Monday
Ben's first day in his house was very productive. After a quick run to get food and coffee, he was ready to start cleaning. He wanted to get his room and kitchen done as fast as possible. He spent a couple of hours plastering up holes in the walls of his bedroom and kitchen. The kitchen was in a sad state. The cabinets themself were intact. The cabinet doors were not. Half of them were missing. A few hung sadly down like loose teeth.
He spent the rest of the morning removing the remaining doors and deep-cleaning the cabinets' interiors. He had to scrape grime off with a scraper. He almost lost the will to finish cleaning the cabinets when he found decomposing mice beneath his sink.
By the afternoon, the kitchen almost looked worse than when he started. The counters were dirty from scraping and cleaning out the cabinets. The floor was even messier than this morning. The only upside was that the cabinets were ready to be sanded and refinished. Ben had measured for doors and drawers during his final walk-through. He got the house for so cheap that he had the money to spend on a nice kitchen.
He leaned against his kitchen island while he chugged some water. He shot off a few texts in his friend's group chat. Ben took one last drink and plugged his phone back into the outlet on the island. He took a few minutes to stretch out his back and shoulders before marching into his bedroom. He was determined to get that room cleaned before nightfall.
Four hours later, Ben regretted every decision he had ever made. He lay face down on his bed in complete agony. He had no idea that deep cleaning could destroy him. He had scrubbed the hell out of his bathroom and bedroom. He went up and down the ladder to scrub as much of the grime off the walls as possible. He wore knee pads as he scrubbed the bathroom and bedroom floors for over an hour. The hardwood freaking gleamed. Every joint and muscle on Ben's body ached deeply. He lay limp on his mattress and fell asleep within minutes.
Ben jerked awake to the sound of his phone ringing. His head was turned to the side. He stared at his phone. His phone was ringing by his face. He continued to stare at it until it stopped. His arms wouldn't move. Ben could have sworn his phone was in the kitchen, plugged in. He slowly sat up and noticed a water bottle and an individual packet of pain reliever on the bed. That was odd. He shrugged and took the pills with some water. He must have grabbed them out of the kitchen before collapsing into bed. He was more tired than he thought. Ben checked his missed calls and called his mom back.
Tuesday
Ben's body was not happy waking up. He used to think of himself as a pretty active guy. He worked in construction while he was in college. He liked to run and hike. At 33, he thought of himself as young. Not young enough to spend that much time on his hands and knees. He decided to take it easier today. He needed to spend a few hours on his actual work. Cleaning the refrigerator out was a must. He could also sand the plaster patches he had applied to the walls, making them ready to paint. With a groan, Ben rolled himself out of bed.
An hour later, Ben was ready to go back to bed. He couldn't find his laptop anywhere. He knew he hadn't packed it up, but it was nowhere to be found. He checked his car, the living room, the kitchen, and his bedroom. He even checked the spare rooms. It was nowhere. That's how Ben ended up digging through all his boxed-up possessions in his garage. He used his laptop the night before he moved in. Logically, he knew it couldn't be boxed up, but it was nowhere else.
He dug through a few more boxes before giving up. He was hungry and needed to clean out the gross fridge before going grocery shopping. He childishly stomped through the house toward the kitchen.
Ben stopped abruptly and stared. On the kitchen island was his computer bag. His computer was in the kitchen, which he had combed several times. He racked his brain. Maybe he didn't look as good as he thought he did. Did he check the island? Obviously not well. He shrugged and got started cleaning the fridge. He could do some work after he got the fridge clean and got some food.
Ben was pleasantly surprised by how productive he was. After grocery shopping, he ate and spent several hours working on some projects for work. He got the walls in his room ready to paint. He even ran to Home Depot to get the paint for tomorrow. He settled on a very light green for his bedroom. He could paint it and hang some curtains tomorrow. While he was at the hardware store, he picked up an obnoxious number of LED lightbulbs. He replaced the lights in his bedroom first. The effect was immediate. With the new lighting, he could see how clean he had gotten the room. The dark view from his window didn't seem as intimidating when the room was lit up.
He put the box of lightbulbs on his bathroom counter. He should get the ladder for this, but it would be easier to use the counter. Thankfully, he wasn't overly tall. It wasn't too much of a challenge to crawl on top of the counters. The bright lights from the bedroom lit up the bathroom enough for him to see what he was doing. He carefully stood and started unscrewing the old light bulbs. He grabbed the box of new lightbulbs and realized there weren't enough inside. Ben cursed. He didn't want to climb back up on the counter. He threw the empty box down and noticed another box of lightbulbs sitting on the counter. Huh. He must have grabbed two boxes.