Once upon a time in a land called Futhormore, a young girl named Lucy lived in a small hut. She lived a carefree life surrounded by friends and family. Her only neighbors were friendly old folk who had lived in their hut the entire span of their life. They often baked cookies and other goods for Lucy, who they looked at as a granddaughter, for they never had one themselves. Along with these goods, they would put a single silver penny in the basket so she could buy herself some candy at the Pennies down the street.
One day, in the middle of the night, Lucy awoke with a start to the sound of footsteps outside her house.
How curious, she thought. Who would be up at this hour walking around?
Well Lucy, ever the nosy little girl, decided to peek outside to see what all the fuss was. When she opened the door though, she saw nothing. She scratched her chin but pondered no more about the mysterious footsteps, and wandered back off to bed.
The next morning when Lucy woke up again, she found herself wandering outside, still curious about the footsteps. What she found when she walked outside was a little statue in the lawn. It was a man, no bigger than a foot tall, with jolly red cheeks and a round tummy. The thing was old and wearing bright clothes. In his fat little hands were two mallets, which were hitting a glockenspiel that was a variety of colors. He was frozen in the middle of a song, having a good old time.
How sad, thought Lucy. He will never be able to finish his song. She picked up the little creature and wondered where it came from. When she picked it up, a shiny object fell from its pocket. Upon inspection, Lucy found a single silver penny. It gleamed in the sun.
“Oh!” Lucy exclaimed. Of course! It was her kind old neighbors leaving this statue for her instead of cookies.
Well that’s not fair at all! I can’t eat this, and I can’t buy a piece of candy at Pennies with it! It’s no good to me at all. She thought stubbornly. She marched over to her neighbor’s house and placed it in their lawn.
It certainly looks like a gnome. Lucy pondered. Perhaps I should call him a lawn gnome, for that’s where I found him. She nodded her head with finality and went about her day.
That night, she awoke again in the middle of the night. This time however, she was awoken by the sweet sharp notes of a glockenspiel ringing clearly through the air. The music was soothing and beautiful, and she was lulled into a sleep by it quickly.
The next morning, Lucy ran outside to see what had played the beautiful music that wove itself into her dreams. She was startled to see the lawn gnome sitting in her lawn, frozen in the middle of a song, still jolly as ever. She gasped and picked it up. A silver penny fell out of its pocket. She stomped back over to the neighbor’s yard and slammed it back into the lawn, telling it to stay as if it were a dog.
She stomped into her house, grabbed a piece of parchment paper, and scribbled onto it:
Dear neighbors, I like the cookies better. Sincerely, Lucy.
She rolled it up and tied it with a ribbon then ran back outside to put it in the gnome’s pocket. She went about her day. That night though, she was again awoken in the middle of the night. This time however, she was awoken by the scritch-scritch of a pen against parchment paper. She stayed in bed though, to exhausted from waking up every night to see what it was.
The next morning, when Lucy went outside, she found the lawn gnome sitting in her lawn playing away at the glockenspiel. She picked it up in fury, knowing her neighbors put it there even after they read the note. When she picked it up, a silver penny fell out of its pocket along with a note tied with a ribbon. She picked up both and un-scrolled the note.
Dear Lucy,
I am Arnold, your faithful Lawn Gnome. Please, please, PLEASE, stop putting me in your neighbor’s yard. I do not like it there, for they are old and do not need me. I also like to play my glockenspiel for you, but I do not have the time when I have to keep writing letters and wobbling all the way across the yard every night. I will bring you pennies and music every day, but you do not seem to want me. Please let me stay here Lucy!
Love, Arnold the Lawn Gnome.
Lucy looked at it in astonishment. She realized with a start how selfish and spoiled she had been.
A gift is a gift! she thought. It doesn’t need to be useful! She carefully placed the lawn gnome back in its place. Every night, she fell asleep to the sweet music of the gnome; never again did she reject a gift, no matter how useless it may have been.
