Goldilocks wiped the sweat from her brow. She had just finished her push-ups and sit-ups, three times the normal amount she did. She was bored. She couldn't get outside to practice her running, gymnastics, or anything exercise oriented. She needed to do her fitness, and there never seemed to be enough space in her and Jack's dismal apartment.
When the pandemic hit The Land of Stories, Goldilocks and Jack were forced to be quarantined in a small apartment. Neither of them wanted it, but they had to, it was law. Even Hero was mad at it.
Even at seven, Hero was a bundle of energy and always wanted to go outside.
"Mommy, can we go outside?" he consistently asked.
"No, we can't, sweetheart," was the constant reply from either parent.
Poor Hero was forced to do exercise with his mother and father in the cramped house.
"Come on, Hero," Jack said while running in place. "Just three more minutes,"
"But there's no scenery, or outside smell, or bugs to constantly annoy me," Hero complained.
"Honey," Goldilocks said. "Sometimes you just have to make do with your condition or state of condition. Right now you have to make do with what and where we are."
Hero knew that his mother's words were law and wisely decided not to complain anymore.
No matter how kind Goldilocks could sound to her son, she couldn't lie to herself. Being cooped up inside her house was driving her crazy too. She couldn't go outside, she couldn't see friends, she couldn't do anything. She knew that others were feeling the same way, but that wasn't much of a comfort to her anymore.
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Jack was sitting on the screened-in front porch, sipping his lemonade. They had just done three times as much exercise as they normally would, yet he wasn't tired.
He longed for the excitement of a chase. The rush of the wind in his face as he ran from danger. The feel of Hero clinging to his back as they waded through Troll's River.
But, he couldn't do any of those things inside. He was forced to have a mundane life on a small cramped apartment. At least he had his family. But most of what he knew of his family was being outside, and right now, none of that was happening.
No running from the castle guards, no rush of excitement after successfully running from an angry shop-keeper. No thrill of riding for his life on Porridge.
He had had to stop most of those activities after Hero came along, but he missed them now more than ever. And he knew Goldilocks missed them much more than he did.
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Goldilocks sat on the bed in the master bedroom. She was reminiscing the time she and Jack ran from Red after she stole her diamond necklace. It was such a long time ago, she found it hard to remember everything. But she still managed to remember all the funny parts.
"Mommy?" Hero asked as he climbed onto the bed.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Will you tell me a story?" he asked with a cute little pouty smile.
"You want a story without me?" came the deep teasing voice of Jack at the door.
"I want a story in general," Hero said and made space for Jack to sit down. After Jack had sat down next to Goldilocks, Hero snuggled in between them and looked up at Goolilocks with pleading eyes. "Please?"
"Alright," Goldilocks said with a laugh.
She and Jack launched into a story from their frolicking around the kingdoms and all the adventures that entailed. As the story went on, Jack and GOldilocks realized that they had been trying to make life in quarantine the same as life before quarantine, but it couldn't be. Quarantine life was full of story-telling, game time, and family projects.
YOU ARE READING
TLOS Quarantine Oneshots || ✔
FanfictionWhat are the TLOS characters doing in quarantine? Are they going crazy? Are they doing alright? Do they have a surprise? ~ Cover made by @tlos_geek2 ~
