All Things Considered

Chapter One - Casper

It's happened. The UK lock-down is in affect. If someone had told me in September that I wouldn't have to do my A-level exams and would still achieve a grade to get into University, I'd have been fucking ecstatic. A deadly virus was not what I had in mind.

When college was finished and our exams were done, me and the rest of year thirteen were meant to spend the summer celebrating. We were meant to be going to pubs every weekend (not that I'm actually much of a drinker) and feeling proud of ourselves and relieved the hard work was over. I did feel relieved that it was over but there was no celebration, not even a last day hurrah. Everyone was just sent home from every school, all examinations cancelled and lock-down put in place.

All restaurants, pubs, clubs and any other possible facility was closed; the only things open were supermarkets and hospitals. There was no going round my mates' houses or kicking a ball about in the park with the lads; the only reason anyone was legally allowed to leave the house was to work (only if you were an essential worker), to buy essentials, to get medication or to exercise. If you did manage to have a valid excuse to leave the house, a group of more than two people was also illegal and everyone had to stand at least two meters from anyone who did not live in their household.

All of this shit happened in the space of four months. Nearly eleven thousand people had died of the virus, including multiple medical staff. It was fucking awful. These circumstances were not worth skipping out of the exams.

The depressing atmosphere that hung over Mum, Dad and I that morning while we sat around the circular table in the dining room/conservatory was suffocating. Neither Mum nor Dad could work anymore and despite the financial support promises from the government I knew they were worrying about how we were going to cope without their usual incomes. I couldn't work either, meaning no more money going into my University savings. At least the lads holiday that had been booked for early June was almost definitely going to be cancelled, I had that likely sum of money coming my way.

Neither Mum nor Dad said a word as we sat eating our jam on toast, both just stared miserably out the window. I felt the same; there had been so many things I wanted to do this summer and it looked as if I was never going to get the chance. People reminisce about the fun they had during their celebratory summer after finishing A-levels years later and I would never get to. It sucked. But dwelling in the shitty unfairness of it all did not make me feel any better, I needed to get away from the melancholy mood radiating from my parents.

"I'm not that hungry," I stated and ran upstairs after chucking my toast in the bin and my plate in the sink. I sat at my desk that faced our overgrown garden looking out at the fields ahead. We lived on the outskirts of the town, backing onto fields which backed onto a huge woodland.

A small public footpath passed down the side of our garden, hedging prevented walkers from looking into our garden but I could see them from the view of my bedroom window. People-watching dog walkers was an easy distraction from the revision I had been doing. But the path hadn't been used in at least a month.

Just as I stood up from my chair a distant hum caught my attention. The muffle of the sound made it clear it was coming from outside and the vocal noise was definitely not that of a bird's. I peered out of the window at the path as a girl wondered along. The source of the humming.

She was dressed in a cropped white T-shirt with crimped hems at the sleeves and slightly baggy mom-jeans that, as she continued to walk away from the house and down the path, had a daisy painted on the right back pocket. Her warm chestnut hair was cut short at her shoulders in gentle curls and her skin was a little tanned from the unusual April sunshine.

Although it was unexpected considering the footpath had not been used in so long, what was also strange about this walker was that I had never seen her before and she was far below the rest of the walker's forty plus age range.

Curiosity got the better of me. I was intrigued by her and why I had not seen her before and also needed some form of escapism from my boredom. "Mum, I'm going to take Buddy for a walk," I called before summoning my tenth birthday present, my adorable and excitable Norwich Terrier. Lucky for me, dog walking came under the category of exercise. "Come on Bud."

We set off down the path, the warm sun already beating against the back of my neck. Today was going to be hot. Buddy was clearly happy about his venture outdoors from the extreme speed in his wagging tail. Once past the foot of my garden, the footpath travelled over the large hilly field towards the woods. My family and I used to go to the woods a lot when I was small, on picnics and afternoon strolls. Thinking back, it was probably an attempt to wear my energetic self out but I had always seen the woods as a place of adventure and loved going.

Despite leaving not long after the girl had walked past my house, I hadn't spotted her since.

Buddy skipped about ahead, sniffing around as we headed into the woods. Sunlight poured through the leafy canopy and above me the friendly twittering of birds could be heard. Despite the drastic changes happening in everyone's lives, the woods had not changed. My little daydream was interrupted by the yaps of Buddy.

"What is it Bud?" I called as I jogged to find what he was barking at. "Hello," a gentle and friendly voice came from just a few paces ahead. The voice was slightly high-pitched, in that strange way all people do when talking to pets. I headed towards the grassy clearing besides the small stream, where I was sure the voice was coming from. Once there, I found Buddy paddling in the clear water and the girl sitting against a tall oak tree, watching him.

I've decided to try out something new, I hope people will like it. I will be posting chapters weekly maybe more frequently maybe less. Thank you for all the support the last book received, although this isn't the same style; I hope you guys will still like it and enjoy the change :)