The Stone Monument
Hearing about a stone statue ten times my size sent me straight out the door flap to inspect the garden patio. In the corner by the boxwood shrubs stood an old carved stone garden gnome, its surface weathered and grey. Comparing proportions, its rounded silhouette and sturdy posture did carry a strangely familiar balance, though its stone pedestal was tilted unevenly across two flagstones. Bracing my plush paws against the base, I wedged a flat slate pebble beneath the corner until the figure stood plumb. At its feet, I nestled a shiny, star-faceted glass bead directly on the stone plinth to mark the survey complete.