#WritcoStoryChallange
#CoronaVirus
Social isolation had forced an eerie silence upon them. While fear haunted their existence, one question was at the forefront.
When was this going to end?
It had begun like a whisper turning into a roar spreading across a city, a province, a country, a continent, and then the whole world. People coped in different ways. Some cowered in fear. While others brushed it off like dust on their shoulders and kept on partying. Most people didn't give it much thought at the beginning. A lot of people said, " We'll be fine. It won't come here." They just didn't consider that the people in their neighborhood could possibly have or get it. These individuals didn't believe that something out there in the world was coming to their small town. They didn't want to admit that any of them could get infected with.... The Virus.
"Mom! I have to run to the store!" Julie shouted as she grabbed her purse and rushed to the door. Her mom hurried out of the kitchen and stared at her in shock.
"Julie! Your not wearing a mask!" Her mom said fearfully.
Julie dismissively waved her hand in the air.
"I'll be fine. I'm only going for a short trip to get bread and milk." Julie replied as she opened the door and left the house.
She walked briskly along the sidewalk gazing straight ahead deep in thought. It was amazing to her how fearful her mother was of this new virus. Why is everyone making such a big deal out of it? She thought.
Julie entered the local grocery store. She quickly grabbed a gallon of milk before she went to the aisle with the bread. While she was browsing through the bread looking at all the expiry dates, a richly dressed woman pushing a cart began strolling down the ailse. She suddenly stopped beside Julie and coughed. It was a dry hacking cough. Julie looked up at the woman in shock. The woman ignored her and passed by her. The milk slipped from Julie's hand and crashed to the floor.
She stared down at her arm and whispered in a harsh voice, "I've been exposed."
Julie ran out of the store like a rabid dog was chasing her. When she reached home, Julie was out of breath. Her hand reached out to turn the door knob, but then she jerked it back. Quickly searching her pockets, she found a handkerchief. She covered the knob, turned it, ented the house, and stopped suddenly. Looking down at herself, she realize she had to stay away from everyone. Julie rushed upstairs to her room. She slammed the door behind her and locked it. Then, she ran into to the bathroom and jumped into the shower. Julie turned on the water as hot as she could stand it and began scrubbing all over with her clothes still on.
While she was drying off, her mom began knocking on the door.
"Mom! You can't come in!" She yelled agitatedly.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong? You're scaring me." Her mom said worriedly.
"A woman coughed on me at the store, mom." Julie replied agitatedly.
"Oh no! What are you going to do?" Her mom asked in dismay.
Julie looked around her room and then back at the door.
"You'll have to leave food and water at my door everyday for a while. You cannot be near me. I will not risk your life." She bravely told her mom.
"But honey...." Her mom began to say but then stopped, "Very well. I will do as you ask."
Julie listened to her mom's footsteps as she collapsed to the floor. What am I going to do? She thought in dispair.
As the days passed by, Julie's mom brought food and drinks to her door everyday for every meal. She put everything on or in disposable dishes, so Julie could throw them away in a large garage bag her mother also left outside the door. Julie spent her days reading books, researching everything about the virus online, sleeping a lot, and doing her online classes for her master's degree. Every evening before sunset, she would sit at her window and gaze outside. Julie began to notice that there were less people outside as time went by.
It had been two weeks since the woman had coughed on her. She had been stuck in this room for nothing. I was never infected. She thought to herself. Her mom had not knocked on the door this morning, and there was no breakfast waiting on the floor either. It was time to leave this room and check on her mother.
Julie walked to the door and shakily stretched out her hand toward the door knob. She grasped and turned it. Stepping outside for the first time in many days, she noticed an eerie silence.
"Mom?" She called out in a fearful voice. There was no answer.
She hurried down the hall and ran into her mom's bedroom. Her mother was sprawled across the bed gasping for breath.
"Mom! No!" Julie cried out brokenly. She hastily ran over to her mom.
"Stop! Don't come near me!" Her mom gasped out.
"I'll call an ambulance!" Julie cried as she ran out the door. She grabbed the phone in her room, rushed back to her mom's room, and dialed 911.
"911. What's the emergency?" The operator said over the phone.
"It's my mom. She's having trouble breathing." Julie replied hastily.
"Is she showing any other symptoms?" The operator asked calmly.
"I don't know. I just got out of self-quarantine." Julie said fearfully.
"Wait! Did you say quarantine?" The operator said with a new tone in her voice, " Hold, please. I'm transferring you,"
"Wait!" Julie shrieked out.
It was too late. She heard music playing into her right ear from the phone while her left ear heard her mother breathe her last.
Julie stood as if petrified. Then, her phone fell out of her hand onto the carpeted floor with a thud. She woodenly walked out of the room and stopped short when she saw bags of groceries on the floor near the front door. A broken sob escaped passed her lips and tears began to stream down her face. Julie collapsed to the floor wailing in sorrow. In the distance, the sound of sirens could be heard coming down the street.