8 Jul 2019, 05:31
After Dinner Wash-up
After dinner was over, Jane headed towards the kitchens to help with the dishes. She had thought that most students would probably go for washing dishes after breakfast or lunch and she was right. There was only a handful of students that had stayed by the sinks to wash up. Most of the students would be off to their cabins for late night chats with bunk mates or off to bed in general. But Jane wanted to help out as much as she could and would feel bad about leaving more work for the others who had volunteered. She thought, "I'll scrub until my hands turn into prunes!" So, she walked over to the sinks and grabbed a bucket of soapy water with a sponge, then started to get to work.
Jane started grabbing dirty plates from a stack near her and started scrubbing. She dipped the sponge into the bucket and started going around the plate in circles. At home she would help her mother with the dishes, so she was used to this and knew it would take a few hours at least. Especially since there weren't that many other students to help out. "I'll start with these stacks of plates and then move on to the cutlery." The girl thought out her plan, hoping that it wouldn't take as long as she felt it might so she could go and crash in her bed. The sun was setting and Jane thought it was a pretty nice setting to be sitting outdoors cleaning dishes. After being lost in her thoughts for a second, she didn't even realize that she had already cleaned a good few plates off the stack and was making another stack of clean plates instead. As soon as once stack of plates were cleaned she started working on the next stack. There were about five stacks of plates near her so she started moving the next stack of clean plates over so that they wouldn't get dirty again by being next to the unclean plates. She noticed that the others around her were working just as diligently as she was, because they were almost done with the stacks around them. One after the other, Jane would either dip the sponge in the soapy water or the whole plate depending on how much grime was left on it. The task started to feel like it would never end as she kept going back and forth. Pick up a dirty plate, clean off the dirty plate with soapy water, set the plate on top of the already clean ones and repeat.
Jane couldn't help but think, "What would my parents say if they thought I had come out here for the summer and was washing dishes instead of try to befriend other students before my first year starts." They probably wouldn't be too harsh about it, but did hope that she would have been able to make a few friends and have some summer fun before school started. She looked back at where the castle was behind her and sighed. Next year she would officially be attending Hogwarts as a first year student. She hoped that doing things like washing the dishes like this would help her out in the long run once she became a student. Maybe there would be more chores to do or more errands to run. She had wanted to help out after all and wouldn't want just one person doing all the work. "That would be exhausting", she thought. Jane went back to the task at hand and only then realized she was down to her last couple dirty plates. She stood up straight and went to work, quickly cleaning the plates and setting them with the rest of the clean ones she had finished. Now it was time for the cutlery. The girl knew to be careful with the knives so she felt like she would do those last.
Instead she started on the forks and spoons, whichever one she picked up first. The item was going to be dunked into the bucket until Jane realized that her soapy water wasn't all that soapy anymore. She took the bucket and sponge she was previously using and switched it out for a new one. She wasn't too sure what to do with the used bucket as some of the other students who had finished before her just put it back where they got it it seemed. The girl shrugged and brought the new bucket full of soapy water with a new sponge back to the sink she had been working at. Grabbed the spoon she had picked up earlier, started to dunk it into the water and clean the surface with the new sponge. Jane started getting back into the repeating cycle of picked the item up, dunking the item in the water and cleaning the item; then setting it aside with the rest of the clean dishes. The forks proved to be a little tricky as there was some food still stuck in between the prongs, but she managed to get the unknown pieces of food out.
Jane jumped when something was slung over her shoulder. She looked behind her and another student was going around giving everyone rags to dry the dishes off. She mentally kicked herself for not realizing she would also need to dry everything off. With a sigh, the girl turned back around and got back to work cleaning the silverware. She would just dry everything off at the end in one final swoop that way she knew that was the last thing she would have to do. Once it was time to clean the knives, Jane made sure to hold the knife where the serrated edge wasn't facing her so she didn't cut her hand while cleaning it. There were only a couple knifes to clean. "Probably because there wasn't much food you needed to cut at dinner time," she thought. "Alright, just need to dry everything off and then it's time to sleep." Jane had said quietly to herself. She just now realized that only a couple other people were still there with her cleaning and they too were almost done. It seemed they had taken the route she did with drying everything last. The sky was getting darker so she knew she needed to get done soon as she grabbed the rag off her shoulder and started drying every piece of dishware she just cleaned. "This wasn't all that bad..." The girl thought as she was thankful that others had also volunteered to clean dishes. If it had just been her with mountains of dishes and silverware to clean, Jane didn't think she would have been finished until after midnight maybe.
With a hopeful sigh, she dried the last dish off and set it onto the new pile of dishes that had all been dried off. She wiped her hands off with the rag and took it with the water bucket back to where they had previously been. Tossing the rag onto a pile of rags the other students had used, Jane started heading back towards the boat and to her cabin so she could finally get some long awaited sleep. She felt good after finishing her task tonight.
Jane started grabbing dirty plates from a stack near her and started scrubbing. She dipped the sponge into the bucket and started going around the plate in circles. At home she would help her mother with the dishes, so she was used to this and knew it would take a few hours at least. Especially since there weren't that many other students to help out. "I'll start with these stacks of plates and then move on to the cutlery." The girl thought out her plan, hoping that it wouldn't take as long as she felt it might so she could go and crash in her bed. The sun was setting and Jane thought it was a pretty nice setting to be sitting outdoors cleaning dishes. After being lost in her thoughts for a second, she didn't even realize that she had already cleaned a good few plates off the stack and was making another stack of clean plates instead. As soon as once stack of plates were cleaned she started working on the next stack. There were about five stacks of plates near her so she started moving the next stack of clean plates over so that they wouldn't get dirty again by being next to the unclean plates. She noticed that the others around her were working just as diligently as she was, because they were almost done with the stacks around them. One after the other, Jane would either dip the sponge in the soapy water or the whole plate depending on how much grime was left on it. The task started to feel like it would never end as she kept going back and forth. Pick up a dirty plate, clean off the dirty plate with soapy water, set the plate on top of the already clean ones and repeat.
Jane couldn't help but think, "What would my parents say if they thought I had come out here for the summer and was washing dishes instead of try to befriend other students before my first year starts." They probably wouldn't be too harsh about it, but did hope that she would have been able to make a few friends and have some summer fun before school started. She looked back at where the castle was behind her and sighed. Next year she would officially be attending Hogwarts as a first year student. She hoped that doing things like washing the dishes like this would help her out in the long run once she became a student. Maybe there would be more chores to do or more errands to run. She had wanted to help out after all and wouldn't want just one person doing all the work. "That would be exhausting", she thought. Jane went back to the task at hand and only then realized she was down to her last couple dirty plates. She stood up straight and went to work, quickly cleaning the plates and setting them with the rest of the clean ones she had finished. Now it was time for the cutlery. The girl knew to be careful with the knives so she felt like she would do those last.
Instead she started on the forks and spoons, whichever one she picked up first. The item was going to be dunked into the bucket until Jane realized that her soapy water wasn't all that soapy anymore. She took the bucket and sponge she was previously using and switched it out for a new one. She wasn't too sure what to do with the used bucket as some of the other students who had finished before her just put it back where they got it it seemed. The girl shrugged and brought the new bucket full of soapy water with a new sponge back to the sink she had been working at. Grabbed the spoon she had picked up earlier, started to dunk it into the water and clean the surface with the new sponge. Jane started getting back into the repeating cycle of picked the item up, dunking the item in the water and cleaning the item; then setting it aside with the rest of the clean dishes. The forks proved to be a little tricky as there was some food still stuck in between the prongs, but she managed to get the unknown pieces of food out.
Jane jumped when something was slung over her shoulder. She looked behind her and another student was going around giving everyone rags to dry the dishes off. She mentally kicked herself for not realizing she would also need to dry everything off. With a sigh, the girl turned back around and got back to work cleaning the silverware. She would just dry everything off at the end in one final swoop that way she knew that was the last thing she would have to do. Once it was time to clean the knives, Jane made sure to hold the knife where the serrated edge wasn't facing her so she didn't cut her hand while cleaning it. There were only a couple knifes to clean. "Probably because there wasn't much food you needed to cut at dinner time," she thought. "Alright, just need to dry everything off and then it's time to sleep." Jane had said quietly to herself. She just now realized that only a couple other people were still there with her cleaning and they too were almost done. It seemed they had taken the route she did with drying everything last. The sky was getting darker so she knew she needed to get done soon as she grabbed the rag off her shoulder and started drying every piece of dishware she just cleaned. "This wasn't all that bad..." The girl thought as she was thankful that others had also volunteered to clean dishes. If it had just been her with mountains of dishes and silverware to clean, Jane didn't think she would have been finished until after midnight maybe.
With a hopeful sigh, she dried the last dish off and set it onto the new pile of dishes that had all been dried off. She wiped her hands off with the rag and took it with the water bucket back to where they had previously been. Tossing the rag onto a pile of rags the other students had used, Jane started heading back towards the boat and to her cabin so she could finally get some long awaited sleep. She felt good after finishing her task tonight.
Word Count: 1215
Jane Owens | First Year | Hufflepuff