The moons hovered in the firmament above the swampland yet this was not a cold, dark, or foreboding night. In the sky, the great celestial spotlights radiated their grace upon the world below; a radiance only matched by the hundreds of torches, campfires and candles, strewn about both from within and without of the new kingdom. Tonight was special, for tonight was opening night.

“Think they will like it?” Ini asked. He was patiently waiting, dressed in his brightest orange and brown overall.

“They have to. Look sharp, Ini!” Ono responded as he adjusted his brown tie and clicked his formal wooden clogs together.

Figwit fixed his robe, letting out an anxious sigh. He gave a quick kick to the hastily built wooden platform below him. “I'm not worried about the park. I'm worried about this trainstop you built yesterday.”

“Wha—what's the issue with it? There's a train stop sign there, see?” Ini responded, pointing to a shoddily erected wooden log with a large octagonal sign that read “Train.”

Figwit groaned. “I, why ...” He breathed in, recomposing himself. “I'm not even going to ask why it just says ‘Train.’ I'm more curious as to why you went through the effort of putting a large full stop that is the size of the other letters.”

“Figwit, it's obvious,” Ono answered before letting his brother continue their shared rationale.

“Yeah! It's a sign with the word train and then a giant full stop. It's a train stop.”

The wizard glared at the brothers. His neutral demeanor was accentuated by the silence of the night and the whistling wind passing through them. He wondered how it all had come to this. How did he become so desensitized to their whimsical silliness?

The whistling of the wind came to a stop. It was replaced and overpowered by the call of the great dwarftrain. It was spewed and spat out onto the tracks of the dwarfroad, ejected from the Amber Mountains.

“They are coming!” Ono yelled, snapping the wizard out of his trance.

The trio stared at the approaching train. Its headlight heralded their fate.

“Think we should have built a ceiling? Or a bench even?” Ono asked, hurriedly glancing around him to the lampposts and the wooden staircase on the platform. Its squeaking and creaking ate away at the brother’s confidence.

A forced laugh erupted from Ini. “We'll upgrade it to a proper stop eventually.” He coped, sweat forming on his brow.

The train's chimney howled. It spewed a multicolored vapor a of melted crystals as the metal wheels screeched and dragged against the rail. The train slowed down, the roaring of its engine dimming as a mass of eyes and beards peered from inside the wagons, curious what had become of the “sugar gnomes.”

“This is it, boys,” Figwit said. Stealing his confidence from the stars, he began to move to the center of the platform to welcome the dwarfs he had once so faithfully served. “Remember, don't mention the molasses.”

The brothers followed suit, nodding their heads as finally the train came to a complete stop. The metal doors clicked open and a veritable knot of dwarfs began to pour out onto the platform.

“Welcome, welcome!” Figwit proclaimed. He gesturing to the stone path outside the platform. “Please follow the path, we will be opening soon.” The dwarves piled atop the planks and the wood wailed, struggling to support the weight of an entire city. But its bending slowly stopped as Figwit hurriedly pushed the crowd off of it.

“Don't stray too far! It's still a swamp after all,” Ono warned before his brother discharged a sudden elbowing.

Ini and Ono smiled and waved to the passing families, ignoring their murmurs and glares — -- Ono more so than his brother as he recoiled from the pain. “Where is the Judge?” Ono asked, holding on to his gut.

Suddenly, a great ram's horn burst through the night and a deep dwarven voice cried out from the exit of the first wagon. “Hear, hear! Announcing his most excellent and venerable legalship: Judge Otinson, High Magistrate, Regent and Custodian of the great Keep-Kingdom of Amberlight!”

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The great venerable judge stepped out from the wagon. His bald, egg-smooth head was greeted by the cheers and applause of his countryman as he left in his wake an entire crew of dwarfs who struggled to keep his neverending beard from touching the ground.

“Ah, Your Legalship. Welcome!” Figwit rushed to the judge with the gnomes trailing behind him, their clogs clacking against the wood below.

“Figwit? I almost didn't recognize you without the hat,” the judge admitted, raising his wrinkled hand out from his impossibly long black and gold-robed sleeve. Behind him, his legal crew continued to pull and furl his beard from inside the train, creating an growing mountain of gray hair atop the servants on the platform.

Figwit smiled as he bent himself to shake the dwarf’s hand. “Yes, well, a lot has happened these last couple of months.”

“We have been hard at work, Your Honor!” Ini cried out from behind the human.

Ono added, “Yes. We hope after tonight you’ll see our part of the debt is repaid!”

The judge scoffed at the gnomes. He let go of the human’s hand with a sudden and violent yank that caused an audible crack from the Figwit’s vertebra.

“We'll see about that. The market district is still completely flooded, you know? But Darian and his construction crew have been hard at work cleaning up the city.”

“Ah, Darian ...”

“Oh, he's a good engineer. Great friend of ours,” Ini and Ono said as they reminisced about their one-sided sworn rival.

Figwit quickly took charge, clapping his hands and leaning toward the stone path, declaring, “Well, no better way to find out our results than going. Shall I lead you, Your Legalship?”

“Please Figwit. I would be delighted,” the Judge said quietly as the crowd of families opened to let their leader and his beard pass. The assembled crew dragged it behind him as it continued to flow from the train.

#

The party made their way from the train stop and through the path of stone while the great greed of dwarves followed suit, eager to see the new Kingdom.

“By my beard, you actually managed to turn the marsh into something,” the judge admired. He gave a slight smile and stroked his beard. His gaze was drawn to the approaching wooden walls and gate of the park as the stroke from his hand left a wave-like ripple in his flowing trail of hair.

The dwarf crowd murmured at the great coaster tracks that peeked above the confines of the park's walls.

“My! What is that?” The judge pointed to it even as the true scale of the ride remained obscured.

The brothers smiled as they reached the end of the stone path. The procession came to a halt and with a beaming smile that matched the light of the lampposts, the human declared, “All in due time, Your Honor.”

“Figwit, may we?” Ono asked, giving a slight bow to his friend.

The human answered with his warm expression, “Of course. Go on then, you two. Show 'em who you are.”

The brothers clicked their clogs together. They quickly made their way to the gate where a large cloth canvas hid a surprise. The mine of dwarfs and the judge patiently waited as the brothers placed themselves next to two ropes underneath the canvas.

The crowd’s murmur quieted, and the brothers mashed their clogs against the large wooden gates. Each ring of the wood progressively quieted the crowd. Finally, there was complete silence and the two small brothers proudly yelled out into the night.

“Good evening, boys and girls.”

“Lads and lasses.”

“And of course the beard, Your Honor,” they said, giving a quick bow to the judge that was reciprocated with a hand wave.

“For the past months, we have been hard at work.”

“Hard at work to make it up to all of you for what we did.”

The air grew heavy with their words. Grudging dwarves gave them stabbing looks as if they were ready to strike at even the smallest slip.

“Now though, after so much sweat.”

“And after so many tears.”

“We hope you enjoy our repentance.”

“It is a dear gift. Both from me, Ini.”

“And me, Ono.”

They leaned back. Their voices ballooned with their ego as they hovered dangerously over the piercing edge of the dwarves’s mercy.

“And of course, the rest of the crew, too.”

“Can't forget Figwit.”

The wizard smiled at their words while the crowd behind him grew restless, waiting for the point.

“But, ladies and gentleman.”

“Lads and lasses.”

“It is with great honor.”

“And with great pride.”

“We, the Pump Brothers, are proud to present …”

“We, the Pump Brothers, are proud to present ...”

“Amusoland!” the brothers both yelled in unison, pulling the cords as the great canvas fell down, revealing a large wood and metal sign. The rim was decorated with glowing mushrooms and crystals of many hues which periodically lit up; on the left and right sides respectively, two large gnome hats, both red, nestled between them the zany and multifont title of “Amusoland!” Below the giant title, in a minuscule font of almost illegible size, was written within parenthesis “Brought to you by the green union.”

The crowd of dwarves marveled at the multicolored display. As the tarp fell onto the floor, the large gates opened. They were pushed by the two brothers and they finally revealed the majesty and wonder of their handcraft.

“Welcome to Amusoland!” they both proclaimed, while standing on either side of the gate and ushering the crowd in.

“Let's go, Figwit!” the judge exclaimed, grabbing the human by the arm as he rushed inside. He almost tripped over his own beard, and his entourage struggled to keep up with the excited elderly man.

“Woah! Let's go boys, let's show the judge around,” Figwit said as he too grabbed the gnome brothers. The contagious excitement, wonder, and intensity of the crowd washed over them and into the park like a great wave crashing against the beach.