ASHER
The mop bucket was heavier than it looked. I found that out on the first morning when I dragged it across the east corridor at five fifteen AM with my arms already aching and the sky outside the windows still completely dark and the whole building silent except for the sound of wheels on the stone floor.
By day three I'd stopped noticing the weight and by day five I'd stopped noticing most things.
I moved through the punishment the way I'd learned to move through everything difficult in my life. Put your head down. Set a rhythm. Don't think too far ahead. Just the next section of floor. Just the next row of hedges. Just the next stack of trays in the kitchen that needed scrubbing before the breakfast service started.
Don't think because thinking was the dangerous part.
