Cave Gnome!

It was fun guarding the windmill! It's really been working hard these past couple of windy days. I was anxious to continue in my direct route east so off I went. It seemed the strong wind was urging me to continue my adventure too. I walked for almost the entire day before hearing what sounded like pigs. Sure enough, through a few trees and bushes I came upon a white house with four pink pigs in the front yard. I immediately wondered if they wanted to be identified as pigs or camels. I just wasn't sure so I decided to ask right away.

"Hello! I'm Aaron's Lawn Gnome. Are you pigs or would you prefer to be called camels?"

The pigs laughed and laughed, and they snorted quite a bit too, which I thought was very funny. "We're not camels!" one of the little pigs shouted between snorts. "Aaron's Lawn Gnome, we are certainly pigs. It is nice to meet you. What brings you here today?"

"I heard you through the trees. Then I saw the house and I thought I'd try out the stoop for a little while. That is, if it's okay with you."

"The stoop?" Said one pig.

"I thought for sure you were here to guard the cave!" Said another pig.

"A cave? Wow! I didn't know a cave was around here."

"Not around here," explained another pig. "Right under here!"

"How do you know there is a cave right underneath our feet?" I asked. And all the pigs answered at once. "Our ancestors found the cave!"

They all took turns telling different parts of the story. I found out that a couple of their ancestors went missing from their farm. When a boy was out looking for them, he heard the pigs but could not see them! Soon he found the pigs -- they had fallen in a sink hole. The little boy found an older boy to help him rescue the pigs. When they went into the hole to tie ropes around the pigs' bellies in order to pull them out, the boys saw that the hole went much, much deeper into the ground.

"I've never been in a cave before."

"But we thought you came here because gnomes guard caves."

"I've met many different gnome guards on my travels so far, ones that I didn't know existed, like Top Shelf Gnome. I guess I'll add Cave Guard to my list!"

"Our ancestors made history! You should visit the cave they found!"
"You should!"
"You must!"
"You have to!"

I decided to visit the cave! It will be great to add cave to my list of places I've tried guarding. Apparently that's something my ancestors have done. So I walked in the direction the four pigs were pointing until I was at the top of a very tall staircase. It was so tall that I couldn't see the bottom step!

It was warm and very humid at the bottom of the cave. I always heard water flowing and saw water dripping down all of the walls. I followed the sound of water until it was so loud I thought I might have to cover my ears! But I forgot about how loud the water was when I saw how far it was falling.

There were many hallways to wander and each one seemed to have an incredible surprise. There were fossils in the walls and other halls were filled with crisp, clear water. Other hallways had growing from them!

It was so strange knowing I was 200 feet underneath those four pigs. With every turn down a new oddly shaped hall I wondered if I would bump into another gnome.

I wandered far into many of the pathways until I found a hat-shaped threshold. "This cave entrance will suit me just right." As I said this I felt a booming in my chest! I was startled, but only for a moment as I realized it was my own words bouncing off the walls right back into me. I planted the rock beneath my boots, which was now covered white with clay, and happily guarded a cave. I spent my time whistling and singing and listing the places I've visited out loud just to feel the boom of my voice.

Camel Walk

After leaving that confusing SPAM building I realized how much I've been wandering ever since I've been out and about. I don't think I've made a straight line in my path once during my entire journey. This is a fine way to travel of course, but I decided it might be fun to journey as straight a line as possible, just to see what happens. So off I went, in exactly a straight line east from the museum in Austin, Minnesota.

I hadn't been walking too long when I thought I heard giggling. But then the wind came up again, as it did frequently on this day, and I figured it was my imagination. Just a few steps further though I heard it again, for sure this time, and then again and again. I kept turning around, but nothing was there! Finally I was quicker than the gigglers and I saw a short curly tail dart behind a fence-post. "I see you back there!" I shouted in a friendly voice. Then I hid behind a pine tree and thought I'd join in on the game. Again I heard laughing and then one-by-one I saw three wiggly snouts appear from behind a very big fence post. And then three big faces. And then three stout, wiggling bodies. Sure enough, there were three curly tails. They looked around for me and after a second I started to laugh, too. I jumped out from behind my tree.

"Hi Pigs!" I shouted and began to laugh. Their bodies all turned, startled and stiff, and the black and white pig's big floppy ears went straight up. Then they turned and looked at some giant, bumpy animals far off in the field. We walked closer to each other.

"Shh," said one of the black pigs. The other two were stifling their chuckles. "We don't want to cause trouble sharing the pasture with the camels, so we've managed to convince the them that we're camels, too! Don't mention the word pig while they're near," he said the word pig in a whisper. Then the two little black pigs and the little black and white pig with the large floppy ears darted away, laughing some more. "If you want to meet more of us," one of the pigs turned and shouted. "We have some relatives living not too far from here if you travel in exactly a straight line east! Our ancestors discovered something spectacular in Harmony!" They told me to turn my back and I would see something else amazing in the meanwhile. I turned my back from them as they ran far into the field behind me. I wondered who would be waiting for me in the next town, pigs or those bumpy creatures they motioned to in the field. What a silly game they were playing.

I stood looking in the distance for a few minutes and still hadn't seen anything. Boy, was my anticipation growing! And boy were those pigs fun! Maybe they were beginning another game to play. Then I heard slow heavy steps behind me and I jumped and turned around as fast as I could, expecting to see little fun-loving pigs.

"Ah!"

I don't think I've ever been so startled! All I saw when I turned were giant brown, knobby knees! Giant! Now I've met plenty of giants on my journey, but none of them have sneaked up on me. "I'm so sorry, sir," I said as soon as I could. "I wasn't expecting to see three huge handsome creatures like you! Please excuse me!" The three of them had started chuckling from deep within their giant bellies before I finished my sentence.

"We're camels," one of them explained. "And I don't believe we've seen such a little fellow like you before either!"

"I'm Aaron's Lawn Gnome. I'm a stoop gnome and right now I'm traveling and having adventures." They became so excited by the idea of such a little fellow going on such a big journey that they each gave me a kiss on my cheek. "Wow, I've certainly never been kissed by a camel before! It's really an honor and a great story to add to my list of adventures!"

"Shh," said the camels all at once. "We don't want to cause trouble sharing the pasture with the pigs, so we've managed to convince them that we're pigs, too!" And the camels all motioned with their large heads toward the little pigs coming closer to us. "So be sure not to mention the word camel while they're near." As they explained this to me, they hushed their volume when saying the word camel.

All of us ran and jumped and played games and laughed for a while during that blustery day. And then I remembered that there were more adventures for me in exactly a straight line east and shouted good-bye to them again and again. From a good length away, I said good-bye for one last time; I was so exhilarated from meeting such great new friends. But I forgot my pacts between the pigs and the camels and shouted, "Good-bye pigs! Good-bye Camels!" I gave them the biggest salute I could and immediately hoped I hadn't just caused too much trouble as I headed my way toward a town called Harmony. But they didn't seem to notice anything odd as they wiggled their tails back at me.