Three Little Gnomes and the Dragon (Audio Book)
Once upon a time, there were three little gnomes. They shared a birthing day, but their personalities were as far different as night is from day.
Tiban, the youngest son – by only a few minutes, was carefree and loved to dance, sing, and play. Always smiling or laughing, he treated the world as his personal playground.
Calista, Missy, the middle child – again by only a few minutes, tried to be serious when her parents demanded it, but she normally fell in with Tiban, and the pair of them could be found lightheartedly frolicking nearly constantly.
Joesan, the oldest son, was as serious as his siblings were not. He enjoyed working with his elders where he carried himself almost as their equal.
The day of their ‘Turning Out’ finally arrived. As was the local custom, their mother prepared a travel pack for each of her teenage children and ceremoniously, lovingly, ‘kicked them out’ of their childhood home to find their own paths.
“Out! Out, you lazy Lugs”, she laughingly yelled, as she playfully shooed them out the door with an old broom.
Tiban and Calista laughed and joked as they walked, taking this event as nothing more than another fun adventure. Joesan tried to lead them to think about survival and planning their future, but to no avail.
A few days later, they found themselves in a beautiful meadow bordering a thick green forest and only a few moments easy walk from a clear flowing stream.
“This is it”, shouted Tiban. “Let’s settle here.”
Surprisingly, the three quickly agreed on the location. They then marked the spots where they would each build their home; close together but far enough apart to be somewhat private.
The next morning, Tiban, singing loudly, completed building his home in a few hours, using only the abundant tall prairie grass. He then immediately set out to enjoy the day.
Calista was a little more serious and used dry wood from the nearby forest. She spent three days building her new home. Both Tiban and Calista were happy with their work and playfully teased their older brother, Joesan, as he continued to labor for several weeks.
Joesan built a solid foundation and strong walls using rocks and mortar. His roof was supported by stout wooden beams and covered in slate shingles. He labored, alone, for many weeks as his siblings enjoyed themselves. When finished, his house was a very solid example of the best that he could accomplish, and he was very proud of it.
As summer flowed into fall, Joesan gathered fruit, nuts, and vegetables and made ready for winter, while his siblings lived each day as in a never-ending party.
When the first freeze of winter engulfed them, Joesan’s fireplace kept his house warm and cozy, while Calista and Tiban wrapped themselves in heavy blankets and wished for spring.
The third night of the first deep freeze, under the cold pale light of a winter’s full moon, the three gnomes were awakened by a mighty roar!
A hungry dragon was hunting for his next meal in their meadow. He flew back and forth several times over the grass and found nothing to feast upon. In his anger, he attacked the grass house of Tiban. With a single breath, he blew it to pieces, and nearly caught little Tiban as he fled, screaming, to his sister Calista’s house.
The dragon followed Tiban and attacked Calista’s house of wood. His fire breath burned it to the ground in but a few minutes. The terrified Calista and Tiban ran to their brother, Joesan’s house of solid stone and slate.
Furiously banging on the door, they screamed:
“Let us in! let us IN! A dragon is hunting us!”
Joesan quickly opened the door, pulled his siblings inside then secured the door with a wooden beam.
The dragon followed them and wildly attacked Joesan’s house. Its fire breath had no effect on the solid rock walls. Its mighty wings blew great winds against the slate roof to no avail. Finally, exhausted, and frustrated, the dragon gave a mighty roar and flew into the night.
Very relieved, Tiban and Calista warmly, seriously, thanked their older brother and declared that they had, finally, learned the value of hard work, doing their best, and the folly of constant play.
Tiban and Calista set about rebuilding their homes the very next day out of stone and mortar.
Wiser, more ‘grown Up’, Tiban and Calista found they were not so different from Joeson, and the three little gnomes lived happily in the meadow for a long time.
By RJ Borton 2021, updated 2021
A Tales of Airth® publication brought to you by The Phanta Corp.
This story is a work of fiction. All names, characters, species, classes, places, things, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblances to fictitious or actual persons living or dead and events or locales real or imaginary are entirely coincidental.
© Copyright 2021 by Tales of Airth® Publications, Bensalem, PA. “All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form”
Limited permission is granted to Bards, Heralds, Storytellers and anyone wishing to retell this story to tell and retell the Tale so long as it is told in its entirety and proper credit is given the author.
Limited permission is granted to Bards, Heralds, and Storytellers and anyone wishing to print, copy or reproduce this story in a Positive, Not For Profit manner, so long as it is printed, copied or reproduced in its entirety and proper credit is given the author.
NO Permission is granted to tell, retell, print, copy, reproduce or distribute this story For Profit by any means for any reason without the prior written consent of the author.
This story is Privately Owned and NOT in or to be released to the Public Domain.