Deck of Cards

Day 4- Hannah

Three of spades- cleaning all day

Hannah's POV

My happiness that I had at the start had been stripped away to leave a broken person, I had lost all my optimism within the first day. I didn't want to wake up, to open my eyes and face the damp walls and moldy floor. It depressed me.

The food they called breakfast would be sat there waiting for me like some sick guard, I wouldn't touch it. It had made me ill on the first night. The pack of cards sat in the corner of the room, although it was such a small object it seemed to take up the whole cell. It consumed everything in its path.

Crawling over,I went to see what hell I would be facing that day. Three of spades. All I knew was that it would be an all day job which immediately filled me with dread. I had already grown to hate spades.

My guard came clinking in, expressionless as usual. He didn't really seemed bothered with what I did, as long as it didn't disrupt him. He didn't seem to care about the whole game thing which surprised me. I suppose I had assumed that he would be absorbed in the game- that it would be his whole life.

"Cleaning all day," he grumbled lowly so I had to strain my ears to hear. Cleaning, great. The one thing that I couldn't do to save my life.

I was led out in handcuffs because apparently we had to walk quite far and he didn't want me running off. The corridors were dark and gloomy but all impressively long. It got me wondering how big the place we were in was. At first I thought it was small, like I was in the basement of a house. But in the first day it was clear that I was at least in a warehouse if not something bigger. The walls were made of stone which added even more confusion to the mix. These thoughts ran through my mind as I was dragged along corridors which I would soon become acquainted to.

It was cold in the corridors but I was used to the cold. Living on the streets prepared you for lots of things. My train of thought was stopped when we approached a door; it was large and made of a heavy metal, giving the illusion that it was completely indestructible. Without even really telling me my brief, I was thrust into a room and I watched as the door slam shut. I was all alone.

What hit me the most in the room was the smell- an overpowering, nostril burning smell. It was rancid. When I dared to turn around and face it ,I felt the bile rise up my throat. Faeces everywhere, dead animals and dirt. Rubbish littered the floor and there were strange liquids in plastic bottles.

I didn't want to begin, to delve into the mess but I feared what would happen if I didn't do my task. They would have probably shot me without a thought. In my hand were some basic cleaning equipment but not nearly enough to deal with the sheer volume of mess that lay in front of me.

My battle plan- start from one corner of the room and work my way round. I decided to start on the left and work my way round to the right. The first job I had to do was remove some rotting faeces, the dogs' I thought, and I gagged the minute I saw it. Flies swarmed round the piles like an audience, causing a dull drone to be emitted as they hovered. With eyes closed I placed a rubber glove on and reached for it. To my disgust, it was warm in my hand and ,as fast as I could, I dropped it into the plastic bag. Who could do that to someone? Make them clean up that disgusting mess? Tears stung my eyes as I picked up rat bodies and dirty nappies, bottles of urine and even more faeces.

When the majority of the dirt was tidied away, the room smelt a lot better but it was still covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust. Vacuum in hand, I got rid of it within thirty minutes and surprisingly it was a very satisfying feeling. I never thought I would say that. Cleaning was satisfying.

Once the dirt had been removed,I began to clean all the surfaces with hot soapy water and the dirt lifted like magic. I had to admit, in five hours the room was almost decent. There were still streaks on the floor and dirt on the walls but that wasn't a challenge. I felt like I had conquered something bigger than a dirty room. I think the chemicals got to my head.

When my time was up, the room was spotless. Not an inch of dirt left. I had to admit, I was impressed with myself. Very impressed. So was the guard by the look on his face when he walked in the room and was greeted by the shining walls and floor.

"Good job love," he grunted in a heavy British accent. Maybe I'm getting the hang of this, I thought quietly to myself as we marched back to my room, maybe I can make it through this game alive.

Don't underestimate people you haven't seen.