The clock above the window says 9:00. The Keep It Simple Bureau opens.

Outside, snow covers 1 Plain Street, Helsinki, Finland. A Finnish flag moves once in the wind, then holds still above the front of the building.

Inside, the green desk lamp is on. A pencil waits beside the stamp pad. The ticket machine gives its instruction in plain letters:

PLEASE TAKE A NUMBER.

The first ticket of the morning is 001.

At the window, the clerk accepts a form. It has extra pages clipped to it. There are explanations in the margins. A few boxes have been filled twice.

The clerk reads the page, then takes the pencil.

Duplicate.
Not required.
Not today.

The form becomes smaller without being refused. A paragraph becomes one line. One line becomes one empty box.

The clerk presses the rubber stamp at the top of the page:

KEEP IT SIMPLE.

The red approval stamp lands below it:

APPROVED: ONE NEXT THING.

The form slides back under the glass. The pencil points to the empty box.

No speech is added. No second page is attached.

Outside, snow keeps falling on Plain Street. The page is lighter than when it came in.

One form. One step at a time.