With the Outies finally sprucing up the yard and finishing some badly needed infrastructure, the garden was looking pretty good indeed. And what better way to celebrate than with a Gnome Race. The King and Queen had decided it could be done with the right timing to keep themselves hidden from the Outies and still have their fun too.
| But before the race could happen everyone would have to be notified. The Queen thought how best to do that... why of course, use the Humming Bird Express (HBE). All the HBE messengers had to do was to hum the words "And they're off" and every gnome would know it was race time!!! |  |
Of course everyone would need to be invited and the event would have to be carefully planned. The Gnomes certainly didn't want to catch the Outies watching them. So spreading out the activities and events would certainly be the answer.
| Knowing someone who was an expert in organization and construction would be needed for setting up the race and the Queen decided that no gnome was better than Hugo, of the Miners Guild, to be in charge.  |  |
Soon preparations were all made and the day of the Race was here.
 | All of the gnomes were there of course. Those with a birds-eye view watched from their perches... |
| ...while others took advantage of how busy the humming birds were in the delivery of the race results. This resulted in the HBE's high-energy nectar (used to keep their humming voices in top shape) just being too tempting while unguarded not to enjoy with an occasional sip while watching the race. |  |
 | Five participants had registered and were lined up for the start. The King would start the race and the Queen would be at the finish line to honor the winner. Even the station judges were positioned to make sure that all of the racers stayed on the course and followed what few "rules" there were. Soon it was time for the race to begin... The King had made his introductions and then raised his hand. "And they are off !!!" And off they went! The rabbit racer held tightly to his hat as he shot out of the starting line, hopping down the trail to take an early lead when he noticed a shadow sailing over him... |
It was the frog! What a leap of faith he had taken by jumping that greenery - hoping it would put him out in front of the race! Seeing that the rest of the racers were well behind him, the frog racer thought for sure he would now win this race.
Bearing down upon the frog rider the rabbit and the squirrel racers were soon neck to neck and coming up fast right behind him. They were just making it around the first judge's turn --making it too soon to tell yet who could win.
There it was - the red arrow marking the second turn. As the racers flew past the second judge, the goose racer let out a large "honk" as if signaling to pass. This, of course, the made the squirrel go a little nuts. Which gave the rabbit the lead just by a hare (oops... meant hair) as they were racing down the last leg of the race course.
As they turned the final corner, they were surprised to see the frog racer not hopping to it anymore. He had wore himself out from his last great leap! He was toad-a-ly exhausted. Quickly the rabbit raced past him, followed closely by the squirrel and then the goose (being goosed by his rider), leaving him in the rear. But wait! Where is the racing turtle?
Knowing that he could not outrun the others, he had found a shortcut and was almost at the finish line when the rabbit crossed first. The turtle wasn't there to win... he was there to have a good time and be a part of the shell-ebration!
So off to the shell-ebration they went. And like all great events, hare (here) today and gone tomorrow, or at least for another year.
Isn't it fun to imagine what might be happening in your back yard when you are not there?
Isn't it fun to imagine what might be happening in your back yard when you are not there?
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