The Contagion

.Prologue.

"It is both a blessing and a curse to feel everything so deeply."

Year: 2015.

I open the latch of the kitchen window and glance at our front lawn. My wet hands rest on the kitchen sink, as I bend to look outside the window. Cold air whips my face and my chestnut brown hair flies across my face. I cringed at the sudden blow of cold air in my face. I push the strands of hair away with my pinkie finger, making a couple of strands of my hair wet.

When I look at the empty lawn, a frown creeps on my face. A couple of lawn movers lie on the lawn. The shrubs are uncut from last week and weeds have started to grow on the lawn making the daises choke to death. Dead leaves lie in heaps on the green grass, signalling that it's time for a clean-up.

Rakes lie dumped on the lawn as if sweepers have ditched working for the day. Evenings are not quiet on our front lawn as she talks on her cell phone, whilst working. Keeping my hands on the window ledge, I turn my head to the boundary wall at the right. But she wasn't standing there.

Where had she gone?

I look back into the house and tap the sides of the sink, thinking what to do in her absence. Should I look out for her? I shake my head at this thought. She isn't a kid. She must be nearby. I immediately wiped my hands for the paper towel above the sink and leave my apron on the dining table.

The internet is a great boon to us. I loved the internet here. I click on any random website and check out for the news. Various scams and international news appeared on the screen. I ignored them and scrolled down the screen. There was gossip about celebrities and their random breakups on the side of the screen. As I scrolled down the page, the stock market news caught my eye.

I trailed my fingers across the leading stock market companies crossing my fingers. My heart rate began to quicken fearing the worst. What if the company had crashed? What would I tell her? All our hard work would go to waste. I scrolled the web page down unable to find our company. They haven't made a mistake, have they?

But unfortunately, the stock which I was looking for wasn't displayed on the screen. My heart sank a bit and sadness crept in. I opened another web page of another browser and searched for the stock. After thirty minutes of browsing, boredom took over me. I moved the mouse arrow towards the Exit button. I waited for this day for so long and all I got was nothing.

That's when breaking news appeared on the center of the screen and my eyes fell out of my sockets. I shook my head in disbelief. I sunk further in my chair with my hands on my head.

I stare at the message in front of me. How is this possible? It was a belief in the corporate industry that the company which did not have its' original owners wasn't capable of surviving in the corporate world. I read the message over and over again but I still couldn't believe it. How could Mayfair Industries make one billion pounds all a sudden?

Media is completely unreliable these days with Facebook having rounds of Fake News in circulation. I had to find out that this wasn't some joke that the other companies made on us. After shutting down the computer, I immediately stood up and ran down the wooden steps leading to the hallway. I took a sharp right and enter the kitchen where the wooden floorboards creaked under the weight of my shoes.

I swung open the front door and run down the steps two at a time and jump out on the lawn. Dew began to set on the lawn as light as raindrops. The fog clouded my vision but not enough to stop me from running towards the lounge chair at the end of the lawn. I grab the newspaper which was on the plastic table. My breathing was heavy and my blood pounds in my ears as I gasp for breath.