How Obidiah Long-Beard got his name

  Obidiah Long-Beard, the Traveling Lord of LynDen Haus

Chapter I: How Obidiah Long-Beard got his name

                            
Once upon a time in a woodland forest far, far away, lived a friendly little gnome with a pointy, purple hat. He lived in the quaint little village of Gnomesville. His name was Obidiah Long-Beard – the local villagers called this likable little gnome with the curious sense of humor, simply Obi.  Now Obi was quite good-natured, kind, charming, with a very agreeable personality and an amusing sense of humor.  While Obi got along well with just about all the other Gnomesville villagers, he also missed his parents dearly.  His Mother and Father went missing one day on one of their many famous adventures. One other thing really bothered Obi - his name. Obidiah Long-Beard didn’t match what he looked like.  Obi’s beard was, in fact, not very long at all, rather it was considered short for a gnome.  The mismatch between his looks and his name was the cause of much teasing from the villagers of Gnomesville. With all this teasing, Obi soon became tired of his surroundings and tired of all the same old places and same old faces. The same things to do…same gnomes to meet - and the same old house. Now his house was a lovely place, with a thatched straw roof, white picket fence, and cozy fireplace.  Plus not a scratch on it for the whole time he lived there – almost 110 years! Obidiah was also very well-known for keeping a lovely, clean home.

One day Obi received a message from the giant, hairy creatures that the gnomes in Gnomesville called Giantahairs. Since the letter was quite large, Obi had to prop it up against the side of his quaint little house to read it. The letter said....

Dear Obidiah Long-Beard,

      This long overdue letter is from the royal servants to your Mother and Father who were the majesties of LynDen Haus. We are sorry to inform you but when they were visiting the Grand Canyon in the state of Arizona, they fell to their fatal deaths. Sad, sad news for you we are sure. But we also want to inform you that with the passing of your parents, you are next in line to the throne. We respectfully request your agreement to pick you up tomorrow at 4:44 in the morning. We hope to see you soon.

                                                                     Ta ta,

                                                   Your Royal Servants, Lynette & Denny

Obidiah Long-Beard simply couldn’t believe what his pointy ears were hearing. “I am to become a king,” he thought happily!  Obi was not one to thumb his nose at good luck, so with all due haste he quickly packed all of his belongings he thought he might need as a king.  He then locked the door to his quaint little house and proceeded to run throughout, up-and-down the village of Gnomesville saying goodbye to everybody he met. When he returned home, he grabbed his toad, Dixie – soon to be Sir Dixie – crawled into bed, pulled the covers up to his chin and dozed off dreaming of kingly things. When Obi woke up, he glanced at his cuckoo clock and saw that he had overslept.  He quickly jumped up and ran outside. “Oh, no,” he thought. “Am I too late?”  He ran to the edge of road and waited – and waited, and waited.  “Oh, will the royal servants come for him?” he wondered.  Obi just couldn't wait to become a king! While he was waiting he thought about how quickly all this had happened. He thought to himself, “First I was a plain little old gnome and now I'm about to become a lord – and all in one day!”  Finally he saw a huge palace-on-wheels approaching – and it stopped right in front of him! Now he was really excited!  Then suddenly the royal servant Denny was jumping out of this coach on wheels and escorting him inside. The coach or palace, or whatever it was, was HUGE!  The other royal servant, Lynette, smiled and greeted him, and invited him to savor some of her home-cooked food. It turned out to be Lynette’s world famous chili. Then together in unison Lynette and Denny proclaimed:

 “Welcome, Obidiah Long-Beard, Traveling Lord of LynDen Haus.”

Obidiah thought for a moment and wondered if that wasn't just a tad long for his new name? He asked his new servants “Isn't that a long name for you to say every time you call me?” “I guess it is,” the royal servants replied.  "Since I'll be a traveling gnome now,” said Obi, “And I am kinda mobile and I've always liked Mexican food, I think I’d like to have a Mexican-sounding name like, Juan. Juan is a good Mexican name – I like it, so you can call me Obi Juan Mobil Gnome. “Ok, Obi Juan Mobil Gnome it is,” both royal servants exclaimed. “But,” interjected Obi, “My full name shall remain Obidiah Juan Long-Beard, the Traveling Lord of LynDen Haus.  Thus it is written how Obidiah Long-Beard got his full name.



Original story by: Skye Jalyn Metzer. Skye is 12 years old and live in Mathias, WV, with her parents, Kip & Tina, and her 9-year old sister, Rayne.  Skye is in the 6th grade at East Hardy Elementary in Baker, WV.  She likes to play soccer and softball, is an excellent student - and obviously, a budding writer.

This original story was lightly edited by Skye's grandparents, Lynette & Denny Metzer (aka the Royal Servants of Obidiah Juan Long-Beard, the Traveling Lord of LynDen Haus)