The Meeting

I called a meeting at the roundabout at the bottom of the village.

I chose that because I could get there without having to wear a chaleco. I still had not found anywhere that sold them in my size.

The road was well sign posted so no trouble getting there.

When I got there, the meeting had already started, with the fireflies keeping watch from just outside the light.

There were an amazing collection of night creatures there. Most were twins for some strange reason.

But the old Ogre had also turned up which was good.



He might just have some good ideas as to how we could raise €200 to get Marisa released.

After several hours of debating we came op with only one good idea.

We would try to arrange an exhibition of some of my best night photos down at the garden centre where Tomás lives.

Tomás would contact me as soon as he had got permission, while I looked through my collection.

Solitary Confinement

Marisa is still missing.

We asked everybody we could think of, but it was not until we ran into Pelli Grrr Ozo that things started to become clear.

He had been driving his moto down on Cuesta del Rio when he had a crash near prison cell no 10588.

These are solitary confinement cells
scattered around the village.

He heard Marisa shout out for help, went around the back of the cell and saw her through the barred window.

Apparently she had wanted to go to a T dance where her favourite band was playing.

Unfortunately she missed the
Golden Coach and failed to wear her fluorescent jacket while walking down there.

The police stopped and charged her for not wearing her chaleco.

She did not have €200 to pay the fine, so the police put her and her cat in prison. Why she had her cat with her nobody knows.

Now we have to figure out a way to get together the money to pay the fine and get her released.

I will call a meeting!

 

Tomás and Marisa

I ran into Tomás last night.

He was frantically searching for his girlfriend Marisa.

 

They were supposed to meet up at a T-dance outside of the village.

 

 Their favourite band was playing and they were going to have a nice time.








Marisa was going to get a lift in the Golden Coach which does a regular run to the venue, but she never turned up.





 We searched all night, high and low and..

asked all our night friends,

dragons, squirrels

bats and smurfs..

 but with no luck.

 

 

Totally exhausted we decided to meet up the following night and carry on searching.

 

The Lion Rock

Tomás turned up on time.

We drove for a long time, but eventually got there.

I have to admit that the rock does looks like one of our lions.

What do you think?

 

What worries me is the big stone that is supposed to be the lion’s head is resting precariously on a layer of gravel, which could give way any time.

On the way back we spotted the police checking other travellers.

We stopped and asked some monks what the problem was and were told that a new law had been passed prohibiting night travel without a high visibility vest.

We managed to sneak past in the shadows. Tomás dropped me of and hurried home before he would be missed.

Now where will I find a high visibility vest in my size?

 

Vera Cruz

Last night I met up with my lion friends again, after I discovered that Vera Cruz was blocked of for re-surfacing.

I wanted to know if they really were responsible for trashing the road surface.

But lo and behold, they had an alibi and insisted that even though they had a big grudge against the Mayor for retiring them early, vandalism was not the way to achieve a change of administration.

So, we got talking about the past instead. That is always interesting.

They told me they were modelled on a rock just outside of town called the Lion Rock.

I had never been that way before and did not know where it was exactly and how to get there and back while it was still dark.

Then I had an idea…

I would send a message to my friend Tomás down at the garden centre.

He has a horse and cart, and could pick me up at the corner of my street.

 

Public Toilets

The Mayor it seems has had another daft idea.

He has installed a number of public toilets in Plaza Arriba.

 

 
I tried to use one, but it was far too tall for me as you can see.

It makes me so angry when people are so irresponsible and leave the seat up when they have finished.

Its disgusting, especially as its at eye level.


If only I could catch one of them at it,
I know what I would like to do to them..


Anyway, sugar rush over and calmed down again.


It was a mild night with a light wind and there was a lot of lovely fluff flying about.

I had a lot of fun running around trying to catch them but soon realised I had to get back home before it got too early.

The last thing I remember thinking before settling down for the day was.. "Must tell The Chairman about the Mayor's latest daft idea."

The Stone Lions

It was a dark and rainy night.

But as we gnomes do not easily get wet in the rain,
I ventured out to see how my four lion friends were doing down on the river slope.

They have now been there for quite a few years, waiting patiently to get back to work as fountain supports.

It was a tricky walk, as the roads were like small rivers, but there were nobody about, so I managed to reach my friends safely.

They had just come back from a game of bowling on Avenida Cervantes I could see.

Their bowling balls were neatly stacked in front of them.

We talked about the mayor, who they felt was responsible for them being out of work.

They felt like doing mischief to annoy him.

One plan was to run up and down Vera Cruz to see if the cheap surface he has installed would stand up to four stone lions galloping up and down.

My feeling was that we needed help to get this organised, and get our ducks in a row.

So we decided
to meet up again soon
and bring
the chairman along.