They came. The gnomes had known that their previous owners had kept the house on the market for some time, but they were still quite surprised to see a young girl step out of a taxi. Well, not girl. Girls. There were two.
The moment Leonard saw Shannon Whitt, he knew he had found his long-searched-for love.
The gnomes scrambled to find their places on the lawn. Shannon looked shy and humble next to the large house. Leonard smiled, then winced as some red lip paint cracked off his lips. Goodness. He really needed a fresh coat of paint.
"Hey, get over here, Lucy!" Shannon shouted to her friend. A muffled voice was heard as Lucy Gore struggled with the suitcases and boxes of personal possessions.
"Lucy, I don't want to go in all by myself! Get your butt over here!" Shannon continued up the path toward the house. She kept walking until she was face to face with the gnomes. She studied each of them, walking to the end of the line of gnomes on the right side of the house.
Shannon had a disgusted look on her face. "Weird. They left all their leftover junk. Just wonderful." Leonard felt his confidence crumble, just like the chipped paint that sprinkled itself into the grass. He tried to ignore the fact that his future sweetheart had hurt his feelings.
"Can you believe they left this trash?" Shannon complained. "I don't want it clouding up our yard."
Lucy laughed. "I think gnomes are nifty. I don't want to get rid of them! C'mon, I think they're adorable."
"Suit yourself, Lucy. Gnomes are so last decade. Just move them to the backyard, or something."
"No way, you do it! I'm the one lifting all our stuff. Besides, we should unpack now."
"You're right. We can move them later," Shannon concluded. "Let's have some fun!"
"Huh-uh! We've got to unpack! Well, at least I'LL be unpacking. Have fun sleeping in a room with boxes crowding all around you." The girls argued with each other, laughing and walking into their new home.
Leonard saw that they could not have been more than twenty-five years old. They must have been right out of college.
Magenta told a plastic flamingo to 'get lost' and plopped down next to Leonard.
"What are you doing, Magenta?" Leonard asked halfheartedly.
"Sunbathing. What else?"
"I thought vampires hated the sun."
"Not vampire gnomes," she said cheerfully. "We love the sun."
"Aren't you worried about fading your coat?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
" 'Cuz."
Leonard shook his head, saddened again, without knowing why. Just his luck. Lately, he was always feeling under the weather. No pun intended, of course.
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The girls spent the mid-afternoon unpacking, walking in and out and in and out of the house so much that it made Leonard's head spin. Finally, Leonard decided to investigate.
"I'm going in," he announced to a half-sleeping Magenta. She didn't seem to hear him.
Leonard followed the girls as they finished bringing the last boxes into the house. He took a deep breath. 
"Don't even think about it, Leonard. Just what do you think you're doing?" Magenta asked sternly, even though it really didn't sound like a question. Her voice was as hard as the concrete that formed her. Leonard wondered how she could have gone from a sleepy, tired gnome, into a steely-eyed, metallic, ice girl in the duration of a handful of measly seconds.
He hesitated. "I'm... well... I'm going in."
"I don't think so. You know the rules. We can't go in there. They'll find out about us!"
Leonard was sick and tired of Magenta telling him what to do. Though she was his closest friend of all of the gnomes, there were things about him she would never get. They never saw eye to eye with each other.
"I'm going in. With or without you." He said bravely. He had a feeling of triumph for sticking up for himself. Normally, he would have wavered under her words.
Magenta glared, her eyes shooting deep into Leonard's. "If you go in there, I will never speak to you again. You wouldn't dare break the rules. Who cares about them? They think we're pieces of crap! They're two too many in our house!"
"I'm sorry, Magenta. I have to go in. You can come, or you can stay. But I need to make my own choices."
Magenta gasped. "But why? What is it about them?"
Leonard blushed a deep rose color. It dawned on Magenta. Her face went from angry red, to surprise, then to a cool, smirk. "Leonard likes the human." She laughed cruelly. "She'll break your breakable heart." Magenta frowned. "I can't believe you." She stalked away. Leonard crept into the house.
Shannon was playing a video game. Leonard struggled to remember the other girl's name. What was it? Lucy? Well, Lucy was not in sight. Leonard relaxed. He sneaked over to the corner of the couch by Shannon's feet and watched her play the game.
Shannon was very good at the game. Leonard greatly admired her talent. From time to time, she'd call out a curse word or two, usually when her character lost a life. Leonard took note of every detail in the game. If Shannon liked it, so did he.
Since he was near them, Leonard regarded Shannon's tall heels with great interest. He was impressed that Shannon didn't tip over and fall. She must have a wonderful sense of balance, he thought. Maybe she does yoga. How Leonard longed to learn a few yoga moves!
Sneakily as a bat, Magenta slid next to her friend. "I'm so sorry for the way I acted," she whispered quietly. "Friends stick by friends. They don't leave them in the dust, like I did. Please forgive me. I hope you can."
Leonard nodded. "It's okay. We're really different gnomes, though. I hope you can understand that I have many different qualities about myself." Before Magenta could reply, Shannon yawned and clicked off the television set. She stood up and stretched. There was nowhere to hide. Magenta exchanged a horrified glance with Leonard.
Shannon turned toward the gnomes and noticed them.
"Oh my goodness!" She gasped in surprise.
"How did you get in here?" She breathed. "Surely it must be Lucy playing a joke on me. She knows I hate those gnomes," Shannon reassured herself. Again, Leonard felt a stab of hurt bore into him. She probably really didn't mean it like that... right?
Shannon's mouth pulled into a sneaky smile. "I know just what I'll do with you guys..."
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Shannon quietly placed Magenta and Shannon into Lucy's room. "Lucy, Lucy..." Shannon whispered in a low, creepy voice. Lucy froze.
"I'm right behind you, Lucy, and I vant to shuck your vlood!" Shannon continued. Lucy whirled around, and gasped at the sight of Magenta looking up at her from the floor. Lucy burst out laughing.
"I'm embarrassed to admit that you had me going there," Lucy shook her head and grinned, admiring the tiny vampire gnome.
"Just gettin' you back!" Shannon said, coolly.
"I have no clue what you're talking about, but whatever."
"From now on, let's try to keep the gnomes out of the house," Shannon said, stepping behind Magenta. "These gnomes give me the creeps."
Leonard had a sinking feeling. He knew what was going to happen next. With a simple swing of her foot, Shannon kicked Magenta to the floor and snickered.
Leonard held his breath. He was definitely going to hear it from her when they got back to the yard. Magenta was going to be furious.
"Aw, poor gnome!" Lucy sympathized. "Don't kick them. They might break!"
Shannon shook her head. "Whatever. I'm going to start dinner. I'm starving."
She looked at Leonard. "But I guess they can be sorta cute. In a weird way. It kinda looks like this one's blushing."
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>Gnobody's Home<
