~squammy~ is questing! Episode 1/25

The day was drawing to an end as the gnomes Black­spindle, Writhe­­riddle and Good­heart, who was wear­ing his special Christ­mas tree hat, finish­ed their work. ~squammy~ had joined them for the day.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 2/25

It was a long walk home and ~squammy~ was eager for his supper. "Come on, chaps," he urged. "There's a plate of sausage rolls and baked beans with my name written on it at the café!"

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 3/25

But he was destined to remain hungry a little longer that evening! Whilst trek­king through the snowy park, ~squammy~ and the gnomes heard a plaint­ive wail­ing! It was the Diaphan­ous Fairy, perched on a park bench, weep­ing. They all gather­ed round the lachry­mose sprite, keen to help. They would have patted her on the shoulder but fortun­ately re­frained as it was un­likely the fragile creature would have surviv­ed any such gesture!
"What's up, petal?" asked Black­spindle gruffly.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 4/25

The Diaphanous Fairy revived a little. "My grand­mother gave me a beauti­ful new house," she said. "All the family are flitting over for a house­warming ceremony at the week­end, but I've nothing to decorate the house with and they'll be so disappoint­ed. I don't know where to look for decorations!"
They all accompanied the Fairy back to her pink-roofed home. Privately ~squammy~ thought the house was lovely as it was, but kept his thoughts to himself.
They all pledged their support. Diaphana revived wonder­fully!

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 5/25

Early the next morning, the Christ­mas gnome awaited his colleagues at their usual meeting place. ~squammy~ joined him, but after ten minutes there was no sign of the others. Grumb­ling, Good­­heart the gnome went in search of them, ~squammy~ in his wake.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 6/25

They found the errant gnomes absorb­ed in lay­ing a false trail of animal tracks and marvell­ing at their own ingen­uity, say it them­selves who shouldn't.
"C'mon," urged the Christmas gnome. "We've decor­ations to find!"

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 7/25

With Diaphana's Christmas orna­ments top of their agenda, the gnomes and ~squammy~ set off on their hunt, but with no clear idea how to go about this. They en­counter­ed a swan. "What's the best thing you could find?" they asked it. "Frogs and small fish," hissed the swan.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 8/25

Their next meeting was with a grey squirrel. "What would you most like to find?" they asked it. "Acorns!" declar­ed the squirrel and scampered off.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 9/25

An owl was the next pet they came across. "What would you most like to see decor­ating your home, Mr Owl?" queried ~squammy~.
"Worms!" said the owl.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 10/25

Further along they encounter­ed a horse, nosing around amongst the snow­drifts for clumps of grass. "What would you most like to see as a Christ­mas decor­ation, Ned?" asked the gnomes.
"Hay!" replied the horse succinctly.
"I've never met such a mono­­syllabic bunch of pets in all my born days," complain­ed Good­heart as they trudged away.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 11/25

The gnomes went to town that snowy evening but were bewild­ered by all the bustle and loud merri­ment. They were invited to pur­chase roast­ing chest­nuts and ginger­bread in various shapes and sizes but saw nothing that seemed suit­able for the decor­ation of a small lady's dwelling place.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 12/25

The next morning, they proud­ly spread out all the items they had collect­­ed which in their opinion would make admir­­able Christ­­mas decor­a­tions for Diaph­­ana's new house! Thanks to the advice of the various creat­­ures they had discuss­­ed it with, there were choco­­late frogs, a charred fish, a half-eaten apple, an old teapot, a can of peas, some candy corn—­they hadn't been able to find any real corn—­a ginger­­bread fish, acorns, a can of worms, a discard­­ed door, a bale of hay, an old boot and a selection of nuts.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 13/25

Diaphana, summoned to receive these objets d'art, survey­ved them closely, now and then touch­ing one item or another in a wonder­ing fashion, then putting it quick­ly back down. "You have excell­ed your­selves, my friends," she murmur­ed. The gnomes beamed and patted each other on the back.
"However," continued the Fairy, "I wonder if we could perhaps try again, this time with a little help?"

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 14/25

Before the gnomes had time to react, Diaphana waved her wand and the trio of gnomes and ~squammy~ were swept away with the enchant­­ment of the spell.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 15/25

They all tumbled from a portal, fortunate­­ly into a soft bank of snow.
Bewildered, they picked them­selves up and looked at each other.
"What are we doing here?" asked Writhe­­riddle.
There was a pause. "We are here to look for suit­­able decora­tions for the Fairy's new house," replied Black­­spindle.
"Haven't we done that already?" queried Good­heart. "No ... perhaps we haven't."
"We haven't done a thing! We must hurry!" urged ~squammy~.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 16/25

The gnomes started doing what they were best at: tunnelling and mining for treasure.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 17/25

In the diamond mine, they soon un­­­covered and hewed out several magnifi­­­cent cry­stals, which blazed with light even in the dim back­­­ground of the mine.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 18/25

Back on the surface, they split up. Black­spindle and Writhe­iddle went hunt­ing over­­ground, where they bumped into their colleague, Green­gage They were having fun racing their scooters along the snowy path when they came across Santa, with his rein­­deer running loose and all the care­fully select­ed and finely wrapped gifts scatter­ed on the snowy ground! Green­gage leapt up to restrain the largest rein­deer while Black­spindle and Writhe­­riddle park­ed their scooters and coax­ed the smaller ones back.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 19/25

Soon the reindeer were back in their traces and ready and willing to continue their journey, partly en­ticed by a large juicy carrot held out to them by Writhe­­riddle.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 20/25

The gnomes had told Santa they were looking for the most beauti­ful decor­ations for the Fairy Diaphana. "Go to my work­­shop!" boomed Santa. "Tell them I sent you!"
The grateful gnomes assembled at Santa's work­­shop and found many glorious decor­ations fit for a magical Fairy house.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 21/25

Diaphana, able to fore­tell the future, as all fairies can to some extent, was having a wonder­­ful day summon­­ing the most fabulous presents, which, with a flick of her wand, she wrapped in gorgeous paper and art­­fully tied bows, and with another spell, made the gifts stack them­­selves on top of each other beside a simple but lovely Christ­­mas tree.

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 22/25

The gnomes turned up at the Fairy’s house with stacks of decor­ations and orna­­ments. The Fairy was ecstatic with the decor­ations set out for her approval!

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 23/25

Before they set to work drap­ing the lights and hang­ing the orna­ments around the Fairy house and near­by trees, Diaphana waved her wand another time, and Good­heart the Christ­­mas gnome found his Christ­­mas tree hat lit up with spark­­ling lights!

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 24/25

Great merriment accompan­ied the decor­ation of the house and trees. The crystals were a partic­­ular success, especially the levita­t­­ing jewels, which were great fun for the small­­er pets present to ride on!

~squammy~ is questing! Episode 25/25

"It's been the best day ever!" declared ~squammy~, who was look­ing for­ward to being re­united with his family for the fest­ive season. Clutch­ing the various colour­fully wrapped gifts be­stowed on him, he bade fare­well to Black­­spindle, Writhe­­riddle and Good­­heart, who cere­moniously doffed his multi­­coloured, flash­ing hat and waved till ~squammy~ was out of sight.
~squammy~ has found all the baubles he can carry! Please select another pet as visitor, so it can find some more!