The Locked Door

Part 2

For the next couple of hours Jaya filled garbage bags with clothes and linen, some to go to charity, others to go in the bin. Next she tackled the kitchen, boxing up anything that was still useful and throwing out the rest. By one o’clock, satisfied with her efforts Jaya set out to walk to the local shops to get some lunch.

After buying a pasty and a cold drink Jaya found a seat in the small patch of green in the middle of town and ate her lunch in the sun. Half an hour later, she made her way back to her grandmother’s house and continued her task.  By six that evening she had cleared out her grandmother’s bedroom, the kitchen and started on the living room. The two piles of garbage bags and boxes had grown steadily and although her back ached, Jaya was pleased with her progress. While in town at the shops earlier she had bought some supplies for a simple dinner and after cooking it she ate it outside with a glass of wine enjoying the last of the daylight. 

As the light faded, the temperature dropped and Jaya moved back inside. She washed the dishes, closed most of the windows, made up a bed and after a warm shower got into it with a sigh. But although Jaya was tired she found she couldn’t sleep. The house was too quiet. She was used to living in the city with traffic and industry and here there was just not enough noise. So getting up, she retrieved her ipod and turning it on with the volume low she got back into bed and was asleep in minutes. 

The next morning Jaya continued going through the house. First up she completed her work in the living room. Her mother had given her a list of things she wanted to keep as had her two sisters. There were also a couple of things Jaya wanted herself. These items Jaya packed up and made sure to keep them separate from the boxes to go to charity. 

After finishing the living room, she moved to the more formal front room. Finished there an hour or so later, she began on the bathroom. More than any other room, even her grandmother’s bedroom, Jaya felt saddest there. Packing up her grandmother’s toiletries hit her in a way that nothing else had and after a few minutes she had to stop and get some fresh air before she could continue. 

A short time later Jaya was back at her task and within half an hour the bathroom was empty. After stopping for some lunch Jaya started on the laundry. Almost everything in this room she threw out, leaving only the aging washing machine and some pegs. 

It was now mid-afternoon and Jaya was beginning to tire but she was determined to press on. The only rooms in the small house left to clear out were the two spare bedrooms that her and her sisters used when they stayed over. 

The first room contained two single beds, a chest of drawers and a free standing cupboard. In going through the clothes the cupboard contained Jaya smiled as she remembered her and her sisters as kids dressing up in the old dresses. On a whim Jaya decided to take the dresses back with her and show them to her sister’s before she gave them away. Maybe they could have one last dress up session in memory of their grandmother before they got rid of them. 

With that room finished, the only room that remained untouched was the room she was sleeping in. That would keep until the next day she decided with a yawn. In the morning she would call the charity to get them to come and pick up the furniture and the bags and boxes she had packed and while she waited for them she would go through the remaining room. If the charity could come the next day Jaya might be able to go home that evening. There would still be some furniture to sell but the bulk of the work would be done. She would fill her car with the things her siblings and her mother wanted to keep, organise disposal of the rubbish and take pictures of anything to be sold. 

Stiff from all the packing and sorting, she rolled her shoulders to loosen them before showering eating dinner and falling into bed.