought that would be too much of a coincidence, but I made a beeline for the rose and lifted up the branch. Would you believe it? There was my missing painter, putting in some overtime!

True story.