resolute urgency - [kire]

Sunlight flickered on the bundle he held in his arms as he made his way through the streets of District Nine. It wasn't that heavy of a package, but it was a little awkward to hold because of its shape. Craig was delivering a parcel for his mother, a specially shaped and scented soap for a woman who lived four streets away from them. The faint scent of the soap was barely detectable through the cloth his mother had used to bind it up. He breathed in deeply, enjoying the delicate scent of lavender and lily of the valley. It was the same scent his mother so often smelled like, working with soaps all day as she did. It was as if she would forever smell like the soaps she crafted. Though he continued to walk, Craig shut his eyes for a moment, savoring the memory that rose to his mind of when he was younger and his mother had let him help her to make a batch of soap much like this one. He had made the counter top slippery with the watery soap mixture, sloshing the contents of the bowl he was supposed to be mixing gently.

He opens his eyes, pushing back the memory. He had to get this soap delivered before too much of the day had passed; he should be back at work in a couple of hours. Making his way down the street to the house where he was to deliver the soap. He had made decent time, even if he had paused a bit while thinking about his mother and his memories. Knocking on the door, doing his best not to drop the soap as he did so, Craig waited for the woman to open the door. When she did, he greeted her with a smile and told her he was delivering the custom-made soap she had asked for. She smiled at him then went back into her house for a moment, returning with some money. He tried to refuse the money, reminding her she had already paid for the soap, but it was no good. She told him that he had earned it, and that he was gentlemanly. He bowed his head sheepishly and left, thanking her politely for the money he didn’t want. She needed it more than he did, it wasn’t right.

He wandered back down the little street, not in any rush because he still had time to spare before returning to work. An hour to kill before he was to go back to the factory where he worked and begin to pack grain into sacks for shipping. It was not the greatest job in the world, but it wasn't horrible. He supposed he could find another job, but then someone else would have to do the task he was giving up. In the end, the job wouldn't change and it would only be someone else having to struggle with a job that he could do just fine.

While he was thinking, he had walked part of the way towards his work. He sighed, not quite ready to return to the noisy, stuffy atmosphere of the factory. As he slowed his pace to take more time to enjoy his surroundings, he noticed a boy of about his age standing in one of the side-streets connecting to the road he walked on. It was curious that he wasn't either at school or doing work, as most people his age were. Not that it bothered Craig much, he didn't judge people on differences. He ignored the boy, carrying on his slow walk back to the factory. His mind wandered to the idea that his boss may offer him a promotion, or at least that was what the rumor was. Personally, he didn't think the rumor was true, what had he done to earn a promotion, but others insisted they had heard talk of it. That's probably exactly what they heard, just talk. Probably said by someone who thinks I should be promoted, for whatever reason, rather than someone who knows. Ah, but that was the joy with rumors, you never knew where the start of them was. Either way, I doubt anything of the sort would happen. I just go to work, do my job, help my mother with her soap-making and go home. There is someone else who deserves the promotion more than me.

But that was the trouble with Craig, he never acknowledged anything good about himself. However, this did not mean he focused on the bad, far from it. He just didn't think much about himself, instead he tried to help out others. He'd help others even if it meant less for him. And now he needed to start actually heading to his job, he would rather not be late.