The Garden – Where Gnomes Live in Peace.

      Derrick stood at the top of stairs, with Jack barking frantically at the bloodied man. Then, the man started muttering something, but Derrick couldn’t hear his exact words. So, very slowly, he inched his way towards the man. However, as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he started getting dizzy. His vision was getting blurry, so he couldn’t see very well at all. He looked up at the man and all he saw was a blur. However, the blur started growing. Eventually, the blur started engulfing the whole shop. Jack started whimpering, barking weakly. Derrick’s head began throbbing, and his ears began ringing. Derrick collapsed at the foot of the stairs, and his vision slowly faded until all he saw was blackness.
     Derrick woke up with a jolt. He sat up, and found himself in his bed. He jumped out of bed, in a state of…well; it was more of a mix. He was in a state of confusion/terror.
      “Ok, what happened after I came home yesterday?” He said, muttering to himself “Let’s see…I went upstairs, and when I came down, I was in dream world. I never remember going to bed…Was all of yesterday just a dream? No, it can’t be, that’s crazy! I’ll go talk with Reginald, to make sure. Come, Jack!”
      Derrick went downstairs, and was rather shocked when he saw someone standing in the front room again! This person, however, was just your average traveler, and he showed no signs of bleeding whatsoever. Phew, ok, that had me scared for a minute, Derrick thought. He asked the man, “How’d you get in?”
      “Why, the front door was left wide open! How else could I have gotten in? Through the window?” The man had a kind of rustic accent, as his voice was very deep and guttural. And his build matched his voice, as he was really tall, and rather strong looking.
      Ok, I could’ve sworn I locked that door. Thank the gods nobody stole anything. “Yes, well, anyway, um, how can I help you, sir?”
      “I have this jacket here that I’ve been wanting to sell.” The man held up an old rustic looking leather jacket. It had an odd looking emblem on the shoulder. It looked too small to fit the big man anymore, “It ain’t worth much, but at this point, any money would do me good.”
      “Well, let me take a look at it, and then we’ll decide a price, ok?”
      “Alright, that sounds fair to me.”
      Derrick bargained with the man for some time, and they eventually came to a consensus of 2 gold, as it was a very nice jacket. Plus, Derrick figured he could use it when the winter months came around. He gave the man his money, and then tried on the new jacket. “This is very nice, sir, where did you get…” He looked up, and was greeted by silence. The man had apparently been in a rush. Derrick shrugged, “Oh well, I’ll have to keep this.” He went to fold it up when he felt something in on of the pockets. He reached in, and took out an old, rusty key. “Hm. Don’t look like it’s seen much use.” He put the key into his pocket, and he continued to fold up the jacket. He set down under the counter, locked up the store, and went to go see Reginald, to see if all of yesterday truly was a dream.  

        Soon, it was morning. The sun was just peeking out from over the horizon, and the birds started coming out to great the fresh morning air. However, Derrick was missing all of this, as he was still asleep. Jack wasn’t though. Jack was up and jumping on the bed, in an attempt to wake Derrick up. He finally succeeded when he landed on Derrick’s chest. That made Derrick sit up with a jolt, but then he calmed down when he saw that Jack had woke him up. He rolled out of bed, put a very nice leather shirt on, and went downstairs. As soon as he got to the front of the store, he let Jack outside, as he was clawing up the door again. He got the store set up, and opened the front window, signaling that the store was open. However, it turned out that nobody was on the road today. So, he locked the front door, and went off towards Reginald’s house down by the lake. When he arrived there, Reginald was out on the pier, prying a fish from the fish hook. He snuck up on him, and tapped him on the shoulder. Reginald jumped and turned around, nearly sticking himself in the finger with the fishhook.
      “Oh, you’re really asking for it, aren’t ye, Derrick?” Reginald said, setting the fish in a bucket on the pier.
      Derrick laughed, and picked up a fishing pole. “Just thought I’d drop by and fish with you, as travelers are as scarce as a dragon today.”
      “Well, we best get ye some bait. Ye ain’t gonna catch fish with just a plain hook.” Reginald went and overturned a rotting log, and picked up a plump, nightcrawler, and handed it to Derrick, who promptly put it on the hook.                                                                                               

     They sat there in silence, until Derrick finally broke it, “I never thanked you for the extra money you gave me yesterday.”
     “What are you talking about? Of course ye did!” Reginald said, reeling in some underwater plants that got snagged by the hook. “Ugh! Not again!” He said in disgust, ripping the plants off the hook and casting his line again.
     “No, I mean…” Derrick sighed, pondered about something for a minute, and said, “You’re the closest thing I’ve had to a father, Reginald.”
      Reginald stopped reeling in his line, and looked towards Derrick, “What do you mean by that? Surely you have a father. No need to call me your father.” He turned back to the water.
     “Actually, my father left for some reason when I was around 4 years old. I was never told exactly why, but I do remember that my mom told me he went on a trip to the capital city. That’s why…”
     “You set your shop up on the road to the capitol city, right?” Interrupted Reginald without turning around.
     “Yes, as I was saying, as soon as I was old enough to head out of the house, I left and headed to the capitol city. I wanted to set up shop there, but I didn’t have the money to pay for a shop there. Plus I would have to pay the city tax if I lived there. So, I traveled down here and found the nice plot of land which came to be the shop it is today.”
      Reginald was silent for a long time, and then said, with a smile, “Well, if that’s the case, I’m honored to be your godfather.”
      Derrick smiled, but was suddenly dragged into the water! He wasn’t paying attention to his fishing line, and got dragged in by a giant fish! Fortunately, the line snapped before he could be pulled under. The spectacle made Reginald laugh hysterically. However, he did help Derrick up out of the water.
      “Well, you better get going and dry up. You never know when customers will be coming!” Reginald said, as he packed up his fishing gear.
      “Will do, Reginald. Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow!” Derrick called after him, and he began jogging back to the store. He unlocked the front door, locked it again, and ran up the stairs to dry up. When he came back down, he saw a man standing in the front room! The man had scars all over his face and arms, and his whole body, clothes and all, were stained in blood!

     “Greetings, Reginald,” Derrick said, picking up Jack and petting him on his head, “what do you need today?”
    “Another fishing net. Last catch tore a hole clean through it.”
    “Ah. Sorry to hear that. Well, you know where they are. Help yourself. Got some really nice ones in a few days ago.”
    “Good, I’ll take one of those.” Reginald said, picking up a very fine fishing net from one of the many shelves in the store.
    “Those normally cost around 10 gold,” he said, setting Jack down on the floor, “but I’ll sell it to you for 5. Sound good?”
    “Sounds good to me, Derrick.” Reginald replied with satisfaction, setting the net down on the counter, and pulling out the money
    While counting the money, Derrick said, “I take it you’re getting paid well for the fish?”
    “Oh, yes, definitely. They pay a lot for ‘em up in the city. That reminds me; I meant to ask ye, how’s business been going for ye?”
    “Not very good, I’m afraid.” Derrick replied with a sigh, “Not many people have been coming through here as of late. And if anyone is coming, it’s those big heroes who have no time to stop by here. Can barely afford to pay upkeep and buy food for me and Jack here.”
    “Ah, sorry to hear that…” Reginald looked over his shoulder, and then turned around and said, “Here, take this,” Reginald said with a smile, sliding 5 more coins across the counter, “Keep it. I have no need for it. I get all the food I need from fishing.”
    “Thanks, Reginald. You’re very kind.” Derrick said, pocketing the 5 gold coins.
    “Well,” Reginald said, picking up the fishing net, “I better get back to the lake. The fish be calling. Farewell, Derrick.” He started to walk out the door.
    “See you when you come back here again.” Derrick called after him.
    “I reckon you will.” Reginald said, as he walked off into the woods.
    The rest of the day when by just like any other day, with an occasional traveler here and there, maybe a farmer, but not much in the way of customers. Soon, night approached, and Derrick began to lock up the store. He slid the shutters shut on the windows and he locked the door. He doused the candle in the front room, and went upstairs to his bedroom. He opened the door, and then promptly turned around and locked it. He yawned, took off his shirt, sat down on the bed, and moved to douse the bedside candle, when he suddenly heard frantic scratching at the door. He unlocked the door, and let Jack in. Jack hopped up on the bed, and quickly found his favorite spot, which was right at the end of the bed, right by Derrick’s feet. He walked around “his” spot a couple of times, and then plopped down, and curled up into a ball. Derrick doused the candle and he lie down in bed. He was soon lulled into a deep sleep by the crickets and nightingales.

     “Well, that’s all that needs to be done for set-up.” Derrick said, gently patting his small, scruffy, brown dog, Jack, on the head. He looked around the store and double-checked everything, making sure everything ready for the day. The many assorted coats and hats hanging in the window were propped up on the dummies perfectly. A few swords and bows were hanging up on the wall, gleaming in the sunlight streaming in through the window. Some musical instruments including a lute, a lyre, and a harp were sitting near the counter in mint condition. 
     This is going to be a good day, he thought to himself, as he walked over to the door and opened it, the doorbell ringing loudly. He took a deep breath, letting the smell of the morning dew and pine trees invade his nostrils. A loud barking noise from inside, however, broke his trance. With a sigh, he realized that he had forgotten to feed Jack his breakfast. He went into the back storage room and took out a thick, juicy steak from a barrel, and walked back to the counter, and plopped the steak into Jack’s bowl. Jack happily tore the steak apart, making Derrick laugh. The ringing of the doorbell drew Derrick’s gaze away from his dog and to the door. An old man, sporting a rather long, grey beard and an eyepatch, sauntered in through the door and leaned on the counter…