Excerpt from SURVIVAL OF THE FAIREST, July 2008, ISBN 1-60504-070-3, Samhain Publishing

Tali Meets Jake's Mother--and Some Gnomes

Jake nudged the car forward and pulled into a driveway. His mother’s home, Tali assumed. It was on a corner, with a bigger lot than most of the other houses. Like the rest, it had pale walls and a darker roof with a freestanding arch near the entryway. Tiny lights and low bushes lined the edges of the walkway to the front door, and the landscaping was…well, it looked lumpy. She thought she saw palm trees.

It was too dark to discern much else. The neighbor’s yard seemed dark and lumpy as well. Tali couldn’t guess what a beautification committee might dislike. In her experience, though, committees always found something to complain about.

She stood beside the car and waited for Jake to grab their possessions out of the trunk. He motioned for her to precede him up the flagstone pathway. As they rounded the curve and reached the arch, the front door opened and warm light poured out.

“Come in, come in!” A round figure with an oddly shaped head motioned for them to come through the doorway. Tali couldn’t make out any features because of the backlight, but the voice was feminine.

She heard Jake sigh behind her. “Hello, Ma.”

The woman moved her arm, and an orange lamp on the front porch flickered on. Tali’s gaze dropped to the creature beside the low front steps. A red cap, a white beard and pink cheeks adorned the foot-tall figure, and it stood with a hand raised in greeting.

A hand with ragged nails, Tali noticed. Tiny teeth gleamed between the figure’s lips.

Gnome.

She stopped. Held out an arm. “Get back!”

Jake bumped against her and put a hand on her shoulder to steady them both. It burned through her T-shirt.

Tali’s heartbeat sped up, but not because of Jake’s proximity. Gnomes didn’t live in humanspace. The deviant little creatures dwelled in the Outer Territories of the Realm, ripping up farmer’s crops, terrorizing the livestock, stalking unwary travelers and worse. Much worse. She knew from finding a baby gnome once, a skitter, that they had very sharp teeth. She’d been terrified of them ever since, though in the capital, she wasn’t in danger of raids.

[...snipped...]

Tali had no wish to see any gnomes, real or otherwise. The Court never mentioned that gnomes existed here. Yet more evidence of their duplicity. She glanced fearfully into the shadowy yard. One of the most infamous gnomish ploys was to imitate a statue so unwary fairies thought the creature had been turned to stone. If a pack chose to strike now, without her magic…

"My dear, the gnome is a spirit of blessing for the home," Jake’s mother said, her voice melodious. "Our home is many times blessed." She opened the door even wider, and Tali jerked her gaze from the yard with its mysterious, dark lumps.

Think, Tali. Gnomes were magical creatures and might not be able to change form in humanspace. More logically, the figure could be a true statue made by Jake’s grandfather. It wouldn’t be the first time humans misinterpreted something Fey. The concept of the gnome as a good spirit must be a lingering fallacy, like fairy wings.

"Of course. A blessing for the home." The beady black eyes of the statue glittered. Tali forced a smile.

© 2008 Jody Wallace