Smack! 

The mini palm hit her face so fast she barely had time to open her eyes. When she did, a tiny face with a pointy hat looked down at her while standing upon her stomach. When she sat up he went tumbling off.

“ What was that for!?” he cried as he rolled to a stop a few feet away from her shoes.

“What was THAT for?!” She mocked “ What did you HIT me for?!”

“I was TRYING to wake you up!!! I had already tried tickling and jumping on your stomach!”

“Well....nevermind.  Where AM I?”

“Ugg! Humans, always so clueless!” he responded “ You're in Gnome land you ding dong!”

~ 15 minutes later ~

The duo had set off into the unknown when Finnius the gnome had promised that he would take Zara (the human) home if she helped with his job at the lumberyard. He led her to a clearing full of the tiny creatures pulling twigs. There was a gruff looking gnome standing on top of a shoebox yelling directions at the workers. When his eye caught Finnius he scowled then smirked.

“Well look who decided to join us,” he said loudly. “Thought he’d split town because he didn’t give me my PAYMENT!”

“You didn’t tell me I would be helping out with a deranged mad gnome!” 

Zara whispered to Finnius, “We should probably RUN!”

“Just follow my lead,” Finnius responded. “Well!!! I’ve come BACK to give you your money.  You just have to wait a little while…”

“ You know I don’t like to wait, Finnius!!! You’ve made a mistake!” The boss gnome yelled.

“ I....I wasn't finished!!” Finnius squeaked.

All of a sudden the gnomes that had once looked completely harmless now seemed absolutely terrifying as if they had teeth made of daggers!

“You know what, let's go with plan B!”

“And that is.........?” Zara asked.

“RUN, you ding dong!” Finnius yelled.

They charged down the mountain and up the ravine. Zara was obviously faster and could run for longer but the gnomes were very clever and put sharp sticks in catapults and started launching them at her legs so it felt like little spider bites. At one point she scooped up Finnius and carried him down the hill. They had escaped the lumber gnomes and had landed in a cave with a glimmering portal at the end of it.

“What IS that?!” Zara asked.

“Well as fate would have it, that's the portal to the human world.” Finnius responded.

“ Wait....will it bring me back to my room? Just where I left?”

“Yep! And It will be like time paused. You will go back right where

you left off.”

“ But I feel like we JUST got started. I don’t want to leave Gnome Land!”

"We appreciate that, but it’s time you go back to where you came from."

“But, I love it here! The grass is so green and the water is so clear.”

“What is with me getting interrupted today!” Finnius mumbled

“The leaves are so colorful…”

“I wasn’t finished!!” He cut her off  “I MIGHT be able to give you a necklace, a VERY special one that would be able to transport you back to Gnome Land.”

“ Really?” Zara exclaimed, surprised.

“ Yep, but don’t overdo it or I might get sick of seeing your face!”

After he had given her the necklace Zara walked bravely up to the portal and was about to step in when she looked back. She gave a nod of appreciation to Finnius and stepped into the portal.

~Later~

Zara  sat down on her bed and thought about what had happened in the past few hours. She couldn’t tell if she was happy or sad, maybe a mix of both. All the sudden a voice rang out from the hallway

“ Zara! Where are you?!?! You have a soccer game in THIRTY MINUTES! You were supposed to be there an hour ago!”

“ Oh shoot!” Zara mumbled as she staggered down the stairs.

The End