Swift at Rest
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Jane
Date Posted: 7th February 2007
Characters: Swift
Description: Swift takes a break from the kitchens on a restday
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 2, day 7 of Turn 4
Most people enjoyed restdays. Swift regarded them with some distrust.
For him 'restdays' turned up anywhere in a sevenday because if kitchen hands took the same day off as everybody else, then 'everybody' would sit around wishing they had something to eat. Instead he had days off dictated by rosters and lists and fiercely negotiated swapping with the other kitchen workers. Sometimes, when necessary, restdays disappeared altogether for sevendays.
Mostly, though, he didn't mind that. When he was needed in the kitchens, he was there, but any other time he had free. It meant that he had a couple of breaks during the day which he enjoyed. What made him wary of restdays was the number of people milling around doing nothing which made them loiter in the dinning hall and saunter through meals, eating more than usual. Then, when he had his breaks, he would find places that were normally tranquil and empty cluttered with people and families out enjoying themselves.
Grinning at his thoughts, Swift jogged further down the beach. He would swim around the headland, if he had to, to get some peace, but he wasn't really as averse to sharing the sand as his thoughts might suggest. He slowed to a walk. People would go soon, driven into cooler places by the heat.
Not him. He was an all weather outdoors man. Rain, sun, warm, cold – the temperature of the water changed very little. He reached an empty stretch of sand and slowed to a stop. He kicked off his light boots and as he walked toward the water he pulled up the tie at the waist of his shorts and re-knotted it. Absently he checked his pockets as he stepped into the clear tropical water. Nothing that wouldn't survive a swim.
As soon as he was able he made a shallow dive into the small waves.
He enjoyed kitchen work, perhaps he loved it, certainly he'd been drawn to it fifty-five Turns ago when becoming a dolphineer was a more likely future for him, but swimming! There was something about swimming that nothing could match; the movement through the water, the working and the stretch of muscles. As long as he could swim his day was perfect, no matter what else happened.
In the deeper water he rolled onto his back glancing around as he did so to make sure there wasn't anything around that he should be wary of.
Although most boats that came into the bay were aware of the likelihood of swimmers in the water, it was the swimmer's responsibility to keep out of the way of the less manoeuvrable boats. For a while he swam on his back, stretching his arms as he stroked and getting his feet kicking in an even tempo, then he stopped swimming and just floated.
He alomst wished for rain - the lovely tropical downpours that he couldn't complain about whether he was watching them from the kitchens or feeling them on his skin as he swam.
The kitchen hand smiled. Restdays were for other people. A couple of breaks like this every day and got all the 'rest' he needed.
Last updated on the February 9th 2007