The advert said: \u201cCleaners wanted. Must have a head for heights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ted had been a window cleaner for twenty years. He\u2019d been up some of the tallest buildings in London. He told the interviewer this \u2013 a serious-looking man in a grey suit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love a really tall building. I\u2019ve done the Shard, she\u2019s ninety-five storeys, over three hundred metres. Nice to see her shining in the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd how would you feel about going higher than that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sky\u2019s the limit,\u201d said Ted with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were actually thinking beyond the sky,\u201d said the interviewer.<\/p>\n
Ted laughed, then stopped when a frown appeared across the interviewer\u2019s forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re looking for is a planet cleaner. The moon, in particular, gets incredibly dusty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight,\u201d said Ted. The sun was shining in through the window \u2013 it looked very high up. \u201cI\u2019m not sure my ladder will reach?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry, we\u2019ll give you a special ladder designed to extend through the earth\u2019s atmosphere, and a special suit with a harness, so we don\u2019t lose you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd these.\u201d The interviewer opened a suitcase of brushes arranged in descending gradients of size and bristle texture.<\/p>\n
Ted was a sucker for a good brush. They shook hands and the job was his.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably best you don\u2019t mention to anyone what you do,\u201d said the interviewer. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t want the word getting out that it\u2019s possible to visit all the planets in one night. It would make the astronauts look bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Late that evening, Ted headed for the sky.<\/p>\n
He did the moon first, showering himself in moon dust, then moved on to the other planets. He\u2019d always thought they were millions of miles apart, but the ladder glided him to each one in minutes.<\/p>\n
Just as he was about to finish, a little ball of rock came hurtling towards him. It was Pluto. He wasn\u2019t in Ted\u2019s job description since he\u2019d been downgraded, but Ted couldn\u2019t resist the little chap. He ran his brush gently over him and Pluto purred in delight.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t tell anyone,\u201d winked Ted.<\/p>\n
A few nights later, Ted came home from work early to find his wife standing at the kitchen window gazing up at the full moon.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the moon tonight, darling. Isn\u2019t she bright?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe certainly is,\u201d said Ted, shaking planet dust off his overalls into the bin.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been looking so much brighter these past few weeks. It\u2019s as if someone has gone up there and given her a clean.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ted gave a nervous laugh. He\u2019d told his wife he did the night shift, cleaning for an accountancy firm. Surely she hadn\u2019t spotted him up there?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a funny idea, my love. Could you imagine cleaning the moon?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no, you wouldn\u2019t get me up there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think she might be a bit too high even for me,\u201d said Ted.<\/p>\n
In the moonlight, his wife\u2019s eyes twinkled like stars. Ted leaned over and kissed her goodnight, leaving a shimmer of moon dust on her skin.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Planet Cleaner Terri Mullholland \u00a0 The advert said: \u201cCleaners wanted. Must have a head for heights.\u201d Ted had been a window cleaner for twenty years. He\u2019d been up some Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5131,"featured_media":0,"parent":1301,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3769"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3769"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4349,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3769\/revisions\/4349"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/welter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1188\/2023\/11\/Terri-Mullholland-150x150.jpg\")
Terri Mullholland<\/strong> (she\/her) is a writer and researcher living in London, UK.\u00a0Her flash fiction has appeared in various journals and anthologies, including\u00a0Ellipsis Zine<\/em>,\u00a0Litro<\/em>,\u00a0Mercurious,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Toasted Cheese.\u00a0<\/em>Her pamphlet of hybrid pieces\u00a0Weather \/ Patterns<\/em> was published by intergraphia books<\/em> in October 2022. Her stories have been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize for Flash Fiction and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. When not writing, she can be found curled up with one of her many foster cats and a good book. Website:\u00a0https:\/\/www.terrimullholland.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n