Minniwicket's Brave Adventure
by Heath Gordon
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012
About the Author
Heath Gordon is a freelance writer living in Alexandria, VA with his hot girlfriend. You can read more of his work at heathgordon.com/blog. In his spare time he brews beer, plays chess and does pastel landscapes.
In a certain old forest there is a tree with very deep roots covered in a soft green moss. The roots are so gnarled with age and the moss so fine that by just walking by, you wouldn't notice a small hole, nestled very near the heart of the tree. Here is where Minniwicket the gnome lives.
The normally tranquil scene was decidedly disturbed this early morning as Minniwicket was locked in a deadly struggle with a disgusting troll. Minniwicket's little feet pawed at the ground as the troll wrapped its greasy claws around the poor gnome's neck. The air around her was filled with the stench of rotted meat and although blackness closed in, Minniwicket focused on the yellow-green nose hairs of her foe. Just when it was almost all over, the gnome found herself taking gasps of fresh air. Shaking her head, she turned and saw her best friend Rosa the fox, chewing on the neck of her assaulter.
“What took you so long?” asked Minniwicket.
“What happened to you?” replied Rosa, in between chomps.
“Yeah, he caught me off guard,” admitted the gnome. She stood up, and brushed off her bright red apron. “Thanks for bailing me out. Again.” Rosa and Minniwicket had been best friends since they were 10 years old. One day Minniwicket had wandered out of the woods and might have been seen by humans if Rosa hadn’t picked her up and carried her to safety.
“That was the third troll attack in a week.” said the fox.
“I'm not worried,” said the gnome as she finished checking her clothes for tears. But she was worried. It was never a good sign when there were lots of troll attacks. She couldn't worry about that just right now. She toddled over to her basket and picked up all the red mushrooms that had spilled. It had seemed like it would be okay to go outside without her staff. That's a mistake she wouldn't make in the future. She turned to ask her friend to take care of the body, but Rosa had already gobbled up half of the troll's arm.
* * *
Usually Minniwicket slept soundly in the warm soft folds of her friend's fur. Not tonight. While Rosa's belly slowly rose and fell, Minniwicket stared up at the smooth earthen ceiling of her cave. She was worried about the frequency of troll attacks.
Troll sightings once every month, every two weeks even, were pretty normal. But three in the past week? Too many. She was even more worried because she was caught off-guard. Trolls were very easy to spot, they made a lot of noise. Defending against them was easy, if you had a staff with you. But she had been careless, and she would never, ever do that again.
The next morning she awoke earlier than usual. There was something wrong and she was going to figure out what it was. Rosa slept soundly while Minniwicket gathered her belongings. It was time for adventure. She didn't worry about her fox best friend, who was an excellent tracker. Rosa would catch up.
Her plan was simple: she would just follow the footsteps of the troll. If she found nothing in three days, she'd just turn around and consider it a fluke.
A thin haze inked its way across the forest floor. Rosa had done a nice job, even hiding the troll carcass. Trolls were easy to follow, they were big and were too stupid to think about not breaking sticks or anything like that. Sometimes, you could just follow their smell.
Not today. This time the prints led South, away from her cave. That was a good sign. And so her adventure began, step by step. Sometimes only a little bit of cloth on a vine was what told her the direction of her foray.
She had been at it for about an hour and a half, making really good time, when she reached an impasse. There were two directions she could go. It looked like the prints went one way, but the foliage suggested another. This was as good a time as any to sit down and have a nice snack of cheese and crackers.
The first bite was divine and Minniwicket refreshed herself with a swig of strawberry cordial. She had just placed the bottle on the ground when something smacked her on the back. Minniwicket struggled for air and her hands pawed for her staff, which was just a little too far away. A heavy paw pressed into her back and just when she thought she couldn't take it any more, the pressure eased. Minniwicket lunged for her staff and whirled around, bringing her weapon just inches away from Rosa's face.
“Rosa!” she said. “You found me.”
“You weren't paying attention again Minniwicket. I might not be here to save you next time.”
“Well you're here this time. You're really a good tracker.”
“So where are we going?”
Minniwicket explained that she wanted to find out why all these trolls were appearing.
“Well eat up, we're going to move a lot faster now that I'm here.”
It was true. Minniwicket finished up her snack and hoisted herself onto the fox's back. The view was much better from there. She could see the tracks for much farther. Better yet, Rosa's sense of smell was very strong. Minniwicket could just enjoy the ride now.
And so they journeyed for hours and hours, only pausing if they saw a delicious mushroom or to drink water by a babbling brook. They followed the troll's trail until the sky started to glow red. It was time to find a place to rest. Rosa spotted an old tree where they could make camp for a while but as they approached, they saw something more interesting, more useful.