Spin Cycle

Hearing that the laundry in the washing machine had nearly finished the last spin cycle, she headed down into the shadows of the basement. Enough of the rain-soaked daylight filtered through the windows that she didn’t need to turn on the fluorescent lights. Crossing from the stairs to the washer, she glanced out the window and thought she should clean the glass: the cobwebs had gotten out of control. Big old house. Too much to do.

She hadn’t timed it right: the washer continued to whir softly. The sound lulled her, as did the tiny green light confirming that the spin cycle was still in progress. Her gaze shifted to the red light indicating that the machine’s lid was locked, and she stood staring for a moment, considering going upstairs to finish what she’d been doing, but then deciding against it. She would just have to come back down again in a minute anyway. She remained where she was till the cycle ended.