Jaethryn stopped the mare, Lythialan, and stared at the pile of refuse lying on the ground under the "No Trash On Ground" sign. He buried his nose in his shoulder and stepped forward. The stench increased with every step he took. His eyes watered as he opened the garbage can behind the pile of trash. Not a speck of garbage decorated the inside of the can. Jaethryn took a deep breath, intending to curse, and instead coughed at the putrid smell. He started picking up the trash and tossing it in the can, all the while mentally cursing his fellow elves inconsiderate actions.
The can's not even full. But they couldn't be bothered to put their garbage in it. Oh no, can't have them staining their precious hands by touching a rubbish bin.
With the pile now deposited into the can, he grabbed the handle, pulled the can off the ground, and carried it to the cart. Four other cans already rested on the wooden planks. He was only halfway done and already running behind. Lythialan shied away from the foul smelling gloves, nostrils flaring and eyes rolling. Jaethryn sighed. He clicked his tongue and walked towards the next can. She followed after him, but back a few paces. Every so often he could hear her blow out air and shake her head.
We both got the short end of the stick, didn't we? Too bad we didn't realize it when we volunteered.
The next can looked similar to the previous one. Only this time the can was about half full and the garbage piled in front smelled worse. As he cleaned up the mess, a glob of something rank fell and left a long streak down his trouser leg landing on his boot. He dropped the stuff still in his hands in the can and bent down to clean up the rest.
"I'm glad to see you, Jaethryn," a voice called out.
"Great. Just what I needed," he mumbled then turned to the speaker with a strained smile. "Nessilida, how good it is to see you today."
"I do hate to bring this up," the woman stared and then plunged on. "Even in this cool spring weather, we find the rubbish to be particularly offensive to the nose. We do hope that you can come up with a solution to the difficulty before summer is upon us."
"I'll do my best," he replied and turned to pick up the can. There wouldn't be this problem if you actually put the trash in the can.
"We know you will." She hurried away, covering his nose and mouth with a delicate hand.
Lythialan tossed her head as he carried the can to the back of the cart.
"Come on, before we offend someone else with the stench of their own trash."
On the last pickup, Jaethryn was approached by another member of the community.
"I understand that this position you hold may not be the easiest, but when you were chosen, it was under the assumption that this important duty would be fulfilled in a timely manner. If you are late again, I'm afraid we will have to take drastic measures."
What kind of drastic measures?
Jaethryn nodded, his cheeks burning at the reprimand. Under the man's watchful gaze, he cleaned up the rubbish and hauled the can to the cart. He walked in silence with Lythialan to the dump and methodically emptied all of the cans then covered everything with a fresh layer of dirt. His back ached and his mind raced. The great trees kept most of the sun off him as he worked but the air in this air weighed down on him.
He went through the route for tomorrow. The seconday and fourthday routes were the most time consuming because he had to circumvent the council chambers. The councilmen didn't like to look at the garbage pickup and insisted he take a longer route. He took a moment to check the compost pile to see if it would be ready for thirday and then headed back into civilization. He passed a couple of cans on the way to the stable and groaned inwardly as he saw the piles around the cans.
With Lythialan rubbed down, fed, and stabled, he headed home, looking forward to a shower and clean clothes. The Council of Elder Elves waited outside for him. All of their faces were grim and they wore their official robes.
"Jaethryn, we understand that there have been some concerns regarding your performance," one of the men said.
As the councilman continued to explain their complaints, Jaethryn concentrated on his toes.
"And in conclusion, we expect you to perform better in the future."
How embarrassing. At least they can't threaten me with docked pay — the joys of living in a commune — wait a minute. They can't dock my pay. How are they going to punish me? Make me pick up garbage?
The council had already turned away.
"Excuse me, councilors. I resign."
They stared at him for a moment. "What?"
"I quit. I don't want to pick up your garbage anymore."
"You, you can't do that."
"And how are you going to stop me?" Jaethryn asked, his lips twisting up into a smile.
"But —"
"Have a good day," he said and turned on his heel.
He walked home and laughed to himself.
Let's see the other elves of the Enchanted Forest try and be a garbage man. Maybe when I decide to take the job back in a year, they'll actually do what they're supposed to.
Jaethryn pulled his gloves off and threw them in the nearest garbage bin. Then he went home to pull out his tuba and practice. He would miss his job, but he didn't want to let anyone know until they were ready to change.
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