I’m adapting a movie script into a novel for a Hollywood producer-script writer, and I was near the end when something happened, when real life and the story came together. When it happened, I was sitting on a bench outside of a house in Cassadaga, Florida, a spiritualist community, waiting for Trish who was getting a reading with a medium. I was thinking about the novel since I need to finish it soon and the ending is a bit tricky – an unexpected twist.
It’s an adventure tale somewhat like National Treasure in that there’s a search for a lost treasure, in this case, a massive ancient Roman treasure hidden in the Swiss Alps. Clues leading to the treasure are guarded by gnomes, which are inscribed in hidden places in ruins, tunnels and rocks. In one key location, a large gnome is surrounded by several small ones.
As I was sitting there, I looked into the backyard of the house and there was a large gnome – the one in the middle of the pic. Then I noticed the smaller one sleeping beneath it, then two smaller ones to the right, and one to the left toward the rear. It was an astonishing synchronicity, my inner world suddenly reflected in the outer, all happening in that strange little community in Central Florida. Hm, stuff happens!
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The kicker is that this was the third time that I have encountered gnomes since I began writing this novel. The first time was when we were in Washington State on Anacordes Island in the San Juan Islands. We were visiting daughter Megan and staying in a house with a small yard and pond that had five or six gnomes spread about. Then after returning from Orcas Island on the ferry, we had lunch at a restaurant and sat outside. Partially through the meal, Trish said, “Look over your left shoulder.” There, resting atop a wooden fence that surrounded the outside area was another gnome. It was just a couple of feet away from me and I hadn’t noticed it.
I suppose I’ve seen gnomes before and just didn’t pay any attention. But never anything like this barrage of gnomes coming into my awareness. Definitely, gnome synchronicities galore!
