A Year In Covid

(Picture credits: https://junkee.com/simpsons-coronavirus/247239)

 

The Simpsons have predicted a lot – 

but did they predict the coronavirus, covid-19? Well perhaps they did but their theory wasn’t scientifically possible, as the virus was transported in snack packets which took a month to ship – and it ended with killer bees. So I guess it’s kind of relieving that it wasn’t true (or is it?) But that doesn’t affect the magnitude of this global pandemic, reborn from the last century.

All of this started more than a year ago actually, and when we did hear about it, we were in the middle of a transgression from 2019 to 2020. 2020, a year that we thought would be a good luck charm for us all. Ha, what a joke.

I remember coming home from school, showering, and then eating dinner. The sun was setting and I was exhausted. My mum passed me her phone. A page on a news article was opened up.

“Did you hear about what happened in Wuhan?”

Days came and went. Quizzes and revision came and went. Exams came, but didn’t go on. The sun set quickly everyday except for that one day. It seemed to hover over us, mocking us.

I felt the heat on my back as I headed back to the car. Perspiration dribbled down my face, hidden by a blue fabric we were all wearing. As blue as the sea, and which now fills the sea.

Everyone knew now. Everyone was scared now. The orange light sparkling of metal backs of cars. The sun was setting on the last day that I would be out, the last day for a long time. Maybe for us it was like a prison. Maybe for them it was like a rope leash, tight and scrapy. But for most it was freedom.

2020, huh, I became a teenager. Before I did, I had big plans. But I still feel the same. If I’d’ve known, I wouldn’t have wasted my time on it. Planning that is.

If you weren’t directly affected by the virus, if you had yet to wear the pink handcuff, its not that obvious. It just feels like you’re under house arrest. The food consumption increases, new supply of food into our house every week. Way to cure the boredom.

(Picture credits: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/panic-buying-leaves-retailers-scrambling-restock-69650263)

In a few weeks, the panic skyrocketed. Sanitizers, tissues, gloves and masks were almost non-existent in supermarket shelves. And whichever lucky seller still had some in their back pocket could hike up the price to yonder and beyond.

School, of course, wouldn’t be off the grid for long, and online school started – as expected. White screens – tired ears. Sore fingers, rapid typing. School revolved around Google Classroom and Zoom and nothing more.
But the long drive home didn’t exist anymore. The late nights and early mornings spared. I felt at home at home. The school campus wasn’t a particularly inviting second home. More like house.

On and off. Open and close. Days and weeks jumbled merging together into a stiff clump of time. Only to be lightly sliced with cycling outside, talking, with the people. Which eventually died down as well.
I did go to school again. About September I presume. But it wasn’t significant. Didn’t last for long. It once again never lasted till the exams.

We did go to Legoland in December. A nice break. Not a very appropriate time, but nice all the while.

As the clock clumps again, a year comes around. It didn’t really seem like it.

Everyone always ask; What would it have been without covid-19? But why ask. You never know, you can never give a good guess. Some things are meant to happen. Each year isn’t the same as the next.
Somethings are best to be left alone.
Not to be thought about.