Prompt Tuesday #23

Every Tuesday I post a writing prompt and my response. It gives me a chance to exercise my writing muscles outside of my WIP, and hopefully inspire you to write. So enjoy my flash fiction piece and post your own in the comments!

Prompt

Source: The Writer's Idea Book first prompt on page 238

Write a scene in which a character receives very disappointing news. Rather than show the disappointment, she does something else, perhaps focuses on refinishing an old chair. Suggest her emotional state through her actions.

Response

Sara opened the letter. Her eyes darted back and forth as the consumed the message on the page. Rejected again, she thought.

She looked down at the floor. A grimy, greasy streak of who knows what ran the whole length of the kitchen. Sara discarded the letter and torn envelope on the counter and moved to the sink. Bending over she removed the bucket and soap. Three caps fulls of the brown goey soap dripped slowly into the bottom of the bucket. Sara stared at the mass of ooze for a moment.

What was I doing? she thought to herself, then spotted the streak again. Oh yeah.

Sara filled the bucket with water. She did not turn the faucet on all the way. Instead she selected a level somewhere between a trickle and a pour and watched as the water level started to rise slowly. Absently she moved the bucket back and forth on its perch. The water swished to and fro as a film of bubbles started to form.

Turning off the water, Sara moved the bucket from the sink to the floor.

"Mop." She said to herself and pulled the mop from its hiding place between the wall and the fridge.

The mop plunged into the hot soapy water. Sara pulled it out and let the water drip from the ends, like tears falling from dozens of eyes. Taking the white strands in her free hand she wrung them out. Squeezing, twisting, turning until they were almost dry. She put the mop to the floor and sighed. Returning the mop to the bucket she repeated the process.

Once again the mop hit the floor. Once again she sighed. I can't clean the floor with a dry mop! she scolded herself.

When she wet the mop again she did not bother to wring it out and just slapped it onto the floor. A puddle of clean water spread across the floor, becoming cloudier as it picked up dirt.

After staring at the murky puddle for a while, Sara got to work. She moved the mop over the floor until it shined.