Cleaning the Latrines (22 April)

[09:06 PM]  Tala Moonwing shudders with horror at the chore she is about to undertake and lifts her chin in determination, knowing it was necessary for the comfort, and cleanliness of their village. Stripping off her favorite kirtle, she tucked it carefully away dug up her oldest and most worn out work camisk.

[09:11 PM]  Tala Moonwing finds some wooden sticks that had been widdled into blunt points and sticks them into her long blond hair, carefully pinning up the silvery locks to keep them from tumbling over creamy shoulders. She rummaged through the basket of utensils in the kitchen until she found what she seeked, one of the pins that was used to hang the clothes up to dry and grinned with relief. She clipped it to her nose tightly, uncaring how it made her look or how much it pinched the delicate skin.

[09:13 PM]  Tala Moonwing carefully fills a bucket with boiling water, and adds cold water to it as well, stirring in a handful of strong cleansing soap that the girls made anually, enough to last them many sesasons if carefully crated. Tossing in a large scrubrush and tucking a number of old rags into her rope belt, she made her way to the nearest Latrine with a brave face, though rather silly -looking face.

[09:19 PM]  Tala Moonwing: She approached the latrine next to the bond kennel and with a deep breath of fresh air, she tugged open the door and peered around the wooden frame, biting back a groan of dusgust as the wave of fumes greetged her, flies swarmed around her body, eagerly landing on her fresh, young skin, that seemed to want to crawl inside itself as if to escape the chore that awaited her.

[09:26 PM]  Tala Moonwing lifts her chin and marches in setting the bucket of hot, soapy water down and plunging her hand into the water, not allowing the water to even drain from the brush she slapped it with gusto on the seat, scrubbing for all she was worth.

[09:31 PM]  Tala Moonwing: Her musical voice rose to full throttle as she srubbed away, moving around to the base and along the wooden shelf that the seat rested on, as if the beauty of song could banish the distate of this particular chore. She was optimisic by nature however, and despite the smell that brought tears to her bright, emerald eyes, she knew that her sisters would smile in relief when they stumbled out in the morning to a clean outhouse.

[09:34 PM]  Tala Moonwing winced slightly as she peered into the gaping hole, and gauged how full it was and swalled quickly as the smell rose to greet her. The seat, the shelf and the floor and walls now scrubbed clean she backed her way out quickly and took in great gulps of fresh air, setting the filthy water down for a moment while she drank in the sweet smell of wind and soil and the surrounding fir trees.

[09:36 PM]  Tala Moonwing quickly makes her way to the edge of the village, climbing the hill that led to the outcropping of trees and tossed the water into the forest's edge, to be consumed by the plants that would benefit from the .. ripe.. watering.

[09:40 PM]  Tala Moonwing hurried back to her Jarl's cabin for more supplies, praying to His Great Spirit that none would see her in her present state, and scampered inside to retrieve a large shovel and wooden tub, along with two more wooden pails. Dragging the supplies back to the now almost clean latrine, she made her way to the back to complete the last, and worst part of her task.

[09:46 PM]  Tala Moonwing crouched before the small wooden door at the back, and unclasped it with dread, shuddering as the deep metal pan was exposed. The door was not high up enough that any could see to invade the privacy of the user, should they be so inclined to mischief, it was only big enough to allow the pan to be removed and emptied, and cleaned. She pulled it out carefully, so that none of the feces or urine would splash on her body and with a grimace she poured the foul mixture into one of the wooden pails, filling it nearly full and then pouring the rest into the other pail. Dropping the dirty pan on the ground behind the latrine she slowly carried each pail, one in each hand to the trees once more, offering them even more fresh fertilizer.

[09:47 PM]  Tala Moonwing made her way back to the latrine and fetched the dirty pan, tossing it into one of the buckets and heading to the river to rinse them all out. She vowed she would bathe as soon as this was over with for she could not bare to be seen looking and smelling as she did.

[09:49 PM]  Tala Moonwing reached the edge of the river, far aways down where the water rolled, and twisted, churning and chattering over smooth-polished stones that gleamed in the setting sun. She crouched before the water and plunged the pails and the pan into the cold water, letting the river scrub them clean with sediment and stone, and rinsing them well.

[09:51 PM]  Tala Moonwing rose to her feet, holding the now clean supplies in the only clean part of her body, her hands, and hurried back to the latrine to replace the now shining odor-free pan. With a twist to the iron hook she closed it tightly and made her way to her Jarl's cabin to clean find a fresh kirtle to take back to the river for her own bath. Once more her voice rose in song, a tribute to the home and family that she loved, the new sisters she had been blessed with, the Free that she has been priviledged to serve and with a light heart and a happy smile she scampered eagerly back to the river for her bath.