Life, Thank You Bartholomew.

This is a short story.

Gnomes! They're everywhere, dancing in the fields and eating my cabbage!

Where did these gnomes come from?

Well, there once lived a great dragon named Bartholomew. In these days, the world was bleak and black. There was no color to it. There were no flowers, nor trees. What little grass there was died shortly after being born. The people knew not how to farm or work to create. If it had not been for Bartholomew, mankind would have perished. The dragon would fly from his castle and light fires for the people at night and during the winter. Then, one day, a dark cloud whispered its way across the land. As Bartholomew took flight to give the people light, the storm began. Rain spattered. Lightning flashed. The thunder growled. Bartholomew was caught in mid flight by lightning and he fell to the earth. When the storm ended, the people came out of their homes and found the dragon taking his last breaths.

He told them not to worry and he told the secrets of fire. He told them about the great treasures in his castle; these were not gold, as one might expect. They were stories of old. The castle was actually a vast library from which the people were invited to learn. The books were the storehouse of infinite knowledge. With his dying breath, Bartholomew told the people to seek out knowledge and live on in peace. The people wept for the great dragon.

After his burial, the fields around the grave flourished and the first trees came into the world. The dragon's body was the fertilizer of the world. As it decomposed, life began. The grass no longer died just after its birth. Flowers entered the realm. The people went to the castle and from the books they learned how to work the fields. They learned how to harvest and build. The people learned to hunt and how to cook. They learned a great many things. But, as time passed, the people forgot about Bartholomew who had saved the people. Dragons became things of myth and the people began to make up their own ideas about where their knowledge came from. During a great earthquake, the castle fell into the ground, buried deeply.

Most of the people forgot about Bartholomew, but there were a few who held on. These few dug into the ground, trying to find the lost castle. Their tunnels were eventually so deep that they lived inside them and some of the children were born underground, never seeing the light of day. These children were the first gnomes. As time passed, they too forgot about Bartholomew and his great castle.

Eventually, the gnomes had dug their way back to the surface. Upon seeing light for the first time, these former humans began to ask questions. They questioned their own sanity and the sunlight excited them beyond reason. The light hurt at first and they scurried about trying to understand what they saw. Time passed and the gnome fascination for the surface world never ceased. Then, one day, a gnome came across a cabbage field. Cabbage was new to him, but he ate it and he loved it. He told his friends about it and they told their friends, who told their friends and so on. Thus, it was not long before gnomes understood the wonders of cabbage. For their discovery they danced in the fields and ate cabbage.

I forgive them for eating my cabbage. After all, they don't know any better. Besides, Bartholomew would have wanted them to be happy and gnomes are certainly the happiest of all creatures, for they lived in darkness but found the light, whereas other creature live in the light and always seem to seek out darkness. And really, is it better to be born in the light and never appreciate it or to be born in darkness and learn about the wonders of light later?

With that, I leave you to ponder.