Outdoor DIY

A gnome who gardens. 300-word daily flash

Outdoor DIY

Nomie clicked his tongue at the sight. The shelf holding the seedlings was out of {b]line. Again.
“I guess I have to do everything around here!” he said. He went and got his step ladder. He climbed up on it. It began to wobble precariously. Before he could adjust it, it toppled over.

Nomie heard a crack. He dragged himself up and checked himself out.
“Not too bad, my cap is cracked and the toe of one of my boots, easy peasy fix if they will but notice and do it.” His life in the garden had taken its toll.
“They will probably retire me instead of lovingly repairing me,” he muttered.

Nomie knew he needed to get that shelf fixed, or the seedlings would slide to the ground and probably die. With his hammer in one hand, a wooden brace and nails in the other, he climbed on a rock to do what he had to. Just as he began adding the reinforcement to the shelf, it began to rain heavily.
Ignoring the inroads such weather did to his poor cracked body, Nomie continued until his job was done. He was so weak he couldn’t even move to get out of the downpour.

The next morning, the children found him mushy and broken. They were sad and decided to have a funeral for him.
“Such a sad occasion, I wonder who’s passed,” Nomie thought.
“Dear Nomie, a garden friend too soon departed,” the oldest intoned mournfully. Then all of them placed him into the hole they had dug.
“Too bad, I must be beyond repair,” Nomie thought as they shoveled dirt over him and put flowers on top.
That day, they children bought a new garden gnome, this time a girl that they decided to call Nomette.