RiddleShortFic1213

**PREWRITE:** (Gronk, a goblin) wants (to avenge his family, who were murdered by a vicious Boar) because (he felt a duty to make the Boar pay), but (the Boar is part of an Animal Purist militia that has taken over the forest). **The Adventures of Gronk ** Gronk was the least handsome, least intelligent, and certainly the least friendly of all of the Goblins in the Ordale Forest. So, naturally, he was most desirable to all of the “lady” Goblins and the best friend of the rest of them. When he was just a wee thing, all ears and warts, his parents died in a horrible “axe-dent” – that is, one of the Boars from the “AFA” (Animals First Army) brought an axe to their cozy den and took an axe to all of their belongings. This included the beams that held the top of their old, crumbling cave in place. After the Boar had smashed the last beam, he squealed and ran from the cave – kicking the door closed as he ran. The force of the slamming door shook the entire dwelling, and a crack shot across the ceiling like lightning, splinters of rock falling like rain as the crack reached the other end of the room. And in an instant, the roof caved, crushing the coffee table, ficus plant, and Gronk’s parents all in one fell swoop.

If Goblins believed in miracles, they would have said it was by the grace of Krognar that little Gronk was saved. However, Goblins are practical creatures, and chalked Gronk’s luck up to just that – luck. How lucky it was for him to have been in the exact center of the cave when all of the rocks fell in heaps around him, missing his cradle by inches. And yes, how lucky it was for him that his parents had been responsible Goblins and had hoarded their gold in the Goblin National Bank instead of in a remote tree stump like some old-fashioned Goblins. Of course, the other Goblins joked that Gronk was simply too ugly to die, or even struck fear into the hearts of even the rocks – but none of this made him feel better.