Exposed!

“Everybody freeze!” The whispered voice was barely audible, but nonetheless intense. “I heard that if you don’t move, they can’t see you!”

The light from the old woman’s candle-lamp shone through the dark, exposing the group of little gnomes. They were huddled together, and trying their best to look like mushrooms. Sadly, their clothing, tools, and especially their beards, didn’t look very mushroom-like.

The giant witch (at least she looked like a witch) proceeded to make her way across the yard toward the frightened and visibly shaken band, and the light danced across their terrified faces. Each footstep sounded like thunder in their small ears, and three of them actually wetted themselves in fear.

“Well, well, well. What have we here?” The human’s voice was almost painfully loud.

“Just us mushrooms!” said a shaky voice.

“Yeah,” squeaked another. “Mushrooms, that’s all.”

“Yeah. Nothing to see here but us mushrooms!” The tallest of the gnomes seemed to be building up his courage, or at least he was trying to convince himself he was brave.

“Hmm,” said the old woman. “Looks like maybe mushroom soup for supper then!”

At this, the tiny group completely lost their nerve, and scattered in every direction. The old woman just smiled to herself. At least now she knew what had happened to her tomatoes.

She decided it was time to get a guard dog.

(c) 2017 - dustygrein