Page 18 - Contrast2009

flootboards

sarakrane'

Greta<pushed the oaken handle of the broom across the planks
of her sun porch, bleached to the faded white color of bones
resti'ng under a hot prairie sun. The calm swish, swish of
the bristles lulled her into absent thought, ~eminding her
once again how she enjo~ed the freedom ,afforded her bY,such
;,prosaic tasks; while her body engaged in the seemingly mind-
.numbing application of shoving about a broom, her mind was
freed to wander. Eor Greta, sweeping floors had always been
an act of meditation.

She, pulled her husband's favorite rocking chair away
fro~ its usual sun-drenched spot, planted in front of the
big bay wi'ndow, the 'rockers catching on the floor and making
a Loud ~queaking noise of protest. Her fingers rubbed the
indentations along the worn armrests fondly, before she
applied her broom vigorously to the leaves that had been
caught beneath the chair.

Greta gathe~ed the leaves in a neat pile and began
to-usher them across.'the room. They rasped and crunched,
clinging to the floorboards obstinately. She pushed open
the warped, creaky door find prepared to fling the shameJess
invaders from her pristine sanctuary. As she readied her
:broom, a brisk fall wind blew in through the door, sending
the leaves scattering back into the room, crackling with
deiight at their deliverance. The faded muslin curtains over
'the win~ows swayed tiredly. As the cool breeze struck her
face and ruffled her graying hair, Greta was reminded of how
manyflobrs she had swept over' her years.

Her posture was still' upri,9'htat the age.of sixty five,
'and her skin' had retained 'some 'of its firmness, giving her
'a'resolute look; she carried herself with a de t ermi.ned
iigidit,y that had beeri acquired over years of h~rdship,
through which she had tightened her spine in defiance. As a '
'young girl,' she had been flexible, graceful. She had skipped
tirelessly across'floors, dancing all night in full view of
.the young men who watched her with pleasure and ohe young
. women ,who looked on with bitter, jealous looks smearing
ttie:j,c'arrefully'made-up eyes.

-Du ri.nq childhood,' she and her sister skittered quickly
across the roughly hewn oaken floorboards of her home. They
were forevei catching splinters in their feet, stabbing
cruelly into their tender soles. Their father cuddled them
in his lap, distracting them with tall tales, while the long
silver tongs of his tweezers extracted the sharp slivers