The Brownie at the Bottom of the Garden – Read and Print

By Rachel Dunstan Muller, copyright 2021

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On the first day of spring break, Nathaniel looked out his grandfather’s window, and saw something small and brown at the bottom of the garden. It might have been a squirrel – but Nathaniel didn’t think so. It might have been a bird – but Nathaniel didn’t think it was that either. Nathaniel was almost certain that he had seen a tiny little man, with a little brown cap on his head, peeking out from behind an oak tree.

“Granddad,” Nathaniel said at breakfast that morning, “I saw a little man in your back garden.”

“Did you, now?” said his grandfather.

“I think so,” said Nathaniel. “Unless my eyes were playing tricks on me.”

“Oh, your eyes weren’t playing tricks,” said his Granddad. “That was Mr. Twigwiggle. He lives in a snug little home under the oak tree.”

“You have an elf living in your garden?” said Nathaniel.

“Well, he’s really more a brownie,” his grandfather said.

Nathaniel jumped up from the table. “But that’s amazing!”

“And where are you going in such a hurry?” said his grandfather.

“To meet Mr. Twigwiggle!” said Nathaniel.

His granddad – laughed. “Now hold on. You can’t just go barging in on a brownie; they aren’t very keen on strangers. You need to let him get used to you slowly. Otherwise he’s likely to go away, and never come back. And I rather like having a brownie at the bottom of my garden.”

“But, how do I let him get used to me?” Nathaniel said.

“Well,” said his grandfather. “You’ll need to spend some time doing quiet things at the top of the garden. Don’t be rough, don’t be loud. And whatever you do, don’t stare or go looking for him. Pretend that you’re interested in something else.”

So that is exactly what Nathaniel did. As soon as breakfast was over, he went outside and sat on the grass at the top of the garden. He sat very quietly, at first, watching clouds drift across the sky, imagining that they were castles, and ships, and floating islands. When he got tired of cloud-watching, he gathered some leaves, and twigs, and stones, and built a little village with tiny houses and roads.

But all the while that Nathaniel was playing? He was keeping watch out of the corner of his eye. And he was almost certain that he saw a wrinkled little face with a brown cap peeking out from behind one of his granddad’s rose bushes.

Every morning while Nathaniel was visiting his grandfather over spring break, he did the same thing:  he played quietly on the grass at the top of the garden, and kept one eye out for Mr. Twigwiggle.

But one morning when Nathaniel came outside, he found something waiting for him on the grass. It was a tiny basket, woven from strips of tree bark – so small that if fit in the palm of Nathaniel’s hand. And inside the basket were three acorns.

“It’s a gift,” Nathaniel’s grandfather said, when Nathaniel showed him the basket. “Mr. Twigwiggle has decided he likes you.”

“Can I go and meet him now?” said Nathaniel. He was very excited.

“I’m afraid not,” said his granddad. “Brownies are very shy. But you could leave him a gift in return, if you’d like.”

“What should I give him?” said Nathaniel.

“Bake him some bread,” said his granddad. “Brownies are very fond of fresh bread.”

So that is exactly what Nathaniel did. With his grandfather’s help, Nathaniel made four loaves of bread – two normal-sized loaves to share with his granddad, and two tiny loaves for Mr. Twigwiggle.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever watched someone make bread, or helped make bread yourself, but it takes some time. First you have to mix the flour and the water and the yeast – and all the other ingredients. Then you have to knead the dough – squeeze it and pound it with your fists.  Then you cover the dough and let it sit somewhere nice and warm until it rises – until it swells up and becomes twice as big as when you started. After that, you squish and squeeze it again, and then you form it into loaves, and you let those rise as well. Only then is your bread ready for the oven.

It was a lot of work, making that bread. But when it finally came out of the oven, Nathaniel wrapped the two tiny loaves in a white cloth and put them on a dish outside on the grass. Beside the bread on the dish, he also put a little fresh butter, and thimbleful of raspberry jam. Then he went back inside his grandfather’s house, and had a fresh slice of bread himself.

The next morning when Nathaniel went outside, the bread and the butter and the jam – were gone. But the little dish wasn’t empty. It was covered with tiny wild strawberries.

“Look, granddad!” said Nathaniel.

“Aha,” said his granddad. “Mr. Twigwiggle must have liked your gift. He’s left you a gift of his own.”

Well, I’m sorry to say, that was the last day of Nathaniel’s visit to his grandfather’s house. Spring Break was over, and it was time to go back to his own home. Nathaniel was very sad to say goodbye – both to his granddad, and to Mr. Twigwiggle.

But you can be sure, Nathaniel made many more visits to his granddad’s house. And whenever he was there, he was sure to spend time playing or reading or watching the clouds out in the back garden – and keeping an eye out for Mr. Twigwiggle. And he left many more gifts for the shy little brownie – and received many more gifts in return. And so their friendship went on, for a long, long time.

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