Infestation

In retrospect, I should have known.

I should have been changing my tune the moment I saw him stroll across my living room floor, with his troglodytic face melted into an emotion approximating happiness.

 He was well-kept- nattily attired even - in a linen suit and straw derby. But it only made him appear more incongruous with his surroundings. There was no hope of him proving to be a fantasm once the odiferous stench that accompanied his promenade wafted over to the couch.

In retrospect, I really should have known.

The garden gnomes had returned.