This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―xi. naomi hates garden gnomes

AFTER ABOUT A MILE OF WALKING, Naomi started to see neon lights up ahead.

They kept walking until they saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 90s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light. 

It was one of those roadside shops that sell lawn flamingos and all sorts of animal statues to decorate a garden. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible to read, and just trying gave Naomi the beginning of a headache. 

"What the heck does that say?" Percy asked. 

"I don't know," Annabeth said. 

Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." 

Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes—ugly bearded runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken. 

"Ew," Naomi muttered. 

"You don't like gnomes?" Annabeth asked. 

"They're creepy," Naomi said. "Of course I don't like them." 

Annabeth sighed. "Just don't look at them. They're probably not real."

Naomi stared at her, terrified. "Probably?" 

 Percy crossed the street. 

"Hey..." Grover warned. 

"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open." 

"Snack bar," Percy said wistfully.

"Snack bar," Annabeth agreed. 

"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird." 

Percy and Annabeth ignored him. 

"Nay?" Grover asked hopefully. 

Naomi shrugged, following the two half-bloods. "We need to eat, Grover." 

The front garden was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps. 

"Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!" 

They stopped at the warehouse door.

"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."

"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?" 

"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian." 

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," Percy reminded him.

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are... looking at me." 

Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of them was a tall woman dressed in a long black gown and veil that covered every part of her but her face and hands. 

"Children, it is too late to be out all alone," the woman said. "Where are your parents?"

"They're... um..." Annabeth started to say. 

"We're orphans," Naomi said. 

"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded strange in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!" 

"We got separated from our bus, ma'am," Naomi said, trying to be as polite as possible. She'd learned from a young age that manners could get you far when it came to adults, especially the elderly. "Sister Agnes told us to meet them at the gas station if we got lost, but she may have forgotten, or she may have meant a different gas station."