Thousand: Five Hundred Three

kettle and box of tea bags. The first door she opens reveals neatly stacked plates and platters and bowls, the second door glasses and mugs and on the highest shelf the rarely used juicer. The third door she has to close quickly to prevent the gnome from falling out, but the door won’t latch. Ah, a toe is in the way. She tries to poke it back in but there’s more to it than that, it seems. The woman chews her lower lip. Of gnomes she can’t say she’s ever been a fan. She had a friend who had a strange