Greta the Gnome

Greta the Gnome was a little girl who lived in Nome, Alaska with her many friends and her Aunt Nim. Greta had been taught by Aunt Nim that if ever she was in trouble she should call out for Glenda the Good Gnome and Glenda would come to save Greta.

Greta had to go to the Nome Gnome School and she didn’t like it very much. The major problem was the teachers. The Nome Gnome School had been through a large number of teachers and nobody there seemed to be very happy.

There were very few gnomes in Nome and that meant that there were not enough qualified local teachers to staff the schools. This forced the Nome Gnome School Board to hire outside teachers to fill the staffing needs. This caused tension in the Nome Gnome School because the outside teachers did not understand Nome Gnome culture. They did not like Nome and they did not like gnomes. They were anti-Nomic and anti-gnomic.

When the outside teacher announced that the day’s lesson would be about antonyms the students groaned. They had tolerated the lesson on palindromes but the thought of a lesson on antonyms made them automatically antagonistic toward the teacher. Their bodies shook and shivered. They were simply anatomically averse to learning about antonyms.

The lesson was so boring that Greta became very drowsy. Suddenly she found herself in “Opposite Land”. Nothing was as it seemed. Everything was the reverse of what it should be. It was bewildering, confusing, and disorienting. She couldn’t tell the difference between up and down, left and right, in and out, back and forth, push and pull, on or off, now and then, not to mention right and wrong.

Greta was just about to sink to the bottom of the abyss when she remembered to call out for Glenda the Good Gnome.

In a flash, Glenda was there to gently offer her help, “My dear little gnome, what is your heart’s fondest desire?”

Greta stopped whimpering and said, “Oh, Glenda I am so grateful that you heard my call and came to help me. I want nothing more than to go back to Nome and be with my gnome friends and to see Aunt Nim again!” Glenda the Good Gnome said, “Your wish is my command! All you need to do is make a wish and click your heels together three times and your wish will come true”.

Greta clicked her heels three times and cried out, “Oh, Auntie Nim there’s no place like Nome, there’s no place like Nome!

Glenda waved her magic wand majestically and suddenly Greta found that she had left Opposite Land and had instantly arrived back at the Nome Gnome School. She was deliriously happy to see her friends and she was looking forward to seeing Aunt Nim when the teacher announced, “Now class, tomorrow’s exciting lesson is on homonyms”.
Greta fainted.


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eMeRaLD Effect Enterprises