Granddaughter

She looked up from the letter at the lawyer and said,

“I don’t know who this is. Why would he tell me this?”

“I honestly do not know, Ms. Adams. He left instructions to give you the note and the keys to the farm after the reading of the will.”

“Thank you for everything. I need to get going. It is going to be a long drive from Atlanta to the farm.”

The drive was peaceful. There was nothing but long two lane country roads with lots of pretty scenery. Ms. Adams had not been to the farm in a few years. She was excited to see home again, but she knew it was going to be a dispiriting experience. It would be lonesome without her grandfather. She was thankful that it was no longer a working farm. It had not been one in years. After his first heart attack, her grandfather could not handle the work any longer.

She walked into the house right at sundown. Like most old men, her grandfather never changed a thing. The house was the exact same as it was when she was a child. Ms. Adams sat down at the kitchen table and remembered doing homework while he cooked dinner. Looking through the doorway to the couch in the living room, she could hear the old man yelling while watching college football on Saturdays. She had been gone too long. She could not shake the guilt. After a few glasses of wine, she headed for her old bedroom.

She awoke to the sound of light foot steps in the house. Could it be Charlie? She left her ex some time ago. He was an absolute psycho. She pulled her nine millimeter out of the nightstand. As she slowly stood up out of bed, she clicked the safety off.

The foot steps would stop for a few moments and then start back. They had made their way to the kitchen. She could hear them fumbling around with something. She crept down the hall trying to not make any noise. Charlie was strong. She knew if she did not get the jump on him it was over for her. She could picture him trying to decide which knife to stick in her ribs. Her heart was beating in her throat. She made it to the door and took a deep breath, checked her safety again, and counted to three.

She spun into the doorway and began scanning the room, nothing. There was no noise and no one. She quickly swept through the whole house. No broken locks, no broken glass, no one under the beds, or in any closets. Everything was fine. Had she dreamed it? Could it have been a mouse? She clicked the safety back on while she made a mental note to look for mouse traps in the morning.

The next day was full of old photo albums, bacon, pilfering through the house, and setting out sticky pads to catch anything scurrying around midnight. Her grandfather had recently mowed, but the flowerbeds were a bit unkempt. She threw on some old clothes. Pulling weeds and spreading fresh soil was how she ended her day.

Dinner that night was a cool glass of sweet tea and a tomato sandwich. She cut a healthy slab off of a tomato she picked from the garden. With a belly full of sweet tea, tomato, and wine, she fell asleep on the couch sprawled out like a fat cat.

She was awoken to light footsteps once again. This time they were followed by slapping. It took a moment, but she soon realized the slapping was the sticky traps. She sprang up from the couch and ran into the kitchen. The slapping only intensified. Whatever was stuck was big and fighting for its life.

When the light came on, there, rolling across the floor, was a little man trapped in the sticky pads. He could not have been more than a foot or a foot and a half tall. He wore little black boots, brown pants with suspenders, and a white shirt with buttons up the front and the sleeves pushed up. He had a white beard and a horseshoe of long white hair going around his bald head.

She rushed to help the little man. He had not only stepped on a pad, but also managed to fall into a couple others. As she ripped one away, he yelled,

“God damnit!!! Yer gunna take my fucking flesh off!!

“Sorry!! Oh shit, sorr... sorry…. Sorry!!!”

“SHIT!! There went half ma beard!”

She sat the little man down as soon as the last sticky pad was removed. He danced around the room screaming and cursing and swearing. He banged his tiny hands into the cabinets.

Pointing at her, he said,

“What in the hell is wrong with yo’ ass?! There is no bugs nor rats in this house. Why in the good god damn holy fuck would you set those traps out?!”

She stood silent for a moment and said,

“Who are you? Why are you in here? What in the fuck is going on?!”

“Elazar, god damnit! I’m Elazar!”

“Elazar? You’re Elezar? You were the one in the note?”

With his hand on his hips, Elazar says,

“Come again.”

“The note, it’s a note the lawyer gave me. It was from Grandaddy. It said, ‘His name is Elazar. Buy green apple pipe tobacco.’ That was it.”

“Oh, ok. Yeah that’s me, and I do ‘preciate’chu buying that. I snuck in here last night and got some.”

She is dumbfounded. She manages to stutter out,

“Wh..wh.. who are you?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot he never told’ya.”

“Told me what?!”

“I live out in the woods, and look after the place.”

“What?!”

“I was here before yo Grandaddy. When he moved here, me and him come to an agreement. I would look after the place and in return could take some crops and other things around the place.”

“Grandaddy had a live in dwarf security guard that he never told me about?”

“I ain’t no dwarf, god damnit. I’m a gnome.” He tugs at his beard. “I was a farmer just like yo’ Grandaddy at one time, right here. I had a neighbor, this old hag, I could not stand the bitch. We got in an argument one time, because her cows got out and were eating my corn. There was a bunch of cows, and the depression was on. I couldn’t afford to lose much of my crop. I shot them god damn cows. Well, come to find out, that old woman was a witch. She said since I love my property so well, I could care for it from now on. Now, I live in the woods in a big ass tree.”

“Wait, so you’re like a fairy or a leprechaun or some shit?”

“No, I aint no fucking fairy. I’m a gnome. I take care of the woods and the land.”

Holding her head with a face full of fluster, she said,

“Why didn’t he just tell me? I lived here for the first eighteen years of my life. Why did he not tell me then?”

Elazar answers,

“Do you think it would be wise to tell a child about the secret mythical woodland creature that lives on your property?”

“I mean, I guess I could see a downside to that?”

“I figured you would.” Elazar walked across the kitchen. “Could you hand me my bag of green apple tobaccer? Now, that we’re acquainted, I can take it home with me.”

She walked over and gave the little man the bag. He threw it over his shoulder, and said,

“Get on back to sleep, gal. I’ll swing by in the morning and we can talk. Have a good night, Hollie.”

That night of rest was one of her worst. The fear and excitement of the night’s events left her heart running at a trot. Hollie stumbles her way to the kitchen and brews some very strong coffee. She walked out onto the porch. It was cool with the dew still on the ground, but the humidity was still there to meet you at the door. She plopped down on the porch swing, sipping her coffee, and watching the rays of sunshine break through the trees and cause the dew to glisten.

“I hope you don’t mind, I…”

Hollie screams out,

“Jesus fuck! What in the hell is wrong with you?!”

“Yer a lot more easy to startle than yo Grandaddy.”

“Yeah! How about next time you take that into consideration before just popping up.”

“Can do.” Elazar tips up his elfin sized coffee cup. “I saw’ya were up, and figured I’d stop by. That way we can finish our talk.”

“Yeah, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole gnome thing. You said you watch over the farm. How? What are you doing? You are tiny.”

Elazar did not say a word. He walked across the porch to a holly bush. He lightly touched his finger tip to one of the leaves. The holly bush transformed into a magnolia bush. He plucked one of the magnolias off and took it over to Hollie.

“How did you do that?!”

“I told’ya a god damn witch. I’m a gnome.”

“Okay, okay. I think I’m good. I can handle this. It’s not that big of deal. I can always move. I can buy land down the road.”

“You’ll have to move a whole lot farther than just down yonder if yer lookin’ for something normal.”

“What are you talking about?”

Elazar had another sip of coffee and said,

“Haven’chu ever wondered why there is no other towns within an hour of Vespucci, Georgia? This ground is different. There’s a lot more than just a witch and a gnome around.”

“Is the witch still around?”

“There’s pretty good chance of it. I wouldn’t worry ‘bout that bitch though. I can handle her. I have a book at my house to show you, by the way. It concerns mine and your grandfather’s agreement.”

Hollie followed him into the woods. Branches moved out of their way. It was like someone was pulling them back. The vines of thorns just slithered out of their path. He would spit on the ground and flowers would sprout. They walked for a while, crossing a creek at one point. Eventually they arrived at a massive tree. It was like nothing she had ever seen. It was forked, and one side had been hollowed out for a fire place. There were birds that landed near them, and Elazar produced seeds and worms out of thin air. A squirrel is lying in front of the tree. His leg has been badly injured. Elazar walks over to him and heals the squierrl with just his touch.

Elazar raised his hand and a rock rolled over to reveal a small doorway into the tree’s trunk. He walked in and Hollie crawled in behind. It was not too bad of a squeeze for her. She was surprised by the height of the ceiling. He produced a small book. It was his size and clearly hand made. He opened it to a page and handed it to Hollie.

“I can’t see anything. The lighting is terrible.”

“The writin’ is small. Here, let’s lay it by the fire, and you can lay on your belly, so you can get close.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Hollie spins around onto her stomach while Elazar laid the book down in front of the fire. Hollie leaned her head over the book and said,

“It’s bla…”

A warm liquid drips onto the rug. It runs down her airway. Hollie is choking. There is a deep burn across her throat.

“That’s because there ain’t gunna be no deal between me and you. This is my land. The original agreement was for life. I don’t think yo’ Grandady realized it was just his life. You should have never came home, gal.”

Eelazar watches her eyes grow cold.

“Fuck!! Why did I do it inside?!”