aprilxbishopโ:
Armed with a black trash bag and a litter-pick, blonde hair tied back in a kerchief that was both fashionable (shiny, pale-green silk, patterned with little blue flowers) and functional (her hair stayed put; only a few flyaways escaped and stuck sweatily to her forehead, like a chic hairstyle from the 1930s), April had already spent an hour since breakfast at Knocking Lake. Today, she was the lone representative of Radcliffeโs Green Initiative Club. A few others had made promises, put their names on the sign-up sheet, but many of them had also posted from the same frat party last nightโ which meant they were all probably still in bed, nursing their respective hangovers. So it was just April, dutiful April, spearing litter out of the mud and shooing beer cans out from under foliage. It was amazing how much trash there was in the world once you really lookedโ gum wrappers and bottle caps and cigarettes. So many cigarettes! Sheโd thought that people were supposed to be smoking less nowadays. Or at least, switching over to E-cigs and mango-flavored vapes. But the evidence of Radcliffeโs unkicked habit was quite literally all around her: butts thrown in the grass, butts buried in the sand. Butts bobbing in the shallows.ย
Up and down the banks she went all morning, her Green Initiative shirt dampening under the arms, pulling junk out of the weeds and stopping only once for a break, and in spite of the trash and the sunโs unseasonal heat, in spite of the pesky gnats that millioned near the water, her mood was good. Happy, even. She felt uplifted by the work; doing it reminded her that there were still people in the world who cared, like her, like theย other, absent but already-forgiven members of the Green Initiative โย surely, that meant things would be okay. Then April bent down and pushed aside some reeds by the waterโs edge, and saw it floating like a dying dentist-office fishโ a used condom. Her recoil was automatic. Her horror, swift and immediate. The reeds whipped back and the resulting splash sent the condom gliding out towards open water, carried by a length of ripples. โOh no, come back!โ She couldnโt let some poor bird find it, mistake it for a wormโ the thought alone made her stomach do a queasy somersault, and April leapt quickly onto a flat rock, jabbing at it with her pick, missing wildly. โShoot!โ Pivoting on the toes of her sneakers, trying to spot the fugitive bit of latex, only then did she notice someone had stopped to watch her frantic spearfishing. Both exertion and embarrassment stained her cheeks bright pink. โSorry, I just, I canโt let it get awayโ do you see it anywhere?โ
@radopens
A night spent tossing and turning, accompanied by screens and frenzied writing didnโt bode well for the day Siobhan had planned. Never did, but it wasnโt a habit she had learned how to break yet. Couldnโt with the way her body shook and her thoughts swarmed, but she wasnโt going to attach any practicality to it now or ever. Instead, she had bust out of the dorms an hour after remembering her promise to April. Aggravation swelled, at herself,ย โcause it was April and Apriil didnโt deserve empty words. Siobhan didnโt think much on it. She still wore her silk cut-off pajamas in a royal blue, slipped on some old sneakers and left her hair uncombed -- a curled heap soon weighed down by the sunโs heat. In the bathroom stall, before she had left, Siobhan had chugged a Redbull, hidden from viewย โcause it didnโt fit the image she had construed for herself. Something frivolous that she continued to hold onto even if it meant nothing. At the very least, she tossed the can into the recyclables. Her hands were always shaky, anyway. Unnoticeable.ย
The sight of April was reassuring. In a maybe-youโre-not-the-only-person-whoโs-lost-it sort of way, not that Siobhan would ever think of herself or April like that. Not so openly, at least. It was just that Aprilโs heated search, balanced on a rock as Siobhan gawked on, looking like she had just rolled out of bed and onto this very spot, was a sight to behold.ย โYouโre killing it, angel,โ Siobhan praised once April caught sight of her and followed it by a clap -- an extra show of goodwill.ย โSorry Iโm late. I had a total brain blast last night. Slept past my alarm clock. So much to do, so little time.โ Small talk was exchanged as if they were leaning across the breakfast table, mimosas in hand. Siobhan moved closer to the waterโs edge, trying to catch sight of the piece of trash April had closed in on. โWhereโs everyone else?โ The question was cut through with exasperation as she took a break from her own search to peer around with contorted brows. Then, just as quickly, a loud,ย โAh ha!โ followed and Siobhan pointed at the now realized condom, floating out further from the shore. Without another word, she kicked off her sneakers and then slipped off her shirt and shorts, tossing them onto the grass behind her. Now, Siobhan only stood in matching robin blue, cotton undergarments.ย โIโll grab it,โ was her only explanation, before she grabbed Aprilโs pick from her hand and began wading out into the water. And, despite the whole show behind it, a genuine sigh of contentment fell past her lips, the cool water providing some relief from the beating sun.ย โNot half-bad in here, Bishop, if youโre wanting a break!โ