Confined to Texting

MOM

Mom 24/03/20 3:47pm

Hey do you know what time you’ll be home?

Mom 24/03/20 4:52pm

Supper’s ready

Mom 24/03/20 5:23pm

I just got the email from the hospital! How are you doing? 

Mom 24/03/30 7:26pm

What, you don’t speak to your mother anymore?

Mom 24/03/20 8:45pm

Good night

Keri 25/03/20 10:05am

Hey Mom, sorry I missed your texts. I couldn’t have my phone while they did the testing

Mom 25/03/20 10:07am

And???

Keri 25/03/20 10:07am

You know how the virus could only get people whose respiratory systems were compromised? Well now it’s mutated and I’ve got it, so I have to live here until I test clean

Keri 25/03/20 10:08am

The doctors say we’ll be here for a couple weeks at least

Mom 25/03/20 10:09am

That’s crazy. Are you in the hospital?

Mom 25/03/20 10:09am

Who is we? 

Keri 25/03/20 10:09am

We’re in a little house, or apartment, or something. Right close to the hospital 

Keri 25/03/20 10:10am

And there are five other people here

Mom 25/03/20 10:10am

How are you feeling?

Mom 25/03/20 10:11am

Well?

Keri 25/03/20 10:11am

I feel mostly fine. It’s just an exaggerated cold

Keri 25/03/20 10:11am

Well what?

Mom 25/03/20 10:13am

I’m waiting for your descriptions

Keri 25/03/20 10:13am

Ok, give me a minute 

Keri 25/03/20 10:16am

There’s one girl (I think her name is Ingrid, I’m not sure) with straight dark hair. She has bags under her eyes and only climbs out of her bed to eat and swear. She must be feeling awful, maybe she got it worse than me

Mom 25/03/20 10:17am

She doesn’t sound very nice

Keri 25/03/20 10:18am

Roxanne is very sweet. She has dark skin and gorgeous eyes. She’s worried about her baby (an adorable little boy, he’s seventeen months, she showed me pictures) and face times her husband to check on how they’re doing all the time

Keri 25/03/20 10:18am

And I think Ingrid is just scared

Keri 25/03/20 10:21am

Then there is Peter. He looks like the guy from the Pentatonics who can sing really high but he can’t and he always wears socks with his sandals. He’s a Jew, which is super fascinating and I’m going to ask him about the Bible yet

Keri 25/03/20 10:25am

Mr. Hildebrandt doesn’t do much. He’ll watch whatever’s on the TV, eat whenever we do, and ask what day it is all the time. He’s got dementia but is only about sixty

Keri 25/03/20 10:26am

No questions or remarks?

Mom 25/03/20 10:27am

Sorry sweets I was on the phone with your dad. He’s on his way home empty

Keri 25/03/20 10:27am

No loads?

Mom 25/03/20 10:28am

All the factories are shut down

Keri 25/03/20 10:28am

Ahh

Mom 25/03/20 10:29am

Hey you said there were five people there right?

Keri 25/03/20 10:31am

Oh yeah. Caleb would be so offended. He’s tall and lanky, messy dark hair, a complete goofball. Early teens

Mom 25/03/20 10:34am

He sounds familiar. Send a pic

Keri 25/03/20 10:35am

I’m not just going to randomly start taking pictures of people!

Mom 25/03/20 10:36am

Tell him your mom is curious

Keri 25/03/20 10:36am

Nope

Mom 25/03/20 10:37am

Come on

Mom 25/03/20 10:37am

Please?

Keri 25/03/20 10:38am

Nopers

Mom 25/03/20 10:40am

What are you doing?

Keri 25/03/20 10:40am

Sitting. 

Keri 25/03/20 10:41am 

Everything is clean except for Ingrid’s blankets and Peter’s pile of socks by his bunk, and Roxanne said she wanted to make lunch so I’m on the couch

Keri 25/03/20 10:41am

You?

Mom 25/03/20 10:42am

You know, same as usual. School, making kombucha, thinking of what to make for supper

Keri 25/03/20 10:43am

I miss you guys

Mom 25/03/20 10:44am

We miss you too sweets :) 

OG GROUP

Sara 25/03/20 2:32pm

Making brownies!

Keri 25/03/20 2:33pm

Ugh so jealous… I don’t think we even have baking ingredients here

Sarah 25/03/20 2:33pm

You’re gonna have to mail some of those to Florida for me

Marian 25/03/20 2:34pm

Hey Keri how are you doing?

Sara 25/03/20 2:34pm

Keri how are you?

Sarah 25/03/20 2:34pm

What happened?

Keri 25/03/20 2:35pm

Oh goodness! Give a girl some time to respond :P

Keri 25/03/20 2:36pm

I feel like I’m in one of Marian’s shows. Stuck in a house with a bunch of random people to see if we survive

Keri 25/03/20 2:36pm

Only this one isn’t full of ridiculously hot people

Sarah 25/03/20 2:37pm

Wait so what happened?

Sara 25/03/20 2:37pm

The virus right?

Keri 25/03/20 2:38pm

This one’s different. They don’t know how to treat it, so we have to stay isolated to keep it from spreading

Marian 25/03/20 2:39pm

At least you have wifi right?

Keri 25/03/20 2:39pm

Yes so the millennial inside me is content

Sara 25/03/20 2:39pm

You’re Gen Z, not millennial

Keri 25/03/20 2:40pm

*sarcastically rolling my eyeballs

Sara 25/03/20 2:40pm

Hey, if you weren’t wrong I wouldn’t have to correct you

Marian 25/03/20 2:41pm

That’s two negatives in a sentence 

Sarah 25/03/20 2:41pm

Come on girls

Keri 25/03/20 2:42pm

That just means the one cancels the other out. Like, since I am wrong she corrects me. If I was not wrong she wouldn’t have to

Marian 25/03/20 2:43pm

I knew you were going to say that

Keri 25/03/20 2:43pm

#consistency 

Sara 25/03/20 2:44pm

So what are you doing with all this free time now? Getting lots of writing done?

Keri 25/03/20 2:44pm

No. I don’t have my laptop and it takes so long to write on my phone…

Marian 25/03/20 2:45pm

You poor dear

Sarah 25/03/20 2:45pm

You should ask if they’ll let you have it

Keri 25/03/20 2:46pm

I think I will. I am starting to go crazy

Sara 25/03/20 2:46pm

You can do this! It’s only a couple weeks, right?

Keri 25/03/20 2:47pm

Pray to God it’s no more

Sarah 25/03/20 2:47pm

We are

Sara 25/03/20 2:47pm

Yes 

Marian 25/03/20 2:48pm

Of course dear

ALEX

Alex 25/03/20 7:03pm

Hey you attacked today

Keri 25/03/20 7:04pm

Yeah I haven’t played in so long

Alex 25/03/20 7:05pm

Classic

PHIL

Phil 25/03/20 7:07pm

Hay whats up

Keri 25/03/20 7:07pm

Hay is for horses

Phil 25/03/20 7:08pm

She takes the bate

Keri 25/03/20 7:08pm

Bait?

Phil 25/03/20 7:10pm

What. Ever. Spencer. What. Ever.

ALEX

Alex 25/03/20 7:12pm

Ask for troops. I have dragons

Keri 25/03/20 7:13pm

I want valks

Alex 25/03/20 7:14pm

No you need air troops too

PHIL

Phil 25/03/20 7:13pm

You didn’t answer my question

Phil 25/03/20 7:13pm

Answer 

Phil 25/03/20 7:13pm

Me 

NEW GROUP

Keri 25/03/20 7:15pm

Aww you guys both miss me

Alex 25/03/20 7:16pm

Yup

Phil 25/03/20 7:16pm

We can’t watch lord of the rings without you

Keri 25/03/20 7:16pm

Ahh so the truth comes out

Alex 25/03/20 7:17

Yeah that too

Keri 25/03/20 7:17

Oh goodness

HALLIE

Hallie 26/03/20 9:52am

I seen your update! Rati’s girlfriend is blind!?

Keri 26/03/20 9:52am

She’s not his girlfriend yet

Hallie 26/03/20 9:52am

But she’s going to be right?

Hallie 26/03/20 9:53am

She had better be

Keri 26/03/20 9:53am

Of course she will be

Hallie 26/03/20 9:53am

Ok good

Hallie 26/03/20 9:54am

What made you think of making her blind?

Keri 26/03/20 9:54am

Actually I have no idea. At first she wasn’t going to be. Then the idea just came into my head, and I couldn’t get rid of it. 

Keri 26/03/20 9:55am

So now she’s blind

Hallie 26/03/20 9:56am

Cool. How’s it going there?

Keri 26/03/20 9:56am

I don’t mind solitude. But no books, no laptop, and strangers… this is not my cup of tea

Hallie 26/03/20 9:57am

Its all research, dear. It’s all research

Keri 26/03/20 9:57am

Aye, and prayer practice. Lord give me strength

Hallie 27/03/20 12:34pm

Hey did you get the email with the new prompts yet?

Keri 27/03/20 12:36pm

Yup just read it

Hallie 27/03/20 12:36pm

Did you decide which one you are going to do?

Keri 27/03/20 12:37pm

No

Hallie 27/03/20 12:37pm

Are you doing one this week?

Keri 27/03/20 12:37pm

I’m working on it

Keri 27/03/20 12:38pm

You don’t think anyone will mind if I put them in it, right?

Hallie 27/03/20 12:38pm

I don’t think so

Keri 27/03/20 12:39pm

I just realized I forgot to put my dad in the story!

Hallie. 27/03/20 12:39pm

Can’t you just add him?

Keri 27/03/20 12:39pm

But I’m already almost done…

Hallie 27/03/20 12:40pm

Which prompt did you choose?

Keri 27/03/20 12:40pm

The texting one

Keri 27/03/20 12:41pm

It’s okay, Dad would have just called me anyways. I’m good. I’m sure he won’t hold it against me.

Hallie 27/03/20 12:42pm

Wait its only noon. You’re writing your submission already?

Keri 27/03/20 12:42pm

Yes you should be very proud

Keri 27/03/20 12:43pm

I’ll probably put off finishing it till midnight again though