'til the final scene

Three drabbles. Two of them are from The Gnome and the Water Sprite and the third one is pure randomness :)


Summer sun shone trough the trees. The water sprite didn’t feel warm but he didn’t feel cold, either. Watching his lake while sitting on his boulder, the sprite soaked his feet in the warm water, smiling as the animals came to him. They weren’t afraid of him like humans were. Trees and the ground were green, flowers bloomed everywhere. The pathway leading towards the house was almost invisible but he knew it was there, since he had more than once walked on it. Though only at nights since the silly old gnome slept during days. Smiling a little, he watched the ducks and swans.

Sound of laughter made the water sprite turn his head. Few boys were coming towards the lake and he grinned. What form would they prefer: a handsome stallion, a cute little dog, or a boy who would play with them? He rose to his feet, feeling giddy. The boys came closer, nearing the other side of the lake and the water sprite’s smile fell. His instincts told him to lure, to get the boys into the water so he could drown them, but his mind and heart told him not to do it. Carefully he had spent few days watching the gnome’s house to know who lived there. Casting a final look towards the boys, he changed in to a fish and dived deep in to the water.

~


The gnome ignored the way his heart ached. He brushed aside the branches, making his way towards the part of the forest where the lake was. The night was nearly over, dawn was nearing but he didn’t want to go to his burrow. It reminded him of everything he had lost. Following the sweet tunes of the violin, he walked, dressed lightly since the summer was warm. It wasn’t the first time he had heard the violin, and yet he couldn’t remember if the player had played so well in the past.

Someone was sitting on a boulder, feet deep in the water and animals all around. The gnome stopped as he realised the player was a water sprite and yet the emptiness inside him made him move forward. His wife had been everything to him and still he knew he would continue protecting the house until it would be his time to leave the world.
“Good morning”, he said politely and the water sprite tilted his head a bit towards him but didn’t stop playing. The gnome sat near the boulder, content only to listen. He felt less lonely.

~


The water sprite grimaced as the humans threw a small rock in to the water. Then they ran away, surely feeling proud for venturing so close to the lake that was said to be cursed. The sprite sighed, climbing out of the water hastily and hovering at the bank. The rock would wake up the dragon that slept at the bottom of the lake. Biting his lip, worrying, since he couldn’t get that far away from his lake and other sprites always told to watch out for dragons since they meant danger.

It wasn’t the first time the humans had woken the dragon and surely wouldn't be the last. Still the water sprite felt cautious as the dragon’s head appeared above the water and its jaws opened for a yawn. Then, almost lazily, the dragon swam to the shore and settled near the water sprite.
“Are you going to eat me?” the water sprite asked, as always. The dragon’s head turned, scales gleaming under the sun.
“I should. They keep waking me up all the time just because you drown few humans. You didn’t even clean the last body out of the water and it’s been disturbing my sleep”, the dragon snapped. “But you’re so skinny and sprites don’t taste very good. Besides you play prettily.”

The water sprite noted the almost hopeful tone and grabbed his violin. Keeping watch for the humans, the sprite played while the dragon dozed under the sun.