The Garden Gnome's Journey

By Brian van der Spuy

The Gnome with the Green Cap has to travel across the garden to visit his friend, the Hobgoblin, in order to buy something he needs very much. But along the way he runs into more troubles than he ever dreamed of. Will he ever get to his destination?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian van der Spuy
• Release date: Aug 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386152941

Brian van der Spuy

Brian van der Spuy grew up on a small farm in the rural boondocks in South Africa. In the absence of television, he developed a lifelong love for books and reading. He eventually completed a   degree in botany and zoology, worked for some years for the South African Department of Agriculture, and later, in a medical laboratory, before spending some years as school teacher. He is now a writer and artist.   

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Author's Note

The story you are about to read is quite true. It was told to me by the bees, who witnessed it all but were too busy to get involved. Bees don't just make up stories.

I first wrote it down for my brother's children, because it all happened in their garden, and involved them and some of their pets, whom you will meet in these pages. They tell me they don't remember any of this, but when you read the story you'll see why.

The gnome is quite real. I'm not so sure about the hobgoblin.

Monday: Catnap And Kidnap

On the east side of the garden there was a big old eucalyptus tree that had been standing there for many years, swaying in the wind and dreaming of things that are of interest to trees. Near the bottom there was a hole in the trunk and in this hole lived the Garden Gnome with the Green Cap.

Not many people can say that they have seen a gnome, because gnomes are small and they don't like to be seen. They also know very well how to hide themselves and their homes. You could sit in your garden every day for a year and never once see a gnome. But if you went to sit next to this big old eucalyptus tree and you looked very carefully at its trunk, you might see a little door, made of bark so that it looked just like the rest of the tree. And if you sat there long enough and kept absolutely still, you might see the Gnome himself, quietly going about his business.

Gnomes like to live comfortably and the Garden Gnome was no exception. He had his hole in the tree neatly divided up into rooms: a bedroom with a comfortable bed made of downy pigeon feathers, a library and study full of dusty old books and a living room with a little fireplace, next to which he kept a bucket of water to dowse the fire in case it grew too big and hurt the tree. There was also a spacious kitchen with pots and pans, shelves filled with fresh and preserved vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. On cold winter evenings the Gnome would spend hours in front of his little stove, stirring a big pot of soup. Then he would invite his neighbor, the Leaf Litter Roach, for dinner. After they had eaten their meal, they would settle in front of the warm fireplace and tell stories.

One morning, the Garden Gnome noticed that his kitchen was running low on supplies. It was time he paid a visit to the vegetable patch to fetch a few tomatoes, beans and sunflower seeds. He grabbed his walking stick, donned his green cap and set out. It would take several hours of walking to reach the vegetable patch, but gnomes can walk very far without getting tired and they enjoy exploring their gardens. The Garden Gnome looked forward to walking to the vegetable patch.

It was still early morning when he started out, walking southwards among the bushes and flower beds