Lucy was sitting in the back seat, watching the trail left behind by them. Her woolen hat was askew, displaying a mass of tangled brown hair.
"I don't want to go to that house," Lucy whined, as she tapped her mother's shoulder.
"But honey, I already told you why. Lucinda will be real upset if you didn't come," Mrs. Arkwright replied.
"But her house is so gi-gi-”
"Gigantic?" Her mother supplied.
"Yes, that. And it's spooky. It's haunted, mama, it really is," said Lucy, as she jammed her hat down her head.
"Now, now, Lucy. Don’t go about telling that to your great-aunt." said David Arkwright, stretching himself and stifling a yawn.
He looked back at Lucy, who was sitting cross legged with watery eyes. He sighed.
*
Lucy sat in a giant armchair as the grownups sat down to talk. Old tales and relatives bored her. She didn't feel like wandering around a haunted house. The wooden furniture had lines running along them, as if they were telling her that they know what’s happening. The cupboards, the showcases, the tables, they all seemed to be watching her, sneering at her.
As she surveyed the room, her eyes almost jumped past the large red-wood shelves, but not before she managed to catch a glimpse of grotesque, colourful objects. She winced, trying to get rid of the images in her head. The harder she tried, the more it seemed to fix itself like glue. She knew her great-aunt had strange fascinations for collecting objects. But to display gnomes on a shelf?
To distract herself, she looked out the window, at the plants that would bloom and form an orchestra of colour and happiness.
But, there won’t be flowers inside the house, she thought. Lucy had stopped bringing flowers into the house a long while ago. It only angered the dolls.
The dolls, Lucy thought, as a shiver coursed through her limbs.
*
“But mama, I don’t want to.” trilled Lucy as her mother was trying to pacifying her.
“Lucy, that is the room you’re sleeping in. No ‘buts’. Go now.” her mother said, placing a firm hand on Lucy’s shoulder.
Lucy sighed, dragging a blanket as she went past the shelves and through a small doorway. It was the tiniest bedroom. She sat on the bed, still clutching her blanket, and forcing herself to stay awake. One thought circulated in her giant mind pool.
It will be the gnomes this year.
And odd dragging noise woke her up. She sat up immediately, clutching her blanket. It just seemed to get louder. She could make out pointy tips from the bed. She knew if she looked harder, she could see their colours.
The lawn gnomes weren’t like China dolls. They were ugly and that just made them seem a lot less evil than the dolls. And she was older now. Although she was scared, Lucy didn’t scream. A strange instinct told her it would be worthless to expend energy on screaming.
Lucy crawled to the edge of the bed. The gnomes had giant rears and some hats drooped at the back. While noticing this, Lucy also realized that they were waiting for their comrades to get off the shelves. They dropped onto the floor, unscathed.
Lucy was biting into her blanket. The army of little creatures seemed to consist of more gnomes than those that were on the shelves. Their feet dragged across the wooden floorboards. Their dead eyes were locked onto Lucy.
She screamed. For her mom. To the Lord.
There was no answer.
The gnomes were now at the foot of the bed. An odd murmur was heard in the room. She threw a blanket down on them. For a tiny second they stopped. And then, they continued moving about. Another group of gnomes, dressed in red and green came in, with their mouths pursed.
The murmur was now shadowed by a patter.
Lucy rubbed her forehead. And picked a tiny, wedged black seed. She looked at it in horror as the gnomes started spitting out more watermelon seeds. Some clanked against the glass, but most of them hit Lucy.
The dolls had never hurt Lucy. She jumped off the bed and grabbed the first thing her fingers touched.
A tennis racquet in hand, she aimed at the gnomes on the ground. They stopped. They didn’t die, nor did they get smashed. The other gnomes just started forming a circle around Lucy. She screamed and leaped into the living room. The gnomes kept coming after her. Fat tears drops falling, she shrieked as some of them started clutching her legs.
All along, she didn’t stop whacking them with the racquet. The seeds were now pelting her face with more accuracy. Shutting her eyes, she waved the racquet madly about her. There was a large cluttering noise.
And then, it was silent. Lucy, exhausted, didn’t try to comprehend what happened. She curled on the floor and slept.
*
Sonya Arkwright was apologizing to her aunt as she replaced the objects.
No one noticed a missing silver penny. It was wedged inside a small crevice in the shelf.
~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading.
Spoiler
930 words. I used lawn gnomes, spitting watermelon seeds, tennis racquet and silver penny.
You did a good job of conveying Lucy's familiarity with being chased by dolls, without resorting to flashback or anything else. Details such as the flowers angering the dolls and the gnomes looking less evil were well-done. Nice.
