sào zhǒu

I come from a long line of wealthy snobs that think they know it all. I'd like to think of myself as a descent man of twenty-two... my parents think otherwise. I used to live in a small comfortable house, just me and my golden retriever, Golden Max. That all changed when my parents forced me into a huge empty mansion, these snobs never cared about my "Well-being," they only cared about their stupid money and reputation. I remember the first day I entered my new home, all twelve maids bowed down in my presence. I remember my mother, the old hag saying, "They are expected to keep this mansion absolutely spotless, you should thank us Thomas dear, they do all the filthy work so you wont have to, love you money...err honey." That was the first thing I heard from my mother when I first moved in the old mansion. I despised those maids, I never bothered to learn their names, I hardly even looked at them. I felt ashamed and angry, these maids are expected to work hard for God knows how many hours and at the same time I figured they were also my mothers eyes, watching my every move. I felt powerless against my parents, their wealth gave them so much power they could practically kill me and make it look like an accident. I often left the mansion, I would work long hours at my parents company or I would walk Golden Max, just so I wouldn't go back to that dreaded old mansion. After a few weeks I figured out the maids' schedule. They would literally wake up at 4:30 in the morning every single day, I knew this because I would hear the washing machine downstairs, or the swishing in the windows. These sounds never bothered me, in fact they were quite relaxing. The maids would clean nearly non stop till about 9:30 in the night. I wasn't surprised, there was always something that needed cleaning at the old mansion, from the twenty-five dusty rooms to the 10 dirty bathrooms. Some nights I remember hearing strange sweeping sounds at around 12:00 at night, I didn't pay much attention since I figured they were mice, or the tree branches hitting the windows. One night as I was falling into a dream, I awoke to a distant howling, I sat up in bed and waited for another sound....it was a dogs cry. I rushed downstairs and discovered a naked dog on the kitchen floor, covered in hundreds of needles, I panicked when I realized it was my dog...I immediately called the police. After a long night of investigating they concluded that a stranger broke in and for my safety, they set up cameras outside the mansion. The maids were not suspects since they left at 9:30, every maid was accounted for. According to the police all "eleven maids," were accounted for. I corrected the police "No, no, no I have twelve maids." The police did not believe me and they left because there was no proof that I had twelve maids, they figured I made a mistake. My dog died the next morning... there was nothing I could do. I fell asleep from exhaustion, and when I awoke the maids were scattered in different places, cleaning different things. I told the maids to stay in one place so I could count them but they did not understand me, they spoke different languages. I fired all the maids that same day, they seemed to understand that I never wanted them to return. I remember going upstairs to take a nap when I awoke it was 12:00 in the night. I heard sweeping and I ran downstairs as fast as I could. Two hours later, I found the source of the sound, it was behind a closed room. When I opened the door I saw a Chinese maid sweeping the floor...she looked as if she hadn't slept in days. "What are you doing here, you were supposed to leave at 9:30," I said. she looked up at me and said "No-no I working, Sweeping." I asked her if she knew anything about my dog...and what she said next will forever haunt me, she said..."I kill dirty dog, dirty, had to die." What happened after was a blur, according to the police I had fainted in the middle of the room and the Chinese maid died from exhaustion, they said she never stopped sweeping with her broom since day one. Her name was Sào zhǒu which I later discovered meant "broom". No one knew where she came from or why she came, but what I do know is that every night at 12:00 I hear Sào zhǒu sweeping with her broom and sometimes she even appears in my room and begins to sweep the whole night with that tired-looking face of hers... she sweeps all night with her broom...and never stops.