Shining Rock Wilderness (Ncwn Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize, 2007) (Short Story‪)‬

Jason called while I was finishing the Grahams' kitchen. I straighten their house every afternoon after my other cleaning jobs. It's an easy house, one couple, no kids or pets. They run a travel agency and like to come home to a house that looks like a hotel is what I think. I change the towels in their bathroom every day and tri-fold them on the racks like Mrs. Graham showed me. I make the bed Hollywood style, rolling the pillows tight, clean up the breakfast dishes in the kitchen, and I'm done. They leave me a ten on the counter every day, just for that. "I got my promotion, pay raise and all," said Jason. "Let's eat out tonight." We've been married barely a year, but Jason's already got big goals, wanting to be a supervisor at his surveying company before he turns thirty.