Shannon was a bit sleepy as she yawned in the car. She was driving to her job as a grave digger for the local cemetery. She's had this job for roughly 8 months now and was a pretty sweet gig. Of course, the holes weren't dug by hand, it's not the 1800's anymore. She had machinery to do all the hard work for her. Which was a relief considering that she's 5'4". Not that she was short by any means, but the notion of digging a six foot hole by hand would've been challenging to say the least. Although, she wouldn't be adverse to manual labor as she loved being outside getting her hands dirty. Often her days off were spent in the garden or doing yard work outside of the house. Shannon then drove into the parking lot as she saw Mr. Bennet smoking a cigarette outside of the building.
"What's up, Mr. B?" Said Shannon as she stepped out of the car.
Mr. Bennet took another puff of his cigarette before dropping it onto the ground and stepping on it.
"So listen. I've got 3 holes that need to be dug today."
It usually takes 4-5 hours to dig one hole, and the cemetery usunally never exceeded two a day. Shannon was only slated for an eight hour shift, but she was always eager to take on overtime for the extra money.
"Alright, I got ya. I need the extra money anyway."
"Here's the thing, young lady. I don't have the funds to pay you overtime this week. So I'll be working the compact excavator while you dig your hole with a shovel."
Now Mr. Bennet was a burley man, roughly standing at 6'3". It would make more sense for him to use the shovel while she used the excavator.
"I know whacha thinkn', and I agree I can shovel a lot faster than you. However, the two holes I'll be digging are near the front office, where I can watch incoming customers. Your hole is on the slope in the back."
"The same slope in the slightly wooded area, are you crazy?"
"I ain't crazy. You'll see a stake in the ground for where I want you to dig."
"But we haven't dug a grave back there since I started! Why now all the sudden?!"
"In truth, the soil is pretty shoddy back there, but the family paying of the grave couldn't afford anything better so that's what I offered them."
Perhaps this situation wouldn't be so bad for the 23 year-old. She would have the birds chirping in the trees and the squirrels scurrying about while she enjoyed the fresh woodland air. She would be able to work in peace and tranquility -- heck, it probably wouldn't feel like work at all.
"Making a lady dig a hole by hand, such a gentlemen."
"Buy yourself a soda, kid. It's gonna be a tough day digging your first grave by hand." Said Mr. Bennet as he handed her a $5 bill. "Oh, and try to lose the sass."
Shannon playfully stuck her tongue out as she made her way into the reception area to grab herself a Dr. Pepper and some Fritos. She stuffed the two in her pockets as she punched herself in on the time clock. As a point of clarification, her outfit was a one-piece work suit with extra large pockets; perfect for stuffing tools into or some snacks (she usually elected for the latter). The work suit was dark blue with long pant legs and long sleeves on top. It covered everything except for her hands and face. While walking to the toolshed, Shannon grabbed a scrunchie out of her other pocket and tied her hair back in a ponytail. She then opened up the tool shed and began scanning the space for said shovel.
"Ugh, this tool shed looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years. Mr. B really needs to take care of this already. That shovel could be anywhere."
It took about five minutes before she realized it was crammed behind the lawn mower. She then positioned herself behind the lawn mower to pull the shovel out.
"Wow! This thing has seen better days."
The shovel itself was rusting and the handle was beat up to all the hell. Besides the aesthetics, though, it still seemed like it should get the job done. And at the end of the day, that's all Shannon really cared about. After exiting the shed she threw the shovel over her shoulder to make her way towards the back of the cemetery. It was a bit of a trek, but after 12 minutes she reached the wooded area. She took a look back at the main office, realizing it was about a half-mile away.
"I never realized how big this place is. I'm usually excavating graves near the front of the property."
Shannon proceeded 20-25 feet into the wooded area before reaching a stake in the ground. It was Mr. Bennet's clue that the grave was going to be dug here.
"Really? Out here? I don't see any other graves around here."
She perused the area to see if she could identify any other graves in the vicinity. Sure enough, she found a couple of hedge stones not too far away.
"1668...1712...1691. It looks like this end hasn't been used for centuries now. That explains all the vegetation back here."
Shannon's gandering had eaten up enough of her time, she now was ready to start digging that hole. She removed the stake from the ground and plunged the shovel into the dirt. Given that the area was slopping downward ever so slightly, Shannon had to dig the hole in smaller sections. This precautionary measure would prevent soil erosion and make things progress more smoothly. This process was not without its troubles, however, as the young girl would have to stop every so often to remove a rock. Two hours had passed in a flash with Shannon hitting the two feet mark.
"Whew! I need a break."
Shannon jumped out of the hole and plopped her butt on a nearby stump.
"If I keep up this pace, I could have this hole dug in six hours. Maybe Mr. B will allow me to go home early."
The girl sipped on her Dr. Pepper as she peered over at Mr. Bennet using the excavator. While he was illuminated perfectly in the sunlight, Shannon was surrounded by the shadows of the woods. In fact, there was so much vegetation and trees around her that she guessed that Mr. Bennet couldn't see her from his vantage point. Despite being in the shaded area, she felt extremely hot. All her muscles were scorching after the intense workout she just gave them.
"Gosh, it be great if I were by a pool right now. I could take a quick dip to cool off."
She fanned herself with her hand for a moment before contemplating something quite bizarre.