A Midsummer Week's Work

Garrett Caddes

Ms. Oliver

World Lit Honors 2

25 April 2014

A Midsummer Week’s Work

            In the end, it was all worth it. After a week of hard work, it was time for the big reveal. My dad and I had spent our July building planter boxes in our side yard for my mom. She had always wanted a garden to work on as her little side project and finally, we built it for her.

            We brought her around the corner of the house, blindfolded, singing happy birthday. The blindfold came off and she looked at the two planter boxes in all their glory, ten feet long, five feet wide, made out of brand new wood planks that looked perfectly at home in a garden. Fresh soil was poured in to the brim, with little green bulbs sticking out above the surface, ready to sprout and experience the blessing of life. The sun beamed down upon the beautiful, hand-made boxes and I proudly thought, “I made this.”

            It hadn’t been easy by any means. My dad had to rip me away from my lazy summer of relaxing, playing video games, and altogether doing nothing productive. I wanted to stay inside; it was nice and cool whereas outside the blistering midsummer sun sat in the sky, burning everything its rays touched. Eventually I came out and began digging holes the hardpacked ground, scooping mere handfuls of dust away with each thrust of the shovel, all while melting away under the intense heat of the sun. This wasn’t my idea of an ideal summer, and I complained nearly the entire time about all of the work I was doing. Finally, many excruciating hours later, the day’s work was complete, and eight holes had appeared in my side yard.

The next day, we constructed the actual boxes. This was simpler work, just drilling holes and screwing brackets into place, but it was almost harder than the digging, thanks to dropping screws, drilling incorrect holes, having the drill bit slip out of the screw at the last second, dropping a ten foot plank on your foot, and once again, the scorching sun. After a few frustrating hours of drilling, sweating, and swearing, we had just two planter boxes in front of us. We lowered them into the holes, praying that we measured correctly, and thanks to a stroke of luck, they fit perfectly. Two days of hard work complete, I was ready to call it quits and give my mom just the boxes. However, my dad told me, “You can’t just start something and give up half way through. Quitting is a sign of a weak man, Billy, and you aren’t a weak person. You need to work hard and finish what you started to prove that you’re strong. Just remember that hard work always pays off in the end, always.”

            The next few days had gone quickly, just filling the boxes with dirt, attaching benches to sit on, and planting the seeds. The omnipresent sun was still there, it was just easier to ignore because I had motivation to finish the job.

            Now, I looked expectantly at my mom, waiting for her reaction. As she took in the sight of the planter boxes, shock spread across her face. She slowly walked around, inspecting the boxes, sliding her hand across the smooth cherry wood, sitting down on the benches that would become her workplace for years to come.

            “So Mom, what do you think?” I inquired.

            “It… It’s wonderful, Billy!” she exclaimed as she turned towards us, a smile beaming from her face and her eyes brimming with tears of happiness. “Thank you guys so, so, soooo much! I can plant the lettuce here, celery over there, parsley there…”

            As she lost herself in her planning my dad and I looked at each other successfully.  His words of wisdom echoed in my head and I asked, “Is this the hard work paying off?”

            “Most definitely,” he replied. “I’m proud of you. Only a strong person could have assisted me the way you did with this job. You’ve grown in the past few days, and I hope this makes you realize the value and virtue of hard work.”

            One theme that is present in my story, as well as in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Alexander Solchenitsyn, is the value and importance of hard work. Solchenitsyn develops his theme of hard work being important through the character of Shukhov. Shukhov always works hard no matter what, and when he is reflecting about his home, he thinks about a cheap carpet making job, where the workers make counterfeit carpets and sell them for high prices. It would be an easy way to make money, however, Shukhov believed that “Easy money doesn’t weigh anything and it doesn’t give you that good feeling you get when you really earn it” (34). This suggests that only by working hard on something can you truly be rewarded for it. In my story, the main character, Billy, learns the value of hard work from his father. Billy initially doesn’t want to do any work at all, and would rather be inside playing video games, however his dad says, “Just remember that hard work always pays off in the end, always.” This teaches Billy an invaluable lesson about hard work, and afterwards, he works hard to complete the planter boxes. In the end, he is rewarded by the joy his mother feels from seeing his gift. Similar to Shukhov needing to work for his money to feel good about it, Billy realizes he must work hard for affection and compassion from his mother. In the end, both Shukhov and Billy learn that that one must work hard and honestly in order to be rewarded.