“Dad!  Dad!”

Cate and Leo came running up to the back of the house, where I was doing chores.

“Whoa, calm down, what’s the rush?  Being chased by a hornet again?” I asked.

“Dwarves, Dad,” Leo said.  At eleven, he was Cate’s elder by two years and often the instigator in their little escapades.

“Dwarves?” I asked.

“Mmm-Hmm, Daddy,” Cate said.  “We saw them.  Four of ‘em.”

“Dwarves, like ‘Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho’ Snow White style, or dwarves like The Hobbit?”

“Snow White,” Cate yelled simultaneously with Leo yelling, “The Hobbit!”

“So, tell me a little about these dwarves that are part of cartoons and fantasy books.”

They looked at each other for a moment.  Cate nodded to Leo.  I hid my laugh.  They usually aren’t quite as transparent with their stories.

“We were hiding in the pines to see if there really was a pack of coyotes that drink by the stream when we heard voices.  Four little guys, about this tall came out of the woods on the other side.”  He used his hands to indicate just below his shoulders, which put them up to my belly button.  “They had long beards.  Cate screamed.”  He threw a dark look at his sister.  “They turned and ran back into the woods.  We tried to follow and think they went into a tunnel.  Come, we’ll show you.”

“Sure.  Hold on.  I have to put this stuff away.”  I was curious about what they had up their sleeves.

Continue reading here: The Tunnel – #writephoto