Story-A-Day #128: Cornered

CORNERED

Cleaning can be a drag, but there is a therapeutic benefit to the process as well. Wandering through the familiar environments of your living space brings about a mundane sense of peace, and slowly resurfacing can be a great refresher.

Dull and dusty becomes gleaming and fresh.

It is a life cycle unto itself, not unlike the changing of seasons. Of course a good clean requires an investment of time and energy, and a degree of frequency that extends well beyond the seasonal four times per year.

The process of cleaning house is two-fold. There is the frequent daily or bi-weekly tidying, a superficial review of primary surfaces. General surfaces must be wiped and dusted, a bit of cleaning product to freshen up the air. Heavily trafficked areas require additional focus, sinks, bathtub, toilet, main thoroughfares.

More substantial cleans require more substantial plans. One must focus on those areas that are not immediately clear. A sweep of an open floor will clear up any primary concerns, but you also need to get under the furniture, and into the corners.

It is there that cleaning becomes a process of desperation. This she knew all too well.

Corners are an inherent part of construction and her house, like all others, was full of them. She had been focused on the kitchen for too long now, the better part of the morning it seemed, and was finally down to the corners, those nit picky nooks where all things great and small liked to gather.

She was a neat and tidy person by nature, yet the things that gathered in the corners of her home never ceased to amaze her; especially in the kitchen.

There was the expected sand and dust that gathered in the dark, but there was also bits of food, strange sticky patches, and other unidentified detritus.

Her left knee crackled as she maneuvered in for a better angle, sliding the bucket of warm soapy water in with her. She squeezed out the rag and reached into the corner, wiping, swiping, and sweeping at the collected mess.

She would finish eventually, and she would be satisfied with a job well done, but for now, she felt trapped, cornered by the hard to reach places.

She paused to wipe a speck of food off the face of the white drawers and realized her day was only just beginning. She would also have to clean out the drawers and make sure that the corners in them were free of dirt and debris as well.

Cornered by the corners. She sighed and resumed work on the floor, scrubbing with a renewed intensity, eager to complete her task.