100 Word Challenge: Six-word story

It’s been a weird spring.

No, “weird” doesn’t remotely touch on the definition, even “surreal” doesn’t rise to what has been happening. It’s like we’re living in an intense, dystopian, science fiction movie and we’re all actors or extras.

All those books and movies about worldwide health disasters don’t sound so outlandish now, do they?

Panic shopping stripped store shelves of paper products and cleaning supplies. A shortage of pantry items made milk, eggs, fresh meat, and produce as rare as unicorns.

I’ve baked more bread in the last month than I ever have. Apparently, there are more Martha Stewart wannabes out there because flour and yeast are also in short supply. My freezer hasn’t been this empty since the last Florida hurricane threat. Meals are a mix of what little is available at the store and what I can Frankenstein together from what I already have. It’s been interesting and not always successful.

I’ve also become shockingly aware of how much money I typically spent, or more accurately wasted, shopping for non-essentials. Ironically, during this economic shutdown, I’ve never saved more money.

We’re fortunate that my husband can continue to work. So many others aren’t so lucky, including both of my kids. It’s a scary time, and there’s no idea when people can get back to work. The one-time relief checks do little to cover mortgages, student loans, and basic necessities. Savings reach only so far, and for many, unemployment payments haven’t even started.

During this phase of Sheltering in Place, I’ve been crocheting more and have begun sewing cotton face masks for friends and family. I’ve made almost 100 masks so far. That many people needing spatial protection is frightening, and I’m not even done yet. I could make that many more, and it won’t be enough.

I thought I could take the downtime to also catch up on reading, but I can’t seem to concentrate long enough to finish a book. Reading is an activity that once brought me a lot of joy, now it’s just frustrating.

My husband has been working remotely. We have almost too much togetherness, and our cats have become online personalities through video conferencing. At the other extreme, I haven’t seen nor hugged my daughter in over a month. We’ve texted, talked on the phone, even chatted through FaceTime, but it’s not the same. My son lives at home and we haven’t hugged in all that time either.

One friend, single and living alone with her two cats, is working from home too and doesn’t have much if any, human contact. Visiting her, even if we’re sitting in camp chairs at either end of her driveway, is essential… to both of us.

All of this makes me incredibly sad.

It’s okay to be sad, to even grieve over what we’re missing. The canceled proms and graduations, birthday celebrations, weddings, births, death, movie nights, sporting events, vacations, lost wages, lost personal connections, lost opportunities, hugs, and kisses, all of it. Events and moments that can’t be retrieved nor replicated. It’s not selfish or unwarranted to feel this way. We’ve lost so much over such a short time and can’t see an end in sight.

It will end though, maybe not soon, but it will end. Then life can get back to its new normal, whatever that turns out to be.

Let’s do something different for our 100Word Challenge is week. Let’s pare it down – to only six words.

Write a micro-short story about what life has been like for you lately.

Driveway chats save cat ladies’ lives.

What to do:

Write a six word story about what life has been life during this worldwide Covid-19 catastrophe. Feel free to submit more than one story. You can leave them in the comments, if you’d like. If you publish your story somewhere else, please include a link in your post back here, and add your story to the Mister Linky list. If you don’t have a blog, you can leave your submission in the comment section, or as a Facebook status post. Remember to keep spreading the love with supportive comments for your fellow Wordsters.