The Soul Steeling Gnome

Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Denver Colorado 1997

The crashing outside the window pulled her from the dream world.

Climbing out of bed, and dragging along her pink blanket, she climbed the chair and peered out the window, eyes slowly focusing in the darknes outside lit only by the dim porch light.

5 year old Kara’s eyes grew wide as she watched the green and blue garden gnome her father had found, push its way threw the porcelain fairies and elves throughout the yard, fairy wings braking and elves being smashed along the way.

Down the hall in the master bedroom Kara’s father Stephen had awoken to the noises coming from outside.

Slipping quietly out of bed so as not to wake his sleeping wife, Lara, he slipped down the hallway and headed towards the front door. Swinging it open wide he rushed out onto his front porch hollering out a warning to whoever was there. "I'm more than willing to kick your ass if you don't get off my property!"

"Fuck" he shouted as he Stubbed his toe and tripped over Kara’s tricycle, as he walked down the front steps.

Scanning the yard he saw a few of his wife’s yard decorations were smashed, but no one was near buy. Feeling a tickle he Glancing down kicking a spider off his foot, and noticed the gnome he had found on the side of the road just yesterday sitting a few inches from his foot. "Now how did you get here?" Reaching down he picked up the gnome and set it in a lush green grassy area next to the porch steps.

“There we go, much better spot. huh? Thats Funny,” he said to himself as he glanced at the gnomes red eyes “I could have sworn your eyes were black”

“Honey?” his wife's voice rang threw darkened doorway, “Everything ok? Who were you talking to?”

“Everything’s fine,” He said looking up at his wife. “Looks like we have a raccoon problem, I’ll call animal control in the morning.” Turning back to scan the yard one more time he headed back inside to bed.

Kara’s greens eyes were wide as she stared at the gnome that her father had picked up, and setting it in a patch of grass by the steps. Her fathers mouth was moving, and she wandered who he was talking to. Fallowing were his head turned she saw her mother standing in the doorway hugging her robe around her. Pushing back from the window she hurried back to bed, stopping to grab ‘Lucky bear’ on the way.

Lucky was a soft brown teddy bear her mother had given her one night when she couldn’t sleep.  “He will keep you safe all night long” her mother had said, "when he is close nothing can get you".

Crawling back into bed convinced that the gnome coming to life was just in her head, her eyesbheavy with sleepbhad just begun to close when a loud thump startled her. Pushing out of bed again she rushed back to the window.

The gnome was on the porch and had knocked one of the flower pots down. It stopped for a moment and just starred at the door, then whipped its head around looking at the window Kara peered out, kara stood frozen in fear unable to move as Slowly it slipped behind the large tree stand its red eyes not once leaving her green ones.

“What the hell?” forgetting his robe this time Stephen ran to the front door rushing out and down the steps.
“Get the hell off my property.” He yelled but again there was no one. He slipped on his yard shoes and headed around the side of the house leaving the door open in his haste.

Kara’s fist was beginning to hurt as she chewed on it, watching her father disappear around the corner of the house. Her eyes went back to the porch just in time to see the gnome slip out from behind the stand and start through the front door her father forgot to close. A little whimper escaped threw her lips and fist as she watched her father come around the other side of the house and head up the steps.