This story is by Laura Lewis and was part of our 2025 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.
Bunny hummed as she picked weeds in her garden. She lifted her face to the bright midmorning sun and smiled. Birds chirped as the green grass waved on her land. Peace was just the way she had always imagined it. The Gnomelands were a bright and merry place filled with joy and friendly neighbors. It was time to head out for the day. The market would be starting soon, and she needed to get her errands done.
She stood up and stretched to her full three feet of height with a slight grunt and grimace. Her back muscles were tense from kneeling on the ground. She pushed open the door to her tiny clapboard home. A blue wash jar sat on the washbasin stand with a shiny mirror above it. She washed her hands free of the rich brown soil and then looked at her reflection. Bunny was a middle-aged gnome with red pigtails that were beginning to be laced with streaks of white. There was also a spot of dirt on her forehead. She swiped her rag over the dirt and made a face at her reflection. Bunny grabbed her backpack off the bed and securely latched the front door.
It was cool in the woods. The town market was about a league from her home. Bunny made a mental note of the things she needed to purchase to make it to the next market day and the amount of money left over from her monthly pension. Flour, sugar, eggs, dried meat, apples…Her internal list trailed off. She had enough veggies in her own garden to make it two weeks. The potatoes would need to be stored for the winter season in a few months. Check and clean your gear. Popped suddenly onto her mental list and she shook her head. Chores at home could wait until she was done at the market.
Bunny heard the hustle and bustle that signaled she was close. She smelled the blacksmith and tanner’s shops on the edge of town. As she entered town, it looked like any typical market day. There were mothers with small children trailing them and holding onto their skirts. The usual vendors handed their wares to customers at wooden market stalls. The sights and sounds clashed together with all the vigor of two squadrons practicing on the field at the academy. Bunny shook off the thought and smiled at Fawn the baker’s wife as she waved and called a cheery hello. She made her way to the market stall.
“Hello Fawn,” she smiled at the tawny haired woman in front of her. “How is the market today?”
“Hello Bunny!” exclaimed Fawn cheerily. “It’s good to see you today! It’s been a typical market day so far. Just another Tuesday. There are a couple of strangers who came into the tavern this morning according to Jimra. Other than that, it’s been a pretty quiet morning.”
Bunny was able to keep her face calm and friendly. “How interesting! We don’t get many strangers through Harvestdale even on market days. I’ll take my usual order, please. Two loaves of rosemary sourdough and a half sack of the oat flour and sugar. Thank you, Fawn.”
Fawn readied the goods in a sack and handed them over the top of the weathered stall. “Here ya go, Bunny! That’ll be two tins and a pence. See you in two weeks.” Fawn stored the money in her pouch.
“Yes, I’ll see you next market day.” Bunny replied absently. She was trying to ignore the feeling of worry that had started tickling the back of her mind.
One more stall and then I’ll circle by the tavern on my way to head back to the house. It’ll be worth the detour to put this ridiculous worry out of my mind. Has it truly been a decade since I was last at the Academy? There was no reason for the intrusive thoughts. It was market day, and the sun was shining. The kingdom was at peace.
“Lost in yer thoughts, lass?” Farmer Bock laughed a little as he gently snapped Bunny out of her momentary worry.
Bunny gave him a lopsided grin and pushed her worry away, “Yeah Bock. Just wondering how far I can push my coins you know! I’ll take my usual order.”
Bock took the cloth sack she handed him and gently filled it with the apples, dried jerky and fourteen eggs. “Here you go my friend,” Bock said, “Were you going to pop into the tavern on the way out?” He asked her with a sideways glance. He must have overheard her conversation with Fawn.
Bunny looked at him with concern, but maintained her cheerful tone as she replied, “Yes, a midday ale and a hand pie sound delicious today. I think I’ll have to say hi to Ban and Bonnie before heading back.”
Bock smiled back tensely, “Enjoy your lunch and that’ll be a tin and a pence. Make sure you check out those fancy mounts tied outside the tavern. We don’t see those in Harvestdale very often.”
Bunny gave him a slight smile in return, stowed her dry goods and turned right toward the tavern on the west side of town instead of to the path home. It was a short walk and as she rounded the corner of the market, she saw the two roan horses with white armor and red emblazoned shields.
“I’m not so thirsty after all,” Bunny turned around. “I’m really in the mood to keep pruning the garden.” But her eyes were cold as steel.
Her thoughts wandered as she followed the dirt path back to her home. The memories were so clear. The neigh of horses. Her friend Carmen’s bright smile and light filled magic. The clash of steel on steel. The whizz of an arrow through the air. A whisper of daggers being unsheathed in the night and the amount of pressure it takes to complete an assignment. The branches to her right jostled as a bird landed, and she snapped out of the reverie.
Bunny had set a quicker pace on the way home than she had on her quiet jaunt that morning. Other images were flooding into her mind now, but these were fears and not memories. The violent silencing of cheery townsfolk and what happens when peace ends. Her heart beat faster as she kept a wary eye on the forest around the path. A man in black suddenly stepped onto the path in front of her. Bunny went off of the path and melted into the shadow of the trees and brush that lined either side.
“Where are you hiding, my little shadow?” He hissed the words in her most recent direction as he moved deliberately into the space she had vacated.
She had to think quickly. Would there be more enemies? Had they already been to her home? Bunny held back the anger from her refuge being penetrated. She decided to flank him and see if she could gain an advantage by taking him out. She moved toward her enemy’s back with the hilt of her boot knife in her fist. A swift strike to the temple would knock him out and gain her the time she needed. Wait. Wait. Patience…NOW!
She struck. Her blow was true to its mark as the man in black passed her location looking for her. He fell to the ground. No time to search the unconscious man and no more time for memories. Getting home as quickly as possible was her only shot. He was arrogant and appeared to have left his allies behind. She met no others along the forest path.
Her house looked clear. There were not any tracks that marked the arrival of an unexpected guest. She reached the door and let out a breath of relief. The latch was still secure and her mark on the doorstep was unmarred by footsteps. Bunny walked over to the wash basin and knelt to the ground. With a sigh summoned from the darkest and most tired depths of her soul, she pulled back the round rug on the wooden floor. A black ring was fitted into a two-board space flush with the floor. Bunny pulled the ring up and the oiled hinges made no creak. In the bottom of the hiding space, was a basket holding chain mail, a headband, boots and two shiny daggers. A tear leaked out of the corner of her right eye as she looked around her home and through the window at the garden. The old gnome assassin pulled on her gear, saluted the air and whispered, “For the kingdom of Verandia, for PEACE!”
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