Gnomes and Gardens and Stones, Oh My!

It was the weirdest plant Charlotte had ever seen- and she’d seen many in her 22 years as a Master Gardener. First of all, it seemed to have appeared from nowhere- one morning it was just...there, about two feet tall in the middle of a row of dahlias, with bluish leaves and spiny

stems that smelled slightly of licorice. Second, the strange plant seemed to dislike her watering can. She swore it swayed away from the water. When she leaned in to water the base of the plant, it did the craziest thing:

The exotic rose gyrated hypnotically as if it had a pair of hips; the stream of water danced futilely around it, leaving the flower bone dry. The caretaker stumbled back in disbelief, bumping into something or someone half her height.

Behind him was a small man with a long beard and red pointed hat. It couldn’t be! He would later learn that the gnome’s name is Latvin and he was the rose’s true caretaker going back thousands of years. “I’ve come to talk to you about my mission,” he said. “I need your help.”

The gnome Latvin explained to him that every 500 years, the rose must be watered with the blood of a Fearless. “A Fearless?” he said, “am I... a Fearless?” Latvin laughed. “Oh Ho! Of course not. But only you can help me find her.”

“Ok then how do I find this fearless woman” he said. Latvin replied “Follow the sun at sunset and submerge yourself in the river of shadows, retrieve the stone and when moonlight hits it, the path will be visible” He was confused at first but he knew he had to do it.

Latvin embarked on the journey, following all the directions carefully. Once he dived into the river of shadows, he couldn't see and could only grasp around in hopes of luckily finding the shiny stone that would shine the way to the woman he was looking for. Weeks and months

went by, with no sign of the stone. No matter where he swam, no matter what part of the river he dove into, there was nothing on the shallow riverbed but dull rocks; no shiny stones were to be found. On the night before the ritual, he was ready to give up, but Latvin decided one

stone wasn’t so different from any other stone. Maybe he could fake it. He found a rock similar in shape and presented it at the ritual, and quickly found that it was a mistake. The entity that had been summoned was greatly displeased and obliterated poor Latvin on the spot.