A Bit of Cleaning

"Ah," he sighed. "I suppose it's been a long time since I've visited."

The small cottage was overgrown; the inside was stale with dust on every surface. With his disturbance, particles swirled into the sunlight glowing through dull windows. Webs lined the corners of the rooms, housing comfortable and fat spiders. Other small insects skittered into the crevices, hiding from the giant that now disturbed their space.

He turned and gazed around a bit more before taking a deep breath. Yoel knew he had to clean everything and make it a livable space once more. Years have passed since he had been here—his humble little abode off the beaten path. Work had kept him from finding a cozy home, and now that he was back, there was much work to be done. Yoel let out a steady breath before he smiled.

"Let's get to work then!"

He decided to tackle the dusting first. It was probably the easiest job, but there was a lot of it. Every inch of the cottage was covered in a layer of grime. He had to pry a couple of windows open to ventilate. Sweeping and wiping down everything he could. It was meticulous and time-consuming. He was halfway done by the time afternoon came, allowing him to sit down and eat something before continuing on his mission. Luckily, no one came in to trash the place, so there was no trash to clean—only the coated surfaces.

Once he was done with that, he continued by wiping the windows down. First on the inside, then on the outside. Yoel didn't have any proper cleaner, only water and elbow grease so the slime on the windows kept them somewhat dull, but enough to where he could see out of the glass. That was good enough for him!

He took any cushions and pillows outside to beat any dust out of them too. A few bugs were flung out as well. Once Yoel was satisfied, he would return the cushions where they belonged. His bedding was next. All of it needed to be washed. Birds filled the air with song as he did the laundry, watching as the sun dipped down into the horizon. Perhaps it wasn't too smart to do laundry near nighttime, but nothing was clean to sleep on. That was alright, he could camp out on his bed. The spring air was also warm enough to let them dry out even at night. They'd be sure to dry by tomorrow afternoon.

There were no supplies for food either, so Yoel dug through his bag to cook some rations. Seems he'd have to go to town to get some supplies. He wanted to work on the outside as it looked so disheveled, but Yoel knew he would have to do that another time. What was important was that he needed to become comfortable in his own space. The outside could wait awhile.

Yoel sat by a candle as he ate his meal. He'd have to get the electricity back up and the water flowing. For now, he would rest and deal with the rest tomorrow. Once he was done with his food, he would blow out the candle and lay down on his side, his adventure pack used as a pillow. It was comfortable enough.