He never dreamed his life would have any significance nor did he want it to.  Like so many he didn't get to choose his fate.  His name was Joe.

Joe woke up one Tuesday afternoon with the usual hang over.  He sat at the edge of a soft mushroom he called bed.  Joe lit up a cigarette as he stretched and dangled his feet over the edge of his bed.  He wondered where that cute lady troll he brought back to his mushroom last night had ran off too.  Female trolls were always fun at night but hated to be seen in the light of day it seemed.  Joe just smiled at that thought.  Thank the tree gods for small favors. As his eyes adjusted to the midday light he could not believe what he saw.  A gnome lay just below his dangling feet with a knife in his back.

Joe jumped down and felt for a pulse.  The gnome was barely alive.  The injured gnome rolled over on to his side and looked at Joe.  "You must complete my quest or the gnome's will be at war with the trolls by the end of the week.  You must find the cube of knowledge and take it to the gnome council.  The cube of knowledge will show the truth."  With that the gnome died.

Joe sat and thought hard.  He didn't want this.  He loved trolls.  Joe thought them to misunderstood.  Especially the female trolls.  He also knew a war between the two forest creatures would have many casualties for both gnome and troll.

Joe had heard stories of the cube of knowledge as a child.  It was said it was in the dark forest inside of the biggest tree stump. 

He had heard field mice that frequented the same watering hole as him talk about a huge stump about one days walk into the forest from his mushroom bed.  Could this forest be the dark forest of legend.  He decided take the walk and see.  He packed up his cart and waved a goodbye to his mushroom.  As he walked away he got the strange feeling he would not be coming back.

Going down the path by the river he saw another gnome named Adam.  Adam was often in and out of the woods so he asked Adam for directions.  The only huge stump Adam could think of was off to the left fork of the river.  Adam also told him he had felt a dark presence in the woods of late.  That seemed nuts to a gnome like Joe.  Dark presence, ha, it was sunny with ducks swimming in the water.  He only had a days walk ahead of him too.  All the same he was on an quest from a gnome that had a knife in his back.  Joe was glad that just under the blanket that covered his cart was his families battle axe.  Joe had practiced with it his whole life.  Taught by both his Grandfather and then his Father on how to use it in battle.  Joe bid Adam a farewell a set out on his way. 

As the trip went on Joe began to think he was not alone.  At times he could feel eyes watching him but when he looked about he never saw anyone.  As the sun sunk below the tree line he arrived at a huge tree trunk.  Joe parked his cart next to the stumps entrance when he heard a twig crack right behind him.  Joe turned around to see four gnomes with masks on.  On each of their masks was the sign of the high gnome council.  Each one pulled a knife like the one in the back of gnome he had watched die earlier in the afternoon from behind its back..

The four masked gnomes began to speak in some dead tongue unknown to Joe.  "Who are you!"  Shouted Joe.  He got no answer.  The four masked gnomes surround Joe and his cart.  He was pinned between the the tree trunk and four knife holding gnomes that seemed to want to do him harm.  Joe just let a evil little smile cross his face as one hand slid under the blanket on his cart.  "You know?" asked Joe.  "Your Momma should of taught the four of you better.  Bringing knives to a axe fight."  Joe pulled out his axe and placed it over his shoulder.  The four masked gnomes stopped their chanting and looked back and forth at each other.  The four of them jumped at Joe in one movement as if of the same mind.  

In one twisting strong swipe Joe's axe sliced through the mid section of all for masked gnomes.  They fell in halves at his feet.  Joe dropped his axe to the ground and just looked at the carnage.  He had never heard of gnomes killing gnomes.  As far as he knew it had never happened.  In one day the four masked gnomes had killed another gnome and know he had killed the four of them.

Joe picked up his axe and entered into the dark hole that served as the entrance to the stump.  What little light that was left shined through the entrance onto a carving just inside.  It warned "If you seek the cube of knowledge you will find it just around the bend but beware you will have to face the truth to hold it."

Joe walked around the corner he was not worried about the truth,  He was a simple troll with simple goals like wine, women and song it would be the high council that needed to fear the truth.

The cube glowed in the dark lighting up the whole room.  Joe picked it up off its wooden platform.

Joe was mesmerized by it.  He put down his axe and sat down staring into it.  His thoughts turned to the day he was born and his mother and father outside of their home.  He was in one of his mothers arms crying.

His father looked at him with such disdain.  "No son of mine!"  Was the words that came out of his mouth.  "He is too weak and small."  Suddenly Joe was back in the dark stump holding the cube of knowledge.  A tear ran down his face.  He had always felt he could not live up to his dads expectations.  Now he knew it.

Joe broke down crying.  Ever since he left his families home he had been running from this.  Now here in this dark stump he felt like a failure.  He stood up grabbing his axe in one hand and the cube in the other.  He lined his axe up with his head and let the axes head drop back away from him.  The pain of his fathers shame in him was unbearable.

Then all the stories of the cube and how those who went out after it never returned popped into his head.  This was why they never came back.  They could not face the truth.

Joe dropped his axe to his side and walked out of the stump cube in hand.  He had a mission to complete.

His Father would be proud.

Joe walked for two days until he reached Hammer the capital of gnomes.  As he approached the out skirts he saw a a gnome sitting on a barrel of beer with a frosty mug filled to the top. 

"Come here boy I will trade you a keg of beer for that shinny cube you carry." said the gnome. Joe shook his head and just walked by. "You little wood eater you will pay for not taking the easy way!" Shouted the gnome hopping off of the keg of beer. Now there were several gnomes and they all held battle hammers.

Joe threw the cube over their heads as they looked up at it in amazement over its brightness Joe drove the battle axe into them one by one.  He had slayed the last gnome as the cube fell from the sky.  Joe caught it with his free hand.  He was amazed at how easy it was becoming to kill other gnomes.

The cube gave Joe a vision he saw his face covered in dirt and damaged.  It was a vision of a younger Joe who had been picked on by other gnomes.

More truth from the cube.  We still was that Joe.  Not a killer.

Joe walked into the great council chamber as if he owned the place but no one seemed to notice.  All the gnome leaders had their right arm raised and were yelling in unison "Hail the madam high ruler Donna!"

On top of the council chamber stood the hottest female gnome Joe had ever seen.  He slid into the shadows and listened to a long speech from her.  She ranted on and on about how she was so smart and would take gnomes from being the woodland creatures they were to rulers of the world.  It all started with the genocide of the trolls.  Joe saw that we was hopelessly out numbered here and would have to wait for a better time to confront Donna. 

He went back out of the council chamber and began to ask around about the daily habits of the high ruler.  He met a old gnome with a lantern that served as her escort finder.

It seemed Donna had a appetite for sex and would meet random gnomes in a secluded garden for pleasures of the flesh.

He convinced the old gnome to take him to the high ruler for a romp in the garden after showing the old gnome his fortitude.  

The old gnome lead him down a long path to the secluded garden.  On the way he asked what Joe had under the cloth.  Joe just said a shinny cube he planed to give as a gift that would make the high ruler very happy.  The old gnome was sure it was no weapon and what ever was under the cloth was cubed shaped so he decided to allow it.  If the high ruler liked anything more than men with fortitude it was shinny things.

After the old gnome left the garden Joe stood there waiting for about fifteen minutes when Donna come out from behind some bush's.

Joe was taken back by her great looks.  She asked Joe what was under the cloth.  With a wicked smile she demanded him to give it to her as a gift and then undress.  Joe handed her the covered cube.  Donna quickly pulled the cloth off and stared into the shinny cube.  Tears began to flow from her eyes.  She was shaking uncontrollably as a shadow jumped out of her body.  The shadow seemed to glare at Joe with deep red eyes and then just fade away.  As Joe looked back at Donna she had pulled a thin dagger from her robe.  "No!" shouted Joe.  It was to late.  Donna thrust the knife into her temple.  She fell to the ground.  Donna the high ruler was dead.

Lucky for Joe several guards were hid near by and had came running when they heard her crying.  They had seen the whole thing.  Joe quickly covered the cube and told the guards to fetch the three leading families of the gnomes.

The Woodens.

The Flowerpowers.

 And the Rockwells.

 When the families came Joe explained the whole story to them and named them rulers of the gnome race.  Joe had became the supreme ruler by law when he was the closest gnome to Donna when she died.  He gave up the power of leadership as easily as he had gained it.  The three gnome families threw a huge party for Joe's self sacrifice and wisdom.  They pronounced the day a holiday.  Joe's Day.

 During the celebration Joe sneaked away with the cube.  It was to much power for any gnome to keep.  He went to the deepest well in Hammer.  With no reservation at all he dropped the cube into the well.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow move.  

Then he felt a blow to the back of his head.  Joe's spirit left this Earth for heavenly clouds right there by the deepest well in Hammer.  He laid face down in a puddle on the cement path to the well covered in willow stems when the other gnomes found him the next morning.

For years to come on every Joe's Day the leaders of the three families come together and look to the heavens in hopes of receiving a message from Joe about who killed him.  Of course it never happens and his death was long ago.  

That my Thoughts.com friends is the story of a gnome named Joe.