19 Aug 2019, 19:45
Clean with the Sickness
The sun hung high on a crisp and clear Thursday morning. The sky was a brilliant blue and the temperature was perfect. In fact, everything about the outdoors this morning was beautifully perfect. That’s why it really sucked that Victoria wasn’t feeling well. Laying in the billowy cabin bed, air stuffy as could be, Victoria sniffled. Her nose continued to run, and her throat continued to ache as small piles of gooey, gross tissues laid around her. As thankful as she was that school hadn’t started yet during her sickest hours, she was bummed that she was missing out on fun summer camp activities. Groaning a little, she laid there and thought of the breakfast she was missing, as her stomach rumbled. Somehow, she was hungry, but the thought of food made her queasy. That’s when it finally hit her – she had signed up to help clean breakfast dishes this morning.
“Oh no,” she grumbled, turning over in her bed. How was she ever going to get dishes done in this condition? As she thought about her troubles and how she could get out of the things that she had signed up for, she recalled a conversation she had overheard a few days prior. It had been about a student wanting to switch tasks after signing up for a different task. A fairly similar situation to the one that she was experiencing, she remembered that the student was indeed, allowed to switch. However, this student had asked the day prior to their original duties, and even if it was allowed, she would feel awful if she were to not show up to breakfast duties without letting someone know. All the dining areas were at least two kilometers away from where she lay though, and there was no way she was going to be able to walk that far.
Uncomfortable no matter what she did, Victoria flipped over the other direction once again. It was then, that she noticed an owl perched on the windowsill. At first, all Victoria could think of was how odd it was that an owl was sitting there. Raised by wizards that insisted their children learn of muggle things the first eleven years of their lives, it took her a moment to remember hearing that owls were messenger birds at Hogwarts. Finally, she realized what she would do. Slowly, she stretched her body out of the bed and rolled over, down to the floor. Laying there for a few moments, she gathered the energy that it required to stand up, then proceeded to look around the cabin for writing material. After what seemed like ages, but was probably a matter of mere minutes, the red-headed eleven year old finally found a pen with which to write. She did not, however, find any parchment. Sitting back down on the bed, pen in hand, she sighed. “How am I ever going to get a note to the Professors?” she wondered aloud.
Victoria began to formulate a plan as she sat there. After she found paper to owl the teachers with, she would find cleaning supplies and begin to clean out the cabin. At the pace of a snail, this would take nearly all day, however she would be completing a different task from the one she originally signed up for, and she also thought she might feel better if the cabin were cleaner. Deciding this is what she wanted to do, she headed towards the cabin bathrooms, where all the cleaning supplies were kept. Perhaps she would find parchment in there.
It didn’t take Victoria long to realize that she was not going to find any parchment in the bathroom. What she did find, however, were paper hand towels. Not her first choice, Victoria took one of the paper towels and wrote a brief letter on it, explaining the situation and apologizing to the professor or ‘whom it may concern.’ While she stood in the bathroom, Victoria gathered the things that she would need to clean her cabin. A feather duster, a mop and mop bucket, a broom and dustpan, and cleaning spray along with more bathroom towels all went back to the cabin with her. She set the pile of things down next to her bed and made her way to the owl. Opening the window, she tied the paper towel as best as she could to the foot of the owl, and watched it take off in the direction of the dining hall. “I hope that’s good enough,” she sighed, turning back to her pile of cleaning supplies to get started with her new task at hand.
Sniffling again, Victoria began to spray cleaner onto the already open window. It smelled like lemon and pine and was a good smell, but it made her nose itchy. She quickly wiped it off with the towels, before sneezing into her elbow, sure to not hit the newly cleaned window with her high-blast spray of saliva. She let out an audible groan as she hit the bed again. One task down, three to go…and the one she had just completed was surely the easiest of the four. After a moment of rest, Victoria got back up and got back at it, slowly crawling around the room to meticulously dust the air vents, the lamps, the bookcases, and each of the fixtures that lived in her cabin. By the time that she was done and sitting on the bed again, she felt surely even more stuffy than before. All the dust had gotten trapped in her nose and she had to breath out of her mouth at this point. “Maybe this wasn’t the best idea,” the girl whined to herself. She felt pathetic, but she was halfway done with her task, and luckily there was no one around to watch this terrible display of a sick girl cleaning.
Back to her feet again, after a few moments, Victoria began to sweep the cabin. She made sure that she got under every bed, in every corner, and cleared every baseboard. It took a long time to sweep all the dust, dirt, and crumbs from the floor, but once she was done, it looked so much better. Turning towards the window, she dumped the dustpan out into the afternoon air. When she stepped back to look at the cabin, she realized that getting all the dirt and dust out of the cabin had made her feel a bit better. Her plan was working, and at this point she was somewhat excited to mop.
Mopping was by far the most time consuming and daunting task of all, but when she was done and she looked around the cabin, a wide grin came over her. The cabin literally sparkled it was so clean, and the girl felt almost good as new. Going back to the bathrooms, Victoria put the cleaning supplies back where she had originally taken them from and then came back to the cabin to admire her handiwork. Her original plan had been to go back to sleep when all was said and done, but at this point, the girl was amazed with how good she felt. She couldn’t help but wonder if she would have felt fine had she gone to the dining hall that morning, as was originally planned. Nonetheless, the cabin was now clean, which meant she wouldn’t feel this way again soon.
Feeling her stomach rumble angrily, Victoria headed out to the dining hall for dinner and to explain to the professors what had happened.
“Oh no,” she grumbled, turning over in her bed. How was she ever going to get dishes done in this condition? As she thought about her troubles and how she could get out of the things that she had signed up for, she recalled a conversation she had overheard a few days prior. It had been about a student wanting to switch tasks after signing up for a different task. A fairly similar situation to the one that she was experiencing, she remembered that the student was indeed, allowed to switch. However, this student had asked the day prior to their original duties, and even if it was allowed, she would feel awful if she were to not show up to breakfast duties without letting someone know. All the dining areas were at least two kilometers away from where she lay though, and there was no way she was going to be able to walk that far.
Uncomfortable no matter what she did, Victoria flipped over the other direction once again. It was then, that she noticed an owl perched on the windowsill. At first, all Victoria could think of was how odd it was that an owl was sitting there. Raised by wizards that insisted their children learn of muggle things the first eleven years of their lives, it took her a moment to remember hearing that owls were messenger birds at Hogwarts. Finally, she realized what she would do. Slowly, she stretched her body out of the bed and rolled over, down to the floor. Laying there for a few moments, she gathered the energy that it required to stand up, then proceeded to look around the cabin for writing material. After what seemed like ages, but was probably a matter of mere minutes, the red-headed eleven year old finally found a pen with which to write. She did not, however, find any parchment. Sitting back down on the bed, pen in hand, she sighed. “How am I ever going to get a note to the Professors?” she wondered aloud.
Victoria began to formulate a plan as she sat there. After she found paper to owl the teachers with, she would find cleaning supplies and begin to clean out the cabin. At the pace of a snail, this would take nearly all day, however she would be completing a different task from the one she originally signed up for, and she also thought she might feel better if the cabin were cleaner. Deciding this is what she wanted to do, she headed towards the cabin bathrooms, where all the cleaning supplies were kept. Perhaps she would find parchment in there.
It didn’t take Victoria long to realize that she was not going to find any parchment in the bathroom. What she did find, however, were paper hand towels. Not her first choice, Victoria took one of the paper towels and wrote a brief letter on it, explaining the situation and apologizing to the professor or ‘whom it may concern.’ While she stood in the bathroom, Victoria gathered the things that she would need to clean her cabin. A feather duster, a mop and mop bucket, a broom and dustpan, and cleaning spray along with more bathroom towels all went back to the cabin with her. She set the pile of things down next to her bed and made her way to the owl. Opening the window, she tied the paper towel as best as she could to the foot of the owl, and watched it take off in the direction of the dining hall. “I hope that’s good enough,” she sighed, turning back to her pile of cleaning supplies to get started with her new task at hand.
Sniffling again, Victoria began to spray cleaner onto the already open window. It smelled like lemon and pine and was a good smell, but it made her nose itchy. She quickly wiped it off with the towels, before sneezing into her elbow, sure to not hit the newly cleaned window with her high-blast spray of saliva. She let out an audible groan as she hit the bed again. One task down, three to go…and the one she had just completed was surely the easiest of the four. After a moment of rest, Victoria got back up and got back at it, slowly crawling around the room to meticulously dust the air vents, the lamps, the bookcases, and each of the fixtures that lived in her cabin. By the time that she was done and sitting on the bed again, she felt surely even more stuffy than before. All the dust had gotten trapped in her nose and she had to breath out of her mouth at this point. “Maybe this wasn’t the best idea,” the girl whined to herself. She felt pathetic, but she was halfway done with her task, and luckily there was no one around to watch this terrible display of a sick girl cleaning.
Back to her feet again, after a few moments, Victoria began to sweep the cabin. She made sure that she got under every bed, in every corner, and cleared every baseboard. It took a long time to sweep all the dust, dirt, and crumbs from the floor, but once she was done, it looked so much better. Turning towards the window, she dumped the dustpan out into the afternoon air. When she stepped back to look at the cabin, she realized that getting all the dirt and dust out of the cabin had made her feel a bit better. Her plan was working, and at this point she was somewhat excited to mop.
Mopping was by far the most time consuming and daunting task of all, but when she was done and she looked around the cabin, a wide grin came over her. The cabin literally sparkled it was so clean, and the girl felt almost good as new. Going back to the bathrooms, Victoria put the cleaning supplies back where she had originally taken them from and then came back to the cabin to admire her handiwork. Her original plan had been to go back to sleep when all was said and done, but at this point, the girl was amazed with how good she felt. She couldn’t help but wonder if she would have felt fine had she gone to the dining hall that morning, as was originally planned. Nonetheless, the cabin was now clean, which meant she wouldn’t feel this way again soon.
Feeling her stomach rumble angrily, Victoria headed out to the dining hall for dinner and to explain to the professors what had happened.
Stamina: 5 Evasion: 5 Strength: 4 Wisdom: 7 ArcPower: 7 Accuracy: 7
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