It was day three and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. The sleep deprivation was definitely taking its toll. The nights were fitful as I woke up startled every hour and rushed to my phone but nothing. My food rations were also concerning me as they were getting dangerously low. I paced back and forth in my living room, my computers bland desktop mocking me.
I jumped when I heard my phone ring. It was Kyle. “Hello”, I mumbled.
“Mike! I heard it was back on the East coast? Is it true?”
“No, I just tried a minute ago. I don’t know what to do. I’m getting hungry and all I have is a can of spaghetti-O’s and some packs of ramen noodles. I can’t keep eating that crap, man.”
“I hear ya.”
“How am I supposed to go out to get food. I have no idea what’s going on in the world. What if killer frogs have invaded and no one’s been able to put it on reddit it or tweet it.”
“I haven’t seen any frogs out my window.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Alright, well let me know how you make out, bro. I’m going to give it another try over here.”
I hung up the phone. Kyle is so useless. But I guess we are all in the same boat. We are all stranded. No information, no help from the outside world. I don’t even have anything to distract myself from this torment except for some dusty old blue rays I’ve watched a dozen times already.
But there was no more fighting it. I just had to venture out and take my chances. I grabbed my mask and kicked the blowup doll in frustration as I left my pad.
I walked down the street. There were others who were out as well. Our eyes connecting as we passed each other. We had nowhere else to look. As more and more people passed me I had this strange feeling. I had felt so isolated and so alone for so long. I mean first the pandemic and now this latest crisis. But as I walked passed more and more people their eyes seemed to say something. I don’t know it sounds silly, maybe I’m losing my mind but I felt like there was a whole conversation in that instance our eyes met even though I couldn’t remember the words.
I walked into the cafe and up to the order taker. I noticed the name tag said Brad. I looked Brad in the eyes and said, “Hello.”
“Hey there. How you doing?”
“I’ve been better.”
“Yea, I think everyone’s feeling that way.”
“How are you doing?”, I found myself asking for some strange reason.
“Still breathing”, Brad said.
I smirked and placed my order.
“Sorry we only accept cash since the internet’s gone down.”
I had instinctively handed him my debit card forgetting the crisis we were in. “Oh crap right”, I exclaimed as I dug through my pockets for cash. I handed the wad to Brad. Our hands touched as he took the money from me. I felt a tingle. It wasn’t anything romantic or sexual or anything. I didn’t pine for Brad over here. It was just I hadn’t had human contact in so long. Seeing someone’s face again and touching their skin it somehow stirred something inside of me. I worked in IT so I had been out of work since the internet completely shut down worldwide with no explanation and worked pretty much remote since the pandemic started. This was a new experience.
As Brad handed me my order and I exited the cafe a sudden thought struck me. I decided rather than taking my food home to eat I would walk to the park a few blocks down.
When I got there I saw an older man sitting at one of the tables. He was just looking at the trees. He seemed to smile through his mask at me and gave a little nod. I gave a nod in return. I sat at another table and began to unpack my bag but then I stopped. I looked at the man. He was upwards in years but I wouldn’t have called him elderly. He seemed like he had seen a lot all the same. But he seemed alone not because he wanted to be but because it was just how things were. Like the world was just beyond reach because it was only safe from a distance. I didn’t feel comfortable doing this and it was certainly something I had never done before but I packed up my bag and slowly walked up to his table.
“You mind if I sit here?”
“Please.” The man turned around square with me and said, “Name’s Bill.”
“Mike”, I replied.
“Beautiful day today isn’t it?” I looked around the park and I had to agree. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself, Mike?”
“What’s there to say?”
I could tell Bill was smiling beneath his mask again. “Plenty.”
