Thousand: Three Hundred Twenty-Six

This bends the leprechaun forward, but he struggles with the weight and manages to lift his head, his eyelids fluttering. The fisher gnome adds to the basket the stones that have been drying on the log, then he scoops Butternut’s unopened tubes of paint into her satchel and hangs that over the leprechaun’s left shoulder. The leprechaun leans to the left, sways a moment, then regains his balance. A moan, low and deep. The fisher gnome takes the leprechaun’s right hand and begins leading him away from the creek. Butternut has been munching dried apple slices, but now she sees