There was once a time when gnomes crawled all over the Earth. They were peaceful, furry creatures, and were in perfect harmony with nature. All of the animal kingdom got along with the gnomes, including the humans. They loved to roam the woods, play tricks on their friends, cook and eat their hearts content.

Then in one age, the giants they jokingly called humans started to make their own type of rock, called concrete. And out of that concrete, they started to make larger-than-their-eyes-could-see cottages. They even covered the whole earth in this new rock, including the fields the gnomes played in. Sooner or later the gnomes were forced to hide away in trees.

In the age of the trees, the gnomes started to bake cookies, and crispy treats made of rice, as they loved to eat. But sooner of later, the humans started to tear down the trees in order to make more room for concrete. However, one tree of gnomes negotiated with a human to bake for him for the rest of time, as long as he didn’t tear down their tree. They traded something temporary for something permanent. Then, one day, the human betrayed the gnomes and stole their recipes for their delicious baked goods. The evil human tore down the tree and only one gnome got away alive. His name was Fred. This is his story.

Fred figured that since he was the last gnome that he knew of, he had no other choice but to go look around the planet for another colony of gnomes, in hope of restoring his race.

He started in China.

He started in Tienamen Square, working his way through the Forbidden City. Being that his legs are only an inch tall, he took frequent rests. Sometimes he even asked friendly humans to take his picture.

Fred made his way to the Olympic Park in Beijing, where there was once a gnome kingdom. There was now a steel bird nest larger than his home forest.

Being distraught, he was feeling very lazy and started to cry. A friendly human took pity on him and gave him a ride in his backpack.

He got dropped off in a nice forest. The forest was green, a color he hadn’t seen in months of travel. He was feeling comfortable and lazy in this new forest, but knew he needed to keep searching for another gnome colony. He started to climb a great mountain, in hope that he could see from the top. From the top he might be able to spot a special gnome tree. To his surprise and dismay, the humans had brought rocks to the top of the mountain, and they stretched around the top as far his eyes could see.

Fortunately for Fred, he used this large rock wall to start traveling across the top of these mountains. He would have a better view if he stayed on top of this wall, he told himself.

..Come back for more of Fred’s story..

..And if you want a real explanation on why we’re taking pictures of Fred, ask Matt Elsberry or Rocio Quinones.