How My Life Flipped Upside Down

The pace of it all. The amount of time it took to change everything in my life was short. Like the snap of your fingers. But let me start at the begging, my name is Emma. My dream is to become an actress and singer. I love the feeling of the stage. Th beat coursing through my body to the ends of my fingertips. The lines running through my head like beautiful poetry. But 1 month ago today I was at school. That's when my teacher prepared us for what was about to happen. She said, "There is a virus spreading throughout the world. We might have to close school for a little while, so I want you to bring everything home with you today." At my side, my friend Jessica whispered in my ear.

"I dought they will close the school. But if they did it would be nice to have a couple days off." That was one month ago. Two days later my mother reviewed the call, "Hello? Yes, this is she." On the other line, I heard someone say, "We are calling to inform you that the school is shutting down for a period of time. We do not know how long but there will be a board meeting later today to discuss the timing. Please have your child on the computer on zoom on Monday. The rest of the information will be sent to you and her in an email. Thank you, and goodbye." And then she hung up the phone. That's when everything began to go downhill. Just 2 hours later my uncle called. He said to my mother, "Dad, is dying you need to get here now." So we began to pack our bags as my mother frantically searched for a plane ticket. On the way to the airport, the streets whizzed by. EVery tree was just a blur of color. A flash of a car. The dart of a squirrel passing by. It was like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Everyone was wearing masks and staying away from each other. There was no hugging on the street. No talking, just running quick errands, and then running back home, to close the shutters, and isolate everyone from the rest of the world.

At 12:37 PM, we arrived at the airport. At the front of the building, there was a big sign that read, San Fransisco Airport. We raced to the front desk. Our flight was leaving in exactly 49 minutes. After we got our boarding passes we raced off to security. It was agony waiting in line. The painful trickle of people slowly moving past us. It was Chaos though. Oblivious people not wearing masks. Terminals, gates, and seats being blocked off. The drone of the announcer over telling us that flight 42A had been canceled, and for everyone who was supposed to be on that flight to please make their way to the front desk. 22 minutes later we reached the front of the security line, and put our stuff on the sliding belt in front of us. One of the attendants waved me through the metal detector, and just as I was about to make it through I heard the beep of the alarm going off. I sighed as I stopped and stepped to the side. Knowing without having to turn around that that was what the attendant was signaling for me to do.

After they had wiped my hands down, in search of traces for a bomb, and checked one of my bags that had been pulled aside We were on our way again. With only a mere 13 minutes left to make it to the gate. We were running. And when we got close we began falling our arms like crazy people and yelling "We're here! We're here!" Luckily the plane did not leave without us and we made it on just in time. As we rolled out of the terminal I took the first deep breath I had taken in what seemed like hours and got my iPad out. It was going to be a long plane ride and I was going to want to watch something on the way.

The next week was a blur of tears, people, fast food, masks, covid tests, worrying, and distractions. But like everything the fateful day finally came, where we received the telephone call. Three rings rang out through the hotel room and then I picked up the phone. When I heard the news, even though I knew it was coming there is nothing that can prepare you for that phone call. I had been sitting on the bed but I dropped the phone onto the carpeted floor. I sat there just stunned. It felt as though my whole world was falling apart. Because of Covid19, my dad was stuck in Brazil on a business trip, and now my grandfather had died. I angrily wiped at the tears that threatened to spill across my face and began to get dressed. Pulling my black tight fitted turtleneck over my head. And then pulling on the lacy see-through blacktop after it. With each layer of clothing, I felt like I was suffocating. Like I was slowly being suffocated until I can't breathe anymore. Why was this happening? The whole world was crashing down around me and I couldn't stop it. I pulled myself together. I have to stay strong for my mom. I'm the one who is going to have to break the news to her. I could hear the shower in the background, but I slipped inside just to grab my toiletry bag, and then stepped back out.

Standing in front of a mirror I pulled out the small black tube of mascara, I applied it to my eyelids. Careful not to smudge underneath my eyes. Then I added some concealer, blush, and lipgloss to complete the makeup ensemble. And threw everything back inside my bag. I heard the shower water turn off with just a slight dripping, my mother grabbing a towel from the wrack hanging on the wall. Then the door swung open and my mother stepped outside, wearing a fuzzy bathrobe that came with the hotel room.

"Grampa died," I said there was no point in keeping the information from her. We had been preparing for this for a week. She would kill me if I didn't cut straight to the point. She let out a little gasp and then sat down on the bed covering her mouth with her hand and crying. I made my way over to her to comfort her but then she composed herself and began to get dressed. I was glad. We needed to get to grampa right now. I wanted to see him. And she wasn't the kind of person who fell apart straight away. No. If we were at our house she would be cleaning the entire house right now. The real pain would come later that night or tomorrow. We went to the hospice center and met the rest of the family there. The time we spent was filled with tears, songs, and stories. My mom booked us a flight out of here. And just like that, we were back to good old California.

1 week 2 days later I received an email from the Disney Channel. I had applied to them a long time ago for an audition and they wrote me back saying yes! They told me that I am perfect for the role! So off to LA, I go. But I have this nagging in the back of my mind. Almost like a guilty feeling for doing this after such a big loss. Like I am guilty of taking this opportunity when my grandfather isn't here to be able to take it. That brings us here now. For the past couple of weeks, I have been rehearsing. It feels as though my whole life flipped upside down in the past month. It's the strangest feeling. But through all of it, I learned that as long as I stay true to myself I can conquer anything people throw my way.