JIM'S ADVENTURE
It was an unusaully hot day, just as every day in the preceding week had been. A heat wave had engulfed the city taking away power, and the elderly.
Jim stepped out onto the hot concrete, under the blaring sun. His body suddenly felt heavier as the heat made his bones feel weak as if the next step would kill him. His forehead and armpits immediately started to secrete a steady flow of sweat. Jim was on his way to the grocery store, no more than a mile away. Normally he would have driven, but his truck had broken down earlier that day. His wife needed bread for dinner and he was determined to get it.
He started down the street passing the houses which he had not seen any bodies come in or out of in the last couple of days, since the heat had conquered everyones lives, forcing them inside to escape it with their air-conditioners and fans.
Jim passed some some yards that were in desperate need of watering, and some which were beyond being saved. not long after he had left his home, he heard a rustling in the bushes. he figured it was a bird or something and thought nothing of it, but looked toward the rustling to see what he could see. he saw nothing. The rustling continued. Probably just the wind, jim thought to himself, then he realized, there was no wind. Jim heard the noises again, he still could not see anything in the bushes. Jim had stopped and was looking intently at the bush trying to see through the leaves, he was perplexed, he got down on his hands and kness to look at the bottom and see if he could see anything. Still, he could see nothing, then they appeared, 4 gnomes, of the typical stereotypical gnome beards and attire. Long gray beards, with simple, colorful pants, button up shirts, and oversized thin jackets. carrying large walking staffs, and standing just below two feet.
Jim had not heard the gnomes approach him, but felt one of them tap on his head with a staff. He was growing paranoid of the sounds, and when he felt a tap on his head, his heart nealy exploded and he screamed in fear. "shut up, they'll hear you" said on gnome, wearing a green jacket. "who are you?" said the same gnome. Jim was in total misbelief, all these years he had known of the lawn ornanments, but never had he suspected that such a creature existed. He found himself unable to speak. He was frightened, but at the same time fascinated. He was amazed that there was such a creature with equal intellect to man existed, and that he was seeing them.
"I asked, who are you" the gnome said, in a classic anglo-saxon accent.
"uhhhhhhhh..." jim studdered as he seemed not to comprehend the question.
"Who are you?" the gnome demanded again.
" I am... I live...I...Who are you?" he finaly demanded back
"I am Larry.of the Anderberg shed, and i demand, who are you?"
"Well... i am Jim thomson,from up the street."
"Oh yes jim," said one of the gnomes who hadnt yet spoken "milton, of the Thomson closet told me all about this one. "Say, jim is it true you keep all your books sorted alphabetically by author?"
"Yeah" said jim almost automatically.
"Well, Milton would certainly like to thank you for that, he raves about how well organized you are."
"shut up,"said the green shirted gnome, "this one has discovered us, we must take him to the shed, and decide his future."
"jim did not listen fully to this statement, as he had not payed any attention to the whole conversation, "I can't believe it"
"What?" asked the leader gnome.
"You exist." he replied.
"Yes, well we used to live freely with you human beings, but upon the industrial revoution you humans were beginning to immensely damage the environment. Us gnomes could not take it, so we built our own environment. you must travel through a portal to get there. After us gnomes left society, humans were ashamed, and thus, we never got entered into history. you see, gnomes are a people always on the search for more information. thats why some gnomes still come out to earth, to get books from people, and some just to have a mischevious time at human expense, hiding things, stealing all the rolls of toilet paper out of the house, taking homework from kids, it's all just a blast to watch a kid search and search for hours over a measely assignment, rather than give up and do the assignment that only took 10 minutes to do, to begin with, over. and watching people search the same place multiple times, as if the paper will suddenly appear there."
jim did not respond.
"We must get him to our village before someone notices us."
"Wait! why do i have to go?"
"well you know...well basically...we want your DNA."
"No, i have to get to barney's."
"No, you are coming with us"
"NO."
"either you come or we make you come."
"Well, okay." jim responded, as he was looking for an excuse to go with the gnomes to feel as if he had remained loyal to his wife's requests that he go right there and come right back. He was interestred in seeing the gnomes environment and way of life.
"well let's go." said the leader gnome.
"wait. how do i get there"
"Just follow me."
the gnomes lead jim around the bush to the transformer the was sitting behind it. Jim watched as the gnomes carefully removed some of the river rocks that were surrounding the transformer, revealing a green removable lid-like door. One gnome in a blue jacket pulled the door up and set it down gently, leaning it against the transformer. the door was just big enough for jim to slide through. first the leader gnome walked went in, then another two, jim was forced down before the last gnome put the lid on, and stayed in the human world. the leader one gnome picked up a torch and lead the four through a short ten foot tunnel, through which jim was forced to crawl.
on the other side they came out in a dark forest. full of lusciously healthy trees covered in rich green moss, with mushrooms growing in the bunches. the ground was rich, dark soil with patches of grass here and there. jim felt at total peace as he saw his new surroundings, it was a beautiful. It was an environment which he had dreamed of, all his life. Tall mighty trees, blocking most of the suns rays. with fallen rotting trees every then and again.
The leader gnome waled over to a fallen rotting tree, while the other two gnomes watched jim. The leader gnome pulled away a piece of bark and reached into the hollow tree body, he pulled out a small bag, tied shut at the top with string. He Brought it over to Jim, opened it up and pulled out a handfull of some kind of powder. he threw it in jims face. jim immediately shrunk down to the gnomes size. his clothing did not. jim was standing there with a sweatshirt barely hanging on his shoulders, with the waist of his pants encircling his feet. "Dammit" said the leader gnome, i forgot about that. he took off his cape and offered it to Jim. Jim took it and stepped out of his shirt to put it on.
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