Sweek sat at her table staring at a pile of letters. “I have my answers”, she sighed, “And it is as I thought. They all want me to visit and they all have a request”. Sweek’s brother, Burp, wanted her to bring apple sauce. His house was near Trembling Glade, where the trees are constantly rustling even when there is no breeze. Amber and Ember, the twin goblins who lived under Whispering Ridge, asked her to bring them a bag of flour. Granny Krunch needed apples. Her home was close to Hidden Dell. “I wonder why Farmer Frumble needs graveyard moss?” wondered Sweek, “Oh! I know. He’s going to make gourmet goblin eggs for the party. I will go find it first because he told me that it takes a while for the eggs to marinate and since he lives near Briarburg, I can stop at the general store and visit with Lilly Squirt.
Sweek went to her shelves and looked over her collection of baskets. She selected a large one and then remembered that Farmer Frumble also wanted some lichen and picked a smaller basket for that. He specifically asked for the kind that festoons the trees and looks like an old man’s beard. Sweek grabbed her baskets and her walking stick and walked out into a sunny autumn morning. It was a good day for walking in the woods and the bright blue sky made Sweek feel brave. She wasn’t afraid of the old graveyard, it was a place she had visited many times, but it was the dense growth of alder and maple that surrounded the place that made the tiny pause at her garden gate. Every time she went near that area of the forest she was bothered by curious sounds coming from the trees. Would she just hear sounds this time or would whatever was making the sounds show itself?
For most of the walk Sweek enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of the fall season. Autumn colors were already showing up on the trees. Birds still chirped in the trees and flitted among the path looking for seeds. Here and there asters bloomed and Sweek stopped to watch a group of autumn colored butterflies fluttering on the tiny flowers. The tiny goblin met no one on the path, but the bright sunshine and warm air made up for the lack of company until she heard a crackle. Sweek jumped and let out a yell. She looked around and saw she was in the thick maple and alder woods. She couldn’t see far into the trees. “Is anyone there?” she asked in a quavering voice. There was only silence. Sweek started to walk quickly. She was almost at a run when she suddenly came upon the graveyard gate. She opened the gate and cringed as it gave a protesting screech. As she closed it the trees bordering the gate began to shake as if a squirrel was climbing quickly through the branches, but there was no squirrel chatter. Sweek backed away from the gate and turned to look for the moss.
Long ago the graveyard had been abandoned and it was not full of former goblins but the people who had once tried to start a town in the forest. They gave up and moved away leaving nothing but the graveyard behind. The goblins began calling it the gloomy graveyard because no matter how sunny the weather, it always had the look of a grey winter day. This was what Sweek found on this day. There was blue sky above, but the old oaks with their twisted branches and the surrounding woods gave the impression of gloom. “I’ll do this as fast as I can”, said Sweek, “But where is that moss?” Despite the gloom, most of the tombstones had very little moss and most of that was dry. There was one place in the graveyard where the moss grew thick but it was also the creepiest place in the graveyard. Sweek sighed and resolved herself to going to that spot. The scariest thing about it was the bazaar statue on top of the grave. If it was an angel, it was the weirdest looking one Sweek had ever heard of and she didn’t like to be under its gaze. With a quaking heart the tiny goblin approached the large stone grave and was relieved to find an abundance of lush graveyard moss.
After filling up her basket, Sweek turned to leave the graveyard and noticed a long beard of lichen hanging from a maple branch. “That will be enough to fill my basket and my task will be done”, said the goblin. She quickly made a grab for the beard and gave a hard yank. She yanked and pulled but the lichen wouldn’t come down. “Let me go!” said a voice and Sweek was so surprised she almost let go, instead she tightened her grip. “Who are you?” she demanded. “I’m a wood troll” said the voice and suddenly a face appeared attached to the lichen beard. “Are you the one who has been scaring me every time I visit the graveyard?” asked Sweek. “I didn’t mean to frighten you or the other goblins”, said the troll, “I’m very shy and I was afraid to talk to you”. “Well”, said Sweek as she let go of the lichen, “Now that we’ve met just say ‘Hello Sweek’ when you see me coming instead of crackling and crashing in the trees”. “Yes Ma’am”, promised the troll and Sweek left the gloomy graveyard. She marched back to her cozy home only stopping to pick the real lichen growing along the path.
thedeploiscode 