It was a hot summer night early in January in South Africa. The gnomes from Riversdale were enjoying the full moon, sitting around outside, talking and laughing amongst themselves. LongBeard was sitting on the soft moss under a big old oak tree, smoking his pipe filled with harmless herbacco. The sweet aroma of his pipe smoke drifted on the warm air and across the golf course where they lived.
Suddenly they heard human laughter, and all the gnomes scattered to hide underground. Gnomes prefer not to be seen by humans who don’t seem to understand that there are creatures around who look like them, but who have a very different life style.
LongBeard peeped from under the red and white toadstool to see
what the humans were doing on the golf course this time of night. The golf course was closed and usually there were no people about at this time. He saw two young adults, a girl and boy, giggling and playing short shots of golf in the moonlight. “I told you it can be done,” said the girl. “Yes, but we are not allowed to be here,” replied the boy. He looked around furtively. “Just this one hole,” pleaded the girl, “then I will have proven my point.” “Okay,” whispered the boy and prepared to hit the ball.
His shot went wild and the golf ball landed quite close to where LongBeard was hiding. “Oh dear,” exclaimed the girl, “luckily we brought a torch along!” They shone their torch in the direction of the ball and came closer to where LongBeard was hiding. Suddenly the girl tripped over one of the big tree roots and went sprawling in the mud. “Oh no!” she wailed. “Look at how dirty my clothes are!” “Never mind,” replied the boy gently, “let’s stop playing now. You’ve made your point about the moonlight being as light as day. Let us go home so that you can change.” The girl brushed off the worst of the dirt and rinsed her hands in the stream. The boy picked up his ball, took her hand and led her back to their car.
Neither of them noticed that when she fell, she had lost the golden necklace which her parents had given her on her 18th birthday. LongBeard, however, with his keen night-eyes, instantly saw the shiny object where it had fallen in the mud. He waited until they had driven off and carefully retrieved the fine necklace. He rinsed it in the clear river water and dried it with his beard. Then he wound it around his waist; not once but four times!
He danced on top of the toadstool, appreciating the beauty of the golden necklace, enjoying its shiny brilliance in the moonlight. After a while, he sat down on top of the toadstool to ponder the situation. He knew that the girl would be sad once she noticed that her precious necklace was missing and wondered what he could do to help her.
He did not have to think for very long, because very soon he heard a car approaching and then he saw that it was their car. The two youngsters came walking back to where the girl had fallen. “I am sure I must have lost it here,” said the girl, “although how on earth we will find it I do not know!”
“I have an idea,” replied the boy, “my mother told me that all things can be spoken to and that if we do it in a kind way, they will respond in kind. Let us try it.” They stood on the muddy patch where the girl had fallen, faced each other and held hands. The girl said, “Dear necklace, oh beautiful necklace, you are precious to me for you were given to me with love, you help protect me against negative energies because you are charged with my parents’ love. Please return to me.” The boy then said, “Dear Mother Earth, you who are holding Mary’s necklace in the palm of your hand, we thank and honour you for the life you give us, for the air, water, food and protection that you supply in such abundance. Kindly return Mary’s necklace to her, if it is your wish to do so.”
“What do we do now?” whispered the girl. “We wait,” the boy whispered back. “What if we don’t find the necklace?” Mary asked. “Then we thank them for their time, say good-bye to the necklace and leave. It is important to show gratitude for the time that you did spend together.”
LongBeard listened to this conversation with astonishment. “At last,” he thought, “young people with an attitude of gratitude! She deserves to have her necklace back,” he thought, carefully unrolling it from his waist.
Swift as the blink of an eye he jumped straight up in the air to the branch above him and quickly hung the necklace from it. He hid behind the leaves and willed the girl with his thoughts to look up. “How strange,” said Mary, “I feel as if something is pulling my eyes upwards…” Looking up and over the boy’s head,
she saw, gleaming in the moonlight, her precious necklace dangling from the tree. “There it is!” she exclaimed. Delighted, they carefully lifted it off the branch. “Look at how shiny and clean it is,” Mary whispered, “it was actually in need of a good polish when I lost it. I wonder who could have picked it up and left it for us to find.”
“Maybe somebody passed by after we left.” suggested the boy. “No way!” said the girl, shining the torch on the ground. “The only footprints here are ours.”
“Well,” said the boy, “my mother believes that if we show respect and gratitude to all beings, we will realise that there is much more to things around us than meets the eye. She always encourages me to expand my limited perception of the world around me! Let us say thank you and go home.”
They stood facing each other and, holding hands, respectfully thanked Mother Earth for returning the necklace. Then they acknowledged the necklace for making itself easily visible, so that they could recover it.
With that, they left, laughing softly and feeling deeply satisfied. “Other people will think we are mad, the way we talk,” Mary chuckled. “Let them,“ smiled the boy, “let them think what they like.”
And with a happy bounce in their step, they walked back to the car.
Suddenly they heard human laughter, and all the gnomes scattered to hide underground. Gnomes prefer not to be seen by humans who don’t seem to understand that there are creatures around who look like them, but who have a very different life style.
LongBeard peeped from under the red and white toadstool to see
what the humans were doing on the golf course this time of night. The golf course was closed and usually there were no people about at this time. He saw two young adults, a girl and boy, giggling and playing short shots of golf in the moonlight. “I told you it can be done,” said the girl. “Yes, but we are not allowed to be here,” replied the boy. He looked around furtively. “Just this one hole,” pleaded the girl, “then I will have proven my point.” “Okay,” whispered the boy and prepared to hit the ball.His shot went wild and the golf ball landed quite close to where LongBeard was hiding. “Oh dear,” exclaimed the girl, “luckily we brought a torch along!” They shone their torch in the direction of the ball and came closer to where LongBeard was hiding. Suddenly the girl tripped over one of the big tree roots and went sprawling in the mud. “Oh no!” she wailed. “Look at how dirty my clothes are!” “Never mind,” replied the boy gently, “let’s stop playing now. You’ve made your point about the moonlight being as light as day. Let us go home so that you can change.” The girl brushed off the worst of the dirt and rinsed her hands in the stream. The boy picked up his ball, took her hand and led her back to their car.
Neither of them noticed that when she fell, she had lost the golden necklace which her parents had given her on her 18th birthday. LongBeard, however, with his keen night-eyes, instantly saw the shiny object where it had fallen in the mud. He waited until they had driven off and carefully retrieved the fine necklace. He rinsed it in the clear river water and dried it with his beard. Then he wound it around his waist; not once but four times!
He danced on top of the toadstool, appreciating the beauty of the golden necklace, enjoying its shiny brilliance in the moonlight. After a while, he sat down on top of the toadstool to ponder the situation. He knew that the girl would be sad once she noticed that her precious necklace was missing and wondered what he could do to help her.
He did not have to think for very long, because very soon he heard a car approaching and then he saw that it was their car. The two youngsters came walking back to where the girl had fallen. “I am sure I must have lost it here,” said the girl, “although how on earth we will find it I do not know!”
“I have an idea,” replied the boy, “my mother told me that all things can be spoken to and that if we do it in a kind way, they will respond in kind. Let us try it.” They stood on the muddy patch where the girl had fallen, faced each other and held hands. The girl said, “Dear necklace, oh beautiful necklace, you are precious to me for you were given to me with love, you help protect me against negative energies because you are charged with my parents’ love. Please return to me.” The boy then said, “Dear Mother Earth, you who are holding Mary’s necklace in the palm of your hand, we thank and honour you for the life you give us, for the air, water, food and protection that you supply in such abundance. Kindly return Mary’s necklace to her, if it is your wish to do so.”
“What do we do now?” whispered the girl. “We wait,” the boy whispered back. “What if we don’t find the necklace?” Mary asked. “Then we thank them for their time, say good-bye to the necklace and leave. It is important to show gratitude for the time that you did spend together.”
LongBeard listened to this conversation with astonishment. “At last,” he thought, “young people with an attitude of gratitude! She deserves to have her necklace back,” he thought, carefully unrolling it from his waist.
Swift as the blink of an eye he jumped straight up in the air to the branch above him and quickly hung the necklace from it. He hid behind the leaves and willed the girl with his thoughts to look up. “How strange,” said Mary, “I feel as if something is pulling my eyes upwards…” Looking up and over the boy’s head,
she saw, gleaming in the moonlight, her precious necklace dangling from the tree. “There it is!” she exclaimed. Delighted, they carefully lifted it off the branch. “Look at how shiny and clean it is,” Mary whispered, “it was actually in need of a good polish when I lost it. I wonder who could have picked it up and left it for us to find.”
“Maybe somebody passed by after we left.” suggested the boy. “No way!” said the girl, shining the torch on the ground. “The only footprints here are ours.”
“Well,” said the boy, “my mother believes that if we show respect and gratitude to all beings, we will realise that there is much more to things around us than meets the eye. She always encourages me to expand my limited perception of the world around me! Let us say thank you and go home.”
They stood facing each other and, holding hands, respectfully thanked Mother Earth for returning the necklace. Then they acknowledged the necklace for making itself easily visible, so that they could recover it.
With that, they left, laughing softly and feeling deeply satisfied. “Other people will think we are mad, the way we talk,” Mary chuckled. “Let them,“ smiled the boy, “let them think what they like.”
And with a happy bounce in their step, they walked back to the car.
Acknowledgement: www.thenoblejewelers.com/.../gold-necklace-n176/
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