Garden Gnomes

In my imagination....

There once was a little old man who had a green thumb. He and his wife cherished their garden and worked very hard to keep it proper and flourishing. Then one day, the little old man went to the garden center to fetch some things help enhance the beauty of their hard work. So he picked up some lattice to help the morning glories flourish, and some water bulbs to help keep the hydrangeas from being thirsty and of course a birdbath to welcome the birds to bathe their garden. Then, just as he was leaving he met the eyes of a little garden gnome. "Well, he thought. It certainly would be better to have an extra set of eyes around here to keep a watch on things," and into the bag he went.
When he returned home the wife was shocked and mortified by her husbands last purchase. "No way is that thing living in MY garden!" bit it was too late. The little old man had fallen for this stubby little red hat protector and was on his way to find him a spot. The wife was put off by the little creepster but let it be after she saw how happy her husband was.
The following week the husband needed more soil for his expanding garden, so off to the garden center he went. As he was on his way out he made eyes with yet another garden gnome. "Oh," he thought "how wonderful it would be if my title friend had a friend." So in the bag he went and out into the garden.
This time, the husband decided not to tell his wife about his new little friend after the way she had reacted about the first one, and just went ahead and put him out in the garden.
That weekend the wife was working away and had noticed the gnome, onu she thought it had been moved. Then as she made her way around the garden, saw him again, not realizing there were two. This freaked her out and she went inside waiting for her husband to get back from the gardening center.
Before he came into the house he stopped by the garden to hide his latest little lookout. When he came inside the wife told him what she saw and was foolishly convinced he had moved when the husband insisted that he hadn't moved him. She said she refused to go into the garden until he took the gnome out. That, my friend was quite some years ago.
Yesterday I walked by their garden which, needless to say, is not much aid a garden these days at all. In fact, there isn't a single plant here. All that remains is a gnome, and all of his friends, with nothing to protect but their sad, creepy existence.