In the suburbs of Bath, England, a little purple girl gnome, Violetta, was playing with her purple pet mushroom, Lily, in the alley. Violetta had golden blonde hair in pigtails and green eyes. She sported a white t-shirt underneath her purple overall jean skirt, white tights, and black mary jane shoes. Violetta laughed as she tickled Lily's underarms. It made her feel happy and giddy. Unfortunately that fun moment had to be ruined.
"VIOLETTA!" A cruel voice screamed.
"Oh no!" Violetta winced. "What could my foster mother possibly want now!?" She stopped tickling Lily and picked her up while running back to her garden on the right side of the alley. Violetta opened the dark ugly gate and stepped into the garden, belonging to her owner, Mrs. Pritzy.
Mrs. Pritzy was an old woman who liked to smoke a lot and wear black high-heels a lot. She also smelled like old hot-dogs! The garden was very unpleasant. It had green plants which were always dying. The flowers never grew and the weeds were always growing. Not to mention that the backyard had more dirt than grass. Violetta came face to face with Lord and Lady Grossman. Lady Grossman was a short and plump green gnome with red hair in a bun and in a green dress. Lord Grossman was a tall and skinny green gnome dressed up in green tights and shirts. He had white hair and a beard.
"Where have you been, you disgusting little brat?" Lady Grossman growled. Violetta whimpered. But she shook it off, trying not to be scared.
"I was only playing with Lily in the alley," she said, innocently. Lily just growled at Lady and Lord Grossman.
"Oh, pretending to be so innocent, aren't you?" Lady Grossman sneered.
"What? No I wasn't-" Violetta explained.
"LISTEN YOU DISGUSTING, STUPID, LITTLE BRAT! WE DIDN'T ADOPT YOU SO YOU CAN HAVE FUN!" Lady Grossman yelled.
"I EXPECT YOU TO WORK IN THE GARDEN ALL THE TIME! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO GO OUT AND HAVE FUN!"
"But-But-, Lord Grossman said I could play after finishing watering the plants and that's what I did!" Violetta cried, her eyes watering.
Lady Grossman swiftly turned to her husband.
"Is that so?" she demanded.
"Of course not! I don't know what she was talking about!" Lord Grossman lied. "She must have got confused when I talked to another kid gnome!"
"That's not true! You really did tell me that!" Violetta argued. Why was Lord Grossman lying? Does he hate her or something?
"WHY YOU STUPID LAZY LITTLE LIAR!" Lady Grossman screeched.
"BEAT HER!" Lord Grossman yelled.
"I CERTAINLY WILL!" Lady Grossman, wholeheartedly agreed. Before she could deliver a slap to Violetta, Lily jumped and pounced on Lady Grossman! Lord Grossman quickly caught his wife, while Violetta quickly grabbed Lily. Lady Grossman wasn't smashed but Lily did leave a crack mark on Lady Grossman's face. The green gnome woman glared daggers at Lily.
"But I suppose we would do that, later," Lady Grossman grumbled. She dragged the Violetta toward one of their many weed patches, not caring that the girl gnome might get a chip on her feet. (Thankfully she didn't). She tossed Violetta onto a weed patch. Other kid gnomes were also working on pulling weeds.
"PULL THESE THINGS UP, YOU DISGUSTING LITTLER WORM! YOU'RE LUCKY THAT WE TOOK YOU IN, CAUSE NOBODY ELSE WANTS YOU!" Lady Grossman screamed. Her husband nodded very eagerly. Then, they left to sunbathe in Mrs. Pritzy's small chairs for garden gnomes. Violetta began working on pulling weeds. Lily did her best to help her. Unfortunately, the task would have been a lot easy if other kid gnomes weren't bothering Violetta.
"Hey, look! It's the little purple gnome!" A big pink gnome girl shouted.
"Hey, Violetta, want some dirt?" A yellow boy gnome mocked, as he took a clump of dirt and threw it at Violetta. Some of the dirt got into Violetta's eyes. Other kid gnomes followed suit. Violetta was the only girl gnome that is purple. Other kid gnomes were either green, yellow, pink, or brown. Violetta struggled to wipe dirt out of her eyes. Lily barked and growled at the kid gnomes who finally stopped and went back to their work. An hour later, Violetta was finished with pulling weeds. She went to a faucet, located by the old dull and gray house. Mrs. Pritzy, uses the faucet for her garden hoses. Violetta doesn't understand why Mrs. Pritzy bothers to water plants for they never grow at all! Violetta turned the faucet on and showered. Soon, she was clean. Violetta wanted to be alone still. So, she and Lily sat down by the fence. Violetta hated living in Mrs. Pritzy's garden. She hated living with Lord and Lady Grossman and the other kid gnomes!
Now, life wasn't always like this for Violetta and Lily. They used to have a good life. Long ago, they lived with a mother and a father who were kind to them. And they were purple gnomes which is where Violetta got her purple hat from! Lily had mushroom parents who were purple as well. Then when Violetta was six years old, her parents mysteriously disappeared. Violetta didn't know what happened to her parents but she believed them to be dead. Lily's parents were smashed by a dog. The gnome police placed Violetta and Lily in an orphanage. Life at the orphanage was good. The lady in charge was kind to Violetta as well as the other gnome orphans. Violetta made some friends there but had to bid them goodbye whenever one of them got adopted. Violetta had hoped for someone to come and adopt her. She was thrilled when Mr. and Mrs. Grossman came to adopt her and Lily. It wasn't long until she found out why they adopted her: not because they want a daughter, but because they need another slave to work in their filthy garden. Other gnome kids were adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Grossman to be their slaves, as well. The gnome kids always bullied Violetta for being the only gnome wearing a purple hat. Lily, was Violetta's only friend and companion. Her daily life became the same basic routine: do work, get yelled at Lord or Lady Grossman for no reason, do work, get bullied by other kid gnomes, do work, and get yelled at Lord or Lady Grossman. If Violetta and the kid gnomes were lucky, they might get a meal. Even if it's just worms, or larvae, or katydids. Sometimes, Violetta would eat Mrs. Pritzy's old spinach leaves whenever Mr. and Mrs. Grossman weren't looking. Now Violetta's eight years old and was still suffering under the cruel abuse of her foster parents and the kid gnomes.
"Lily?" Violetta said, turning to her beloved mushroom. "What are we gonna do? I want to leave as much as you do, but we have no place to go! Oh, if only we have some place to run away to!" She sighed. Violetta looked up at the sky beyond her fence.
"Yeah," she smiled, sadly. "Someplace where we'll never be hurt. A place where we belong!"
(Violetta)
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high!
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby!
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue!
And the dreams that you dare
To dream really do come true!
Lily laid her mushroom head in Lily's lap as Violetta stroked Lily's head.
(Violetta)
Someday I'll wish upon the stars
And wake up where the clouds are
Far behind me!
Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
Away above the chimney tops,
That's where you'll find me!
Somewhere over the rainbow,
Blue birds fly!
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then oh why, can't I?
Violetta gazed her eyes upon the clouds as she watched some blue birds flying.
(Violetta)
If happy little blue birds fly
Beyond the rainbow,
Why oh, why can't I?
Lily hopped up and down as if to tell Violetta, 'let's leave now!'
"We can't Lily!" Violetta sighed. "Like I said before, we have place to go to!"
Lily started to shake.
"What's wrong, Lily?" Violetta asked. Just then, someone grabbed Violetta roughly by her arms.
Violetta feared that she might get a chip.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING BY THE FENCE, YOU LITTLE NOTHING!" Lady Grossman, screamed.
"I finished pulling weeds!" Violetta argued. "Let go of me, please!"
"I DON'T CARE IF YOU FINISHED THE JOB OR NOT, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY!" Lady Grossman shouted. "AND AS YOUR PUNISHMENT, I WILL LOCK YOU UP IN THE SHED!"
Violetta's eyes widened as she gasped. Oh, being in the shed is horrible. Nothing but darkness! Despite Violetta's begging, Lady Grossman threw Violetta and Lily into the shed, again not caring that they might get chipped. (Thankfully, they still didn't). Then, Lady Grossman locked the door. Violetta and Lily sighed sadly. It seemed as if they would be stuck in the shed until either Lord or Lady Grossman or Mrs. Pritzy would take them out. Violetta didn't know how long she and Lily would be in the shed this time. It could be any time from the whole night to a week! Violetta knew a kid gnome who was put into the shed for a whole month, after accidentally watering the weeds. The kid suffered from being alone! Violetta shuddered and hoped to survive in the shed.
Outside of the garden, the kid gnomes were slavishly working pulling endless weeds when they heard the wind. The wind seemed to be howling like crazy. Lord and Lady Grossman looked up and panicked. A tornado was coming! They quickly hurried themselves to the back porch, not caring that the other kid gnomes are their responsibility. The kid gnomes screamed when they saw a twister coming! They dropped everything and scurried to the back porch, hoping that Mrs. Pritzy would come for them.
Inside the shed, Violetta heard the wind blowing like crazy.
"What's going on out there, Lily?" Violetta wondered. Lily shrugged. She didn't know, either. Violetta got up and looked out from the window.
"It's a twister!" She gasped. The purple girl gnome and the purple mushroom ran to the door but it was locked.
"HELP! LET US OUT! LET US OUT! HELP! LET US OUT!" Violetta screamed as she banged on the door.
Mrs. Pritzy, who was reclining on the couch, hurried outside. She quickly grabbed Mr. and Mrs. Grossman and their kid gnomes who are frozen, and took them inside. She had no time to look for Violetta and Lily because the storm was getting closer. Besides, she didn't see Violetta and Lily anywhere. Nor did she hear Violetta.
"HELP! HELP!" Violetta cried. "Why won't anybody come for us?" Then, through the window, Violetta saw the twister coming just fifteen inches away from the shed!
"Lily, hold on!" Violetta yelled, as she and Lily held onto big bags of garden dirt. The tornado came and swept them up, taking them far away.
Violetta didn't know where the tornado was taking her to, but no matter where she would land, Violetta hoped that she and Lily could land in one piece!