Labour of Love
Are those footsteps? Yay! She is coming. The Missus is coming!!!
A pulling sensation. Then. Whoosh.
Brrr…. that water sure is cold. Mmm…I love that scent. Lavender-eucalyptus, I think I heard her say. Ooo — fabric softener. When did she discover liquid fabric softener? Oh look at the lovely colours. Yellow stripes. Teal Stripes. Hawaiian prints of all hues.
My lips close.
Swirling colours. Round, round, round and round. Looks like Junior has grown this year. And Little Love too. And the baby. Oh, the baby is such a big boy now. Round, round, round and round.
I love this time of the year. The Missus comes to visit every day. With the same inventory. Three towels. Three bathing suits. Shorts. Shirts. Cover-ups. Round, round, round and round. Except for swimming lesson days. Additional items on certain days give away the schedule. Junior and Little Love take lessons on Sundays and Tuesdays. The baby takes his on Tuesday and Thursday. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time with The Missus on Tuesdays.
Drenched with the irresistible scent of sunscreen, salt, and chlorine. Round, round, round and round. The colours swirl and twirl in my belly. The excitement of the day, tears shed over imagined slights, sweat, dirt, glitter. All washed away. Round, round, round and round.
I know all of their secrets. Who has grown. What new treasures they have squirreled away in pockets deep. Legos. Candy wrappers. Love notes. Rocks. Round, round, round and round. Noisy, thumping rocks. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Thirty minutes. Thirty minutes is the amount of time I have to prepare my family for another summer day. Round, round, round and round.
And round and round.
And round.
And…
Red Writing Hood is a writing meme. The most frequent advice given to amateur writers is, “Write what you know.” This week’s prompt asked us to take what we know out of our comfort zones. Try a new genre, a new time period, a geography you’ve only dreamed of, fantasy or historical instead of contemporary fiction, try the male POV if you usually write women. Or vice versa. Or, in this case, from the perspective of my trusted, dependable washing machine. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.
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I love this!
Now I wonder what my washing machine says about us when it’s home alone. Do you suppose it talks to the dishwasher? 🙂
Why, yes. I believe it does.
Enjoyed the read very much. So vivid…
Loved it! The musings on the family and their activities are great! I’m with Irene – now I’m a little worried about what my washer thinks about us. Thank goodness we’re too broke and too cheap to go for “smart” appliances!
Such a quirky wonderful piece! I’m just spun, like the washer. A great, unexpected bit of writing. I loved it!
SO sweet and indicative of summer.
What a great perspective!
Ah yes, the washing machine! Overused and underrated? Such an interesting take on the prompt!
Thanks for all the love!!! I had been wanting to write about the shift in laundry loads each summer all week. This prompt provided a different way for me to approach it.
I loved your writing.. but really? You wash all the towels and swimsuits after each and every use??
We live in SoCal and are in and out of the water many, many times during the course of the week. After sitting in backpacks out in the sun, the swim gear needs a good washing.