Quarantine

Day 1

Suddenly, there was a virus.

It broke out out of nowhere and spread like wildfire. No one ever saw it coming, but once they knew what was happening they rushed into action. It was complete and utter chaos. People were panic buying everything they possibly could, for absolutely no reason; which means that everyone who didn't now has to suffer. The world was slowly turning into the dystopia that authors used to write about in their books. It was slowly, carelessly falling apart, and now we had to suffer the consequences.

At the same time, people were simultaneously acting as if the apocalypse were upon us and ignoring the virus as if it didn't even exist. And right now, it was unclear which one was worse. While it's true, in the grand scheme of things this isn't the worst thing to ever go down in world history, it's still an issue that needs to be addressed. You don't need to panic buy enough food and other supplies to last you multiple years, but at the same time, people need to do as they are told.

Congregations have been limited to less than ten people, but no one seems to even care. They all continue to swarm the streets as if the rules don't apply to them. And at this point, that's something we can no longer afford. They are only worsening the spread. And by doing so, they are causing countries to go on lockdown. All because they didn't think about the consequences of their actions. People never think that it's going to affect them. They aren't going to be the ones to catch the virus. They aren't going to be the ones to spread it. It's always going to be someone else. But this time, that isn't the case. Sure, if you catch this virus you may barely feel sick at all, and therefore not be at risk of dying from it. But you don't know who's going to catch it from you. There may be someone that is at risk. And if someone else dies from a disease that you spread, that's on you.

All that aside, though, I am positively, insanely bored. Just yesterday, our city went on lockdown. Which means that no one is allowed to leave their houses for the foreseeable future unless it was extremely urgent (for example, to buy groceries, or to go to the doctor). This meant that for the next month, I was banned from leaving the house for any reason, as my mom would be the one shopping for both of us. This is something that usually wouldn't bother me, as I am a recluse and a shut-in at the best of times, but something about it being mandatory now made me itch to go outside. To feel the grass under my feet, and feel the warm sun shining on my face (or maybe not since it's technically the dead of winter, and where I live it's never really warm). This is quite the predicament to be in as well, seeing as it has been less than a day since the announcement.

In addition to that, my mom was a psychiatrist who has to work from home now, which means that I have been left completely alone, yet again. But at the moment, that is the least of my worries. In a few weeks, once spring break is over online school will commence, which sucks for me because I have little to no work ethic during school, so imagine how much I'm going to struggle at home. I'm not sure I'll even show up to online lectures and I'm definitely not going to be meeting any deadlines for the next month. If I'm not being forced, why would I?

It's these kinds of thoughts that are making it hard to leave my bed right now. I know I should be doing something, anything to take my mind off of the situation at hand, but it's all just too much for me to handle. Besides, I feel like there are just too many things I could be doing right now. There are so many T.V. shows that are just begging me to binge watch them, and I have some history homework from last week that I still haven't completed. In addition to that, I need to eat, and shower, and honestly, the possibilities are endless.

Less than a day in and I'm already going crazy. Lately, I feel like I've been sleeping more often than I've been awake, and this surely isn't going to help at a-

"Blair!" My mom called me from the dining room. "Dinner!" Completely forgetting my train of thought, I ran out of my room, fully distracted by food. I sat down at the table, sitting more than six feet away from her as required by "health professionals", and proceeded to eat my dinner. We ate in silence. Neither of us wanted to acknowledge what was going on right now, or even think about it. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep.

The moment I finished eating, I raced over to the bathroom. Usually, my mother and I shared the same bathroom, but with the whole social distancing thing happening she has relocated to the one down the hall. Which means I can lock myself in this one and rethink all my life decisions, as you do sometimes. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes, focusing on the feeling of my feet resting against the cold tile floor. 

Exhaustion washed over me, and I swear I almost fell asleep right then and there. I sat there for hours, refusing to move as I stared blankly at my phone; trying, and failing, to distract myself from the sinking feeling in my stomach. I sat there for hours, watching the minutes tick by until eventually, it hit 1:00 am. I let out an audible sigh.

"This really sucks," I said to myself, banging my head against the wall.

"It really does."