Gnome for Christmas

In today's story, Gnome for Christmas, Doc takes a solitary trip to his cabin in the woods.

Today's prompt was inspired by a holiday gnome that was a gift from my friend, Wendy. The gnome sits on the entry table by my front door during the holidays and he always makes me smile. Christmas can bring mixed emotions, but I hope you can find some joy this holiday season. 

If you enjoy today's story, please share it with your friends and leave a review for Freely Written. You can also send me  a prompt suggestion, and I'll be sure to credit you in the episode. Thank you!

More about Susan Quilty

Susan Quilty mainly writes novels, including two standalone novels and her current YA series: The Psychic Traveler Society.  Susan's short stories for Freely Written are created during quick writing breaks and shared as a way to practice her narration skills before she dives into recording audio versions of her novels.

Website:  SusanQuilty.com
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Transcript

Below is the transcript for Season 1, Episode 129 of Freely Written, a podcast by author Susan Quilty:

Welcome to Freely Written where a simple prompt leads to a little unplanned fiction.  

[Light piano music]

Hi, friends! I’m Susan Quilty and today’s prompt is Gnome for Christmas.

Today’s holiday prompt came from a winter gnome I pulled out with the rest of my holiday decorations. He made it from a storage box to a chair and is waiting to be carried to his usual spot on our front entry table. I glanced his way while pondering a writing prompt and the pun ‘gnome for Christmas’ popped into my mind. 

As always, I wrote today’s story with my usual Freely Written process, where I sit down with a prompt and write whatever comes to mind, with no planning and very little editing. Then, I record the story and share it with you. 

With the holidays rapidly approaching, please consider buying my books as gifts for your friends and family… or for yourself! My novels are grounded in reality but often have a sci-fi, fantasy, or psychological twist. You can shop for them through my website, SusanQuilty.com, or look up “Susan Quilty” wherever you buy books. There are also links in the show notes. 

Now, on to today’s story:

Gnome for Christmas

There were no elves sitting on the shelves of Doc Tanner’s cabin. He didn’t have a decorated tree or stockings by the fire. The cabin was Doc’s refuge during the winter holidays. Each December, for the past few years, he packed supplies and drove through the winding mountain roads to settle in until the new year. 

The cabin was small but cozy. It had an open layout with a kitchen along the back wall and a sitting area gathered around a stone fireplace. The bedroom and bathroom were tucked behind the kitchen, separated from the main area by an arched doorway, while a covered and screened porch ran the length of the main room. 

Lucy had decorated the cabin with soft white curtains and throw pillows in shades of blues and greens. It had been their weekend getaway. A place to hike in the spring, fish in the summer, and roast marshmallows in the fall. They had visited less often in winter, not wanting to navigate unpredictable weather, but now Doc didn’t mind the snow. Retirement meant there was no demand for his return. He could simply bring supplies to see him through whatever storms might come and leave when he felt the time was right. 

Doc’s holiday trips began in mid-December. On the first day, Doc was kept busy with unpacking and settling in. The first night, he would grill a steak and open a bottle of red wine, toasting Lucy’s picture as he set his plate on the two-person table. After dinner, he would clean up his dishes and read by the fire until he was ready to sleep. 

This visit was no different. Doc enjoyed his steak and salad with two glasses of Petit Verdot, cracked open a new mystery, and went to bed after stepping outside to look up at the clear night sky. In the morning, Doc shoveled the front walk before breakfast and brought in fresh wood from the shed. He was debating between a return to his book or starting a jigsaw puzzle when the sound of a motor chugging through the snow brought him to the front door. 

Outside, a Kubota pulled to a stop and Carl, the cabin’s caretaker, climbed out carrying a brown package under one arm. 

“Hey, Doc!” Carl called with a friendly wave. “How was your drive up?”

“Fine, fine,” Doc muttered. Carl occasionally stopped by during Doc’s visits but usually it was later in his stay or after a big storm had blown through. “Something up with the furnace again?”

“Oh, no,” Carl reassured. “Nothing like that. I checked the place out before you came up and everything’s running just fine.”

Carl had come up the front walk and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Doc stood at the top of the stairs, blocking entrance to the small porch and the front door cracked open behind him. 

The moment stretched as Carl paused, his warm smile slowing fading. Doc had hastily pulled on his boots, leaving the laces trailing open, and he hadn’t put on a coat. He rubbed his hands together, waiting for Carl to explain his visit. 

“Ah, well,” Carl said, after shaking off some unshared thought. “A package came for you.”

He started forward, pulling the package from beneath his arm, then stopped as Doc quickly came down the steps. As he took the package, Doc recognized his daughter’s return address. 

“Sorry to bother you with this,” Doc said, tucking the package under his own arm as if embarrassed by its appearance. “I don’t know why Katie would be sending me something care of you. I didn’t even know she had your address. Just your name and number, in case of an emergency.”

“It’s no bother,” Carl promised. “It’s nice to see the place with someone in it.” 

Doc looked at his boots, remembering the times Carl had come to visit when Lucy was still here. She’d ask him up for dinner and they’d spend an evening laughing and talking over a game of cards. Doc knew Carl came to the cabin while he was away, checking on its upkeep, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d invited Carl in while he was there. Not since Lucy.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to keep you.” Doc nodded toward the package adding, “Thanks for this.”

“Sure.” Carl began to walk away, then turned back and called, “How are you doing, Doc?”

“Fine, fine,” Doc repeated with a shrug, his gaze drifting off into the snowy woods. 

“Okay, good.” Carl nodded, then pressed his lips together before turning to leave. 

Doc watched him drive off, winding through the trees and down the mountain toward his home in the small town below. Doc and Lucy used to go into town during their visits. Do a little shopping and have lunch out. They had gotten to know some of the locals, thanks to Lucy’s gift for gab, and Lucy loved to catch up with them as she browsed their quaint shops. 

Back inside, Doc set the package on the dining table and rubbed his hands over his upper arms. He hadn’t realized how cold it had been on the porch and now felt a chill run through him. Coffee, he thought, then moved to make a fresh cup. 

Despite its secluded setting and rustic décor, the cabin was outfitted with modern conveniences. The kitchen had a one-cup coffee maker, a sleek cooktop, a compact wall oven and microwave, a full fridge, and even a small dishwasher. 

The coffee brewed quickly. Doc raised the cup to his mouth, feeling the steam warm his face though it was too hot to drink. He looked over the rim at the package, then set the cup on the counter and walked to the table. 

Doc traced his finger over Katie’s name, wondering if she’d called Carl to get his address and whether Carl knew what was inside. With a heavy sigh, he fished his pocketknife from his jeans and slit through the tape in a smooth motion. Inside, he found a small card sitting on top of a bundle of tissue paper. 

Opening the card, he read Katie’s message: Dad, While I understand your need for space this time of year, I thought you might like to have a gnome for Christmas. Love, Katie. 

Doc pulled back the tissue paper to reveal a stuffed gnome with a gray body, a shaggy beard, and a gray knit cap pulled low to cover his eyes. The cap was decorated with snowflakes and had a white pompom top. It wasn’t overtly festive. More winter than Christmas décor. 

Setting it on the table, Doc studied the gnome and thought about Katie home with her husband. He thought about the holiday gifts he’d mailed to her and his promise to visit the first weekend in January. He knew Katie worried about him being along at Christmas, no matter his saying it was what he wanted. 

It was a sweet gift, Doc decided. He imagined Katie shopping for it, browsing past dancing Santas and cheery reindeers to find something seasonal but not too holiday themed. He pictured her wrapping the gnome in tissue paper and agonizing over what to write on the card. Katie was like that. Meticulous and thoughtful, like Lucy. 

As Doc moved back to the counter to pick up his cooled coffee, he was struck by an idea. He took out a second cup and brought them both to the table. He then piled up some books to form a makeshift stand for his phone and used the timer to take a picture of himself and the gnome sharing a cup of coffee. 

Doc texted the picture to Katie with a note of thanks and could feel her delight as she sent back a string of heart emojis. As he sipped his coffee, Doc told the gnome, “I knew she’d like that!”

The gnome sat on the table as Doc moved to the couch to read more of his book. But every few pages, Doc’s eyes strayed his way. Finally, he brought the gnome to the couch, propped him up behind an open book and staged another photo, this time of them reading side-by-side. He didn’t text the photo right away. Instead, Doc put down his book and looked around the room for inspiration. 

Over the course of the morning, Doc set up a handful of photos: he and the gnome playing cards at the table, walking through the lightly falling snow with the gnome on his shoulder, the gnome helping him chop carrots for lunch, and he and gnome sitting by the fire. 

Doc browsed through the photos, pleased with his work. He couldn’t decide if it would be more fun to send all of the pictures to Katie at once or spread them out in texts throughout his trip. He imagined her laughter at seeing them, then the smile slowly faded from his face. 

Will she laugh at the pictures? He wondered. Or will they worry her more? 

Doc thought about how it might look. A grown man fleeing his family, then taking pictures with a toy alone in his cabin in the woods. But… another thought said, Lucy would love them. 

Leaving the gnome and his phone on the couch, Doc fetched Lucy’s favorite jigsaw puzzle and began sorting pieces on the coffee table. They had a large, rectangular coffee table that was made for puzzles. It had drawers on the sides to hold sorted pieces and a glass cover that fit over an incomplete puzzle. Lucy had it custom built at one of the local shops and often said it was her favorite part of the cabin. 

Doc sorted pieces, listening to their favorite songs, until he had all the edges separated and could start piecing together the frame. It was Lucy’s rule. The edge of the puzzle had to be finished before any other pieces could be connected. 

After working on the puzzle until dinner, Doc ate a quiet bowl of stew at the dining table. He glanced at the gnome, still sitting on the couch, and itched to take a picture of them working on the puzzle together. He sipped a glass of wine as he ate and glanced back through the photos he had taken earlier. What can it hurt? He thought, then set up the photo and added it to his collection.

“What do you think?” he asked the gnome. “Should we send them?” 

The gnome had no opinion. Doc shrugged and attached the photos to a messaged that read, Having fun with my new friend. 

Doubt crept in the moment he hit send. Doc watched as three little dots appeared below the message. The dots disappeared and reappeared as Katie typed her response. The longer she typed, the more Doc began to worry about her reaction. Finally, her answer came back. Glad you aren’t alone. There was a heart emoji after the message, but Doc didn’t feel the joy he’d expected to feel. 

The next morning, Doc tried to read his book, but it didn’t hold his interest. He tried to work on the puzzle, but he couldn’t focus on finding the right pieces. He glanced at the gnome from time to time, and Katie’s text echoed through his mind. Glad you aren’t alone. 

At lunch, Doc took out his phone and hesitated before dialing. He had been clear about needing space during his time at the cabin, and Katie had respected that. Except for sending the gnome. With a resolved sigh, Doc made the call and hoped for the best. 

That night, there was a knock at the cabin door. Doc set down the spoon he’d been using to stir his sauce and smoothed his hair before opening the door with a smile. 

“I brought wine,” Carl said, by way of greeting. 

“I have pasta and cards,” Doc replied, stepping aside to gesture him in.  

As Carl opened the wine, Doc glanced at the gnome—now sitting on the fireplace mantle—and had an idea. 

“Say, Carl,” he began sheepishly, “can we take a picture together? For Katie? I’d like her to see that I’m not all alone up here.”

Carl happily agreed saying, “I think she’d like that a lot.”

Doc held out his phone for a selfie, then stopped and ran to grab the gnome. “Inside joke,” he told Carl, as he snapped a picture of the three of them together. 

He texted the photo with a note that said, “Card night with old and new friends. I’m thinking of coming home early… maybe bring my gnome for Christmas?” And he smiled at her flood of heart emojis. 

The End 

Thanks for listening. Christmas can be an emotional time. Whether you’re with family and friends, or spending time on your own, I hope you find peace and joy this holiday season. 

As always, if you enjoyed this story, please share it with your friends! And don’t forget to check out my books at SusanQuilty.com. As an indie author, I greatly appreciate your support!

Until next time, try a little free writing of your own. Let go of any planning and see where your imagination takes you. 

[Light piano music]