Summer Work on a Greek Island

Sofia stepped off the boat. Her pace much slower than the locals who knew where they were going. She glanced down at the address again before slipping it back into her pocket and moving with the flow of people.

"I'm working here. Do you know the place?" she asked, her attempt at Greek broken and battered.

The older woman smiled and nodded as she gave her directions and sent her on her way.

She counted 24 steps - each one a letter of the Greek Alphabet. It was a game to settle her nerves and practice the basics. For each letter she said a work starting with that letter.

When she got to the small hotel she entered through the door around the side as directed by the letter she had received.

"Hello?"

"Ah good. Are you the new girl?"

Sofia held out her acceptance letter and the woman nodded.

"Follow me. I will show you where you will stay. There are four of you in the room. Each of you working in the hotel. I do hope you are much better than the last girl. She was here more for a holiday that to work. I expect good work ethic. You will get time off, but when you work. I expect good things. Understand?"

"Yes..." Sofia leaned forward waiting for the woman's name.

"Keeria Pappas."

"Yes, Keeria Pappas. When do I start?"

"Tomorrow at 6 am. It's early, but it is also cooler then."

Sofia nodded. Once Keeria Pappas was gone she took a turn about the small room before settling on the one bed that clearly looked empty. The trip here had been tiring, but she did want to explore a bit before settling to work.

She had just gotten to the top of the stairs when two girls appeared at the bottom. Sofia waited as they made the climb towards her.

"You the new girl?"

"Yes, Sofia."

"I'm Annis and this is Petra. Are you going out?"

"For a bit."

"You wait. We'll come. It's better to have others show you the ropes. A girl alone is not always safe if she is new to the area." Annis told her.

"Oh."

"Annis knows all the good places to go."

Petra was right Annis did know all the good places to go. They found a great little spot with excellent food. It was off the beaten path. Not a place the tourists ventured to, but perfect for the locals.

"You help us with English, we'll help you with Greek."

"That sounds fair... And I already know my alphabet."

They all giggled.

"Well, that's a good start then."

By the end of the summer Sofia's Greek was quite good and both Annis and Petra were happy with their English. She'd worked so hard over the summer, she had managed to save a good chunk of money. Enough to spend a week as a tourist, albeit a cheap one, before heading back to university.

Word count = 493.

Notes ▼

The Writer's Cramp:
New Prompt: 24 is the number of letters in both the modern and classical Greek alphabet.
Use Cultural as genre.