Garden Gnomes Have Evil Inside Them

The gnomes in my front yard are trying to convince me to give them souls: a backstory.

I obtained these garden gnomes from a relative who had passed away some years ago. They had lived in the forest for a decade on a small plot of land and so over the years they lost the color in their faces and their clothes, once painted on, crumbling at the touch.

They took a long card ride home with me and are now protecting my front porch by throwing stones at hooligans trying to steal the bucket of dog poop the other tenant in my building insists on leaving there. It truly makes me wonder if there is riches hiding in plain (but nasty) sight.

In recent months since I've started to use my front door more often, I've noticed an unnatural pull towards the gnomes, a slight impulsive thought that I need to bring them in and give them a new coat of paint. The gnomes tell me that their life forces are being drained by their appearance, the older and broken down they get the less they can do.

I try not to pay attention but the pull is getting stronger, they demand fresh faces, they want me to paint them. Alas I will have to ignore them further for sentient gnomes cannot ruin my weekend.