Sun poked through the slits in the curtain. Gnomee opened their green eyes, blinking away the sleep and taking a deep breath. Comfortable shivers ran down their spine and the warmth of the blanket felt cosy. They turned their head to the left and saw a bundle of long, dark hair poke out from the yellow blankets on the other side of the bed.

Careful not to wake their sleeping partner, they got up, scrambled for a pair of jeans and pocketed their phone. No morning walks without their step counter!

A few minutes later they carefully closed the front door of the large apartment building behind them. Cool, fresh morning air hit their face with force, the extra oxygen waking every last brain cell and preparing them for the journey ahead.
In their head they mapped out a nice route for a walk that would go by a bakers shop, where they would get fresh breakfast.

A bright blue butterfly landed on the tree next to the door. It was a brighter blue than they had ever seen in the wild, but as Gnomee turned to have a closer look, they couldn't see it. Maybe it just was a smudge on my glasses, they thought, taking them off and pulling out a corner of their t-shirt to clean them.

Half blind and still cleaning they started off towards the sunrise. There was a sparkling stream they wanted to visit, but they also wanted to be back with breakfast before their partner woke up.

Just as they put their glasses back on, another flash of bright blue appeared in the corner of their eye. They turned around, but it was just a piece of morning sky reflected in a car's windows.

Gnomee shook their head as if shaking off a fly. They ruffled through their short purple hair. It was time to be awake, the sun and fresh morning air said so and with their glasses back on and no further thoughts they were on their way.