Dish Army

12^th October 2014

Dear Cassi,

As it always does it started with a dirty sink. That’s how I let my few days off slip by like they never were. Saturday morning when I came home the sink was full of dishes, and they spilled out onto the counter and across the room.

       

I hadn’t the strength to tackle them coming from an eight hour shift of work, having suffered a write-up, and finally capping my day with two hours of cardio at the gym. With this as my backdrop I slept as well as any who sleep during the day and found myself waking often.

       

It was possible at the six or seventh of these wakings that I emptied my bladder and found Pickle awake. It was just past one in the morning and he was in his night garb but wondered if I would cook and so I took that time to rise. I made quinoa and sausages red sauce sandwiches then set onto the task of the dishes. 

       

I cleared the counter and empted the sink on to the old abused white tiles. The dishes I placed in rows like military ranks guarding the gates of the life I wish to be my own.

       

Before engaging this formation of grime armored dishware I set to the stinky towels I’d been soaking over night. I found that the smell of cat urine can only be truly removed by ammonia. The water once blue from this had turned brown and the smell of urine stayed as the towels left.

       

This was the nature of my day of drudgery. I would battle the ranks of the dishes, do laundry, and in the mess of this sleep and draw. I was hampered by a glaze in my left eye that told me how hard my kidneys were working after that workout.

       

Now it’s Sunday night at eight and the weekend is nearly gone. I’ve spent it all working, well, next week I promise myself time to relax, and I know I’ll break that promise.

Stay on top of things, little sister,

Richard Leland Neal