Underneath the rutabagas,
Carol dug and dug.
She didn’t find a blessed thing.
She gave a little shrug.
She thought she’d seen a glimmer.
She thought she’d seen a gleam.
But the earth gave forth no secrets.
Dirt was dirt – or so it seemed.
Next morning, during breakfast dishes,
Carol glanced outside.
What she spotted through the window
made her hazel eyes grow wide.
Out beyond the berry-briars
where the rutabagas grew
shone a light bright as epiphany!
Her mission was renewed.
She ran outside, her trowel in hand –
she’d find it now, she vowed.
But when she reached the rutabaga patch,
a voice boomed loud:
“Your arrogance will fail you, dear.
The prize shall not be yours.
So take your tiny shovel,
turn around, and go indoors.”
Carol paused, astonished
at this strange, malicious cry.
Then she choked up on her trowel,
a glint of purpose in her eye.
The dirt compressed beneath her boots;
the briars made no scratch
as she stomped into the center
of her rutabaga patch.
As Carol crouched down low
and thrust her trowel in the ground,
she jumped a bit in startlement
at one indignant sound:
“A-humph!” she heard, then
“So, you think to excavate my home?”
She turned to meet the glare
of an ill-tempered garden gnome.
“The diamond that I’ve buried here
is not for you to take!”
He said, before he rushed her,
brandishing his little rake.
She started, then she stood up,
then she said to him, “OK.
Sir, I wouldn’t want to steal it.
It’s your diamond, anyway.”
The gnome stood still and blinked at her,
and tears fell from his eyes.
He said, “You’re the only human
who declined to take my prize.”
“And therefore, if you want it,
this fine gem belongs to you.”
But Carol said, “No, thank you.
Have some rutabagas, too.”
The garden gnome bowed deep,
picked up his diamond, left that place,
and he carried with him
newfound fondness for the human race.