Filberts to be specific. I am not entirely sure where they came from, just that the ever present
brown paper bag full of them had a distinct presence on the second shelf of the
kitchen cupboard. The girl would eat them. She would
crack the shells, then leave them on the counter. The pile of shards would grow steadily, I would clean them. Much like
small creatures working overnight, the pile would return in my absence. I would clean it, and it would return.
So I hid them in the
basement. Now they are quietly shrivelling in their shells months at a time.