Gnome-ception

The Adventures of Glimthink and Fimfizz: An Intro

I want to introduce you to Glimthink Shortfuzz.  He and his twin brother showed up on our patio yesterday morning, mushroom house and all.  Kind of like a Brigadoon thing, I guess.  Or perhaps it had something to do with it being Star Wars day, I didn’t think to ask.

The Shortfuzz boys are a bit elusive, but friendly just the same.  It took a little bit of conversation before I was able to understand them.  While these particular gnomes do speak English, their dialect has quite a funny accent that takes some getting used to.  Glimthink is definitely the more shy of the two, and whenever I go out to visit with them, he’s always in the house.  He seems to be the one that does more of the household chores, taking out the trash, preparing the meals, that sort of thing.  I hear he makes a mean vegetable stew.  Although I’m not too big on veggies myself, I’ve promised him that I will try some in the future.  I’m thinking he’s also quite skilled in alchemy, as he often has a mortar and pestle in his hand, pacing back and forth and muttering to himself (in words I can’t understand) while grinding up whatever concoction he’s working on.

The Shortfuzz twins live in this mushroom house.  It appears to be pretty cozy.  From my vantage point, it looks as if it’s only one room, but I have a hunch there may be more than meets the eye.  Kind of like Mary Poppins’ suitcase.  Or a genie’s bottle.  He can sometimes go all the way out of sight in there, and emerge with all sorts of household junk that I can’t see when just peering in the door.  I hope to be able to investigate this further in the future.

This is his brother, Fimfizz.  Fimfizz Shortfuzz, of the Clan of the Highfolk, to be exact.  He was quite emphatic about the title.  He is more boisterous than Glimthink, and has much more to say.  He has explained that their home was in a region known as Silverwood Hills, and he’s still trying to work out how exactly they were transported to Texas.  (At least I think that’s what he said, his accent is a bit thicker than his brother’s.  He also gets distracted easily, going off on different tangents, which can make it a bit hard to follow).  His job is to work the land, so he can often be found out amongst the foliage.  He is quite proud of his green thumb, and promises that soon the landscape will be transformed by tiny iridescent flowers, growing all along the hillside.  He’s also an avid birdwatcher, and has put up several birdhouses around his home.  I think he told me that this was a Tinyfinch house.  Or was this one the Peaswallow house?  I can’t remember.

He did say that Tinyfinch’s are attracted to shiny things, so he’s put up several mirrors around the garden in hopes of luring more near. (Although I caught him glancing in the mirror himself quite a few times, so that may not be the only reason they are there.  Are gnomes a vain folk?). Peaswallows are apparently the larger of the 2 species, with magnificent plumage and a beautiful song, so I’m hoping to be able to see one. He said to keep my eye out once the Creeping Jenny turns gold. That’s usually when they are migrating by, but the Texas peaswallows might keep a different schedule.

Fimfizz also has quite a whimsical spirit.  He showed me this special project of his.  He called it a fairy garden.  He told me that he is just fascinated by stories of fairies, and he’s hoping that this garden will attract some.  Since he’s never actually seen a fairy, he’s not sure if this house would work, but he’s heard they are quite small so he figures it will do.  It’s still a work in progress, but he planted a tiny mushroom, because who doesn’t like mushrooms?  He figures if they don’t take to the heart house, they could make a home out of the mushroom, like he and Glimthink did.  And then he also put a purple butterfly in the garden.  It’s not a real butterfly, of course, but he read somewhere that fairies like to paint butterfly wings.  He thought this would be great fun for them, spending hours around their butterfly model, practicing new techniques and color combinations.  (He seemed quite proud of himself over the whole idea, actually).  And then of course, you can also see Beauregard’s house in this picture.  Beauregard, or ‘Bo’ as they call him, is their pet toad.  I haven’t actually seen Bo yet, but I’m sure he’s around somewhere.

I’m hoping Glimthink warms up to me as we get to know each other better.  Maybe I can catch a picture of him someday when he’s out of the house.  He just stays at the door and peers at me, with quite a curious look in his eye.  (I’m assuming his eyes look curious, since I can’t actually see his eyes.  I need to remember to ask about that, what is with the hat over the eyes all the time?)  He seems to be as fascinated with me as I am with him.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve been able to learn about them so far.  They both seem to be quite busy, always moving about.  They seem happy to stop and chat, but after too long I can tell they want to get back to whatever it was they were doing.  They are fascinating little creatures, and I hope they stay around for a while.  They’ve brought quite a bit of joy to our family in the short time they’ve been with us.

 

 

PS. Did you get the title reference? Gnome-ception? A gnome garden within a gnome garden? Like Inception? The movie? Get it? Moving on.

(Disclaimer:  I know some people are serious about their gnome-lore.  I have not done adequate research to assure that anything contained in the above story correlates with any of it.  Please do not email me that there could not possibly be a gnome named Glimthink Shortfuzz from the Clan of Highfolk that lived in the Silverwood Hills because the Shortfuzz family obviously lived in Perrenland, duh.  Or that Fimfizz never had a twin.  Or that they aren’t Star Wars fans.  This is my story, and my gnomes.  All characters appearing in this work are fictious.  (Except that they really do live in my garden).  Any resemblance to real gnomes, living or dead, is purely coincidental.)

(Disclaimer 2:  The title ‘The Adventures of Glimthink and Fimfizz: An Intro’ seems to imply that there may be ‘The Adventures of Glimthink and Fimfizz: Something Else’, like there may be another episode.  Right?  While this would be fun, it may, in fact, prove to be too ambitious.  I make no claims as to the future of my Shortfuzz twins.  You’ll just have to stay tuned. 🙂

NOTE:  Did you like my gnome garden?  It’s actually entered in the Fairy Garden 2014 contest over at the Magic Onions.  Check it out to see more cutie patootie tiny garden worlds, and get inspired to make your own!

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