13 comments

Teens & Young Adult

The shrill beeping of the mechanical alarm clock wakes me up dutifully as always. As my hands scramble to find the offending device, I hear the sweet melody of birds singing. Silly me, when have I ever thought the chirping of birds were sweet? Or melodic? This pandemic is doing things to me, I am almost sure of it. Scratch that, I am hundred percent certain of it. Look at my slowly dwindling sanity for instance, yesterday I found myself apologizing to the rubbish bin for knocking it over.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I try to get up groggily from my bed. Key word being “try” here. But what can I say, when the warmth of the bed is calling, my pillow looks enchanting and my body is responding?

Five more minutes can’t hurt can it?

Plus, I am sure today is Saturday, meaning no school. But is it really Saturday? Leaning back into my bed, I sigh into the warmth it offers against the chilly morning atmosphere. Now, where was I? Right, the date. I am fairly sure it was Friday yesterday, because I remember the day I ate cereal was Friday and I am sure I ate a bowl of cereal yesterday. But I eat cereal every day nowadays. No, I am certain there’s something different I do every day.

I get up, I eat, I study and then I sleep. Repeat the pattern again and again, quite like a template, a story of my life in the pandemic. Wait, is that it though? Is that all I do? Every day?

Hold up, I have math every Friday. Did I have Math yesterday? Or chemistry? I have chemistry every Friday too.

I really can’t remember at all. I sigh, and hopelessly stare at the sky hoping for a forget-me-not-blue as a type of pick-me-up. It's grey, not the grey you get from rain, the grey that reminds one of sadness or everything dull or isolated. How very typical.

It seems like everything has changed to gray ever since the pandemic started. All different hues of gray, like all the colors are sucked off along with the life this city bustled with.

Something doesn’t sit right with me. Why does it feel like that every day has been the same since this disaster struck? Since when did my routine go from unpredictable to tediously repetitive?

Now, suddenly the bed doesn’t seem warm anymore. I burrow further down, to chase some of the warmth I desperately need right now.

Maybe if I fall back sleep, and wake back up, all of this would turn out to be a bad dream.

However, once-welcoming but now eluding, sleep does not come easy. I toss and turn trying to sort out the mess of tangles I got myself into.

Now that I think about it, everyday feels like a chore, nothing’s happening, but is that really a bad thing?

It’s boring but nonetheless, it’s not bad, that is better than bad, so technically it’s good. Right?

Then why do I feel so suffocated now?

I feel like an animal shut in its cage, I concluded. It being in a cage isn’t the sad part, but I wonder if it sometimes wished to have grown up in the cage right from the start instead of being given a taste of all the thing it could do outside from it.

Maybe if I didn’t know what it was like, it wouldn’t have been so devastating, would it?

Or from time to time, I find myself craving company. Maybe then the tender passing of time wouldn’t bother me so much, or I wouldn’t mind the accompanying worry or maybe it would ease the boredom away.

Maybe, I would be grateful for the cage of pandemic, when I have someone to share it with me, because I would have all the time in the world to listen and speak and give.

No, no, no why am I so sentimental all of a sudden? Why did me realizing that everyday has been the same for me, suddenly make me so sad?

But who wouldn’t be sad, if they can’t even remember the date because everything has been the same for an eternity??

Am I sad because I am not in control anymore? I was never in control anyways, I am sure it has got nothing to do with that.

The magic of my bed is gone now. Might as well as get up and maybe try changing the way my day goes by.

I am forgetting something though. What was it again?

Right, the date! So much for my musings, I still haven’t remembered the date yet.

I should go find my phone from the depths of my bed, that way I can finally see what day it is today without spiraling into a mish mash of a poetically pathetic musing.

Emerging back from my bed, rather like a sea monster, with my phone at hand I give a triumphant shout as I finally manage to breathe. That duvet is thick enough to suffocate a man.

Anyway, what is the date today?

Today is…Wednesday? How in the world did I get Wednesday to be a Saturday?

I have missed my chemistry test along with it.

Right, I am never trusting myself ever again.

Forget the pandemic, my academic record would be history and even a miracle can’t bring me back if mom ever finds out.

Speak of the devil, the caller ID shows mom’s name on my phone.

“Hello-“

“Why do I hear you have not attended today’s-“

 Oh well, here we go again.

Author's note:

Hi! I am new here, so please be kind? I literally have no idea what I just wrote up there and I feel like I butchered the ending, but oh well, what can I do?

Oh, plus some weird wordings and typos might be literally everywhere , please point it out and feel free to critique my mistakes, I would be happy to know what I am doing wrong. Thank you!

Anyway, come say hi!


March 08, 2021 10:44

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13 comments

Valerie June
03:22 May 11, 2021

Hey Emma! I feel like it's been forever since we last chatted. Just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. :D

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Emma Bates
06:07 May 21, 2021

Hiiiiii! I know it's been a while, I had tons of exams and school work to do, but now it's summer vacation for me here, so you will be seeing me a lot from now!! :))

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Valerie June
06:48 May 23, 2021

That's great! I missed talking with you. :) Looking forward to whenever you post a story.

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Valerie June
22:02 Mar 12, 2021

Hey again just wanted to tell you that... YOU ARE AN AWESOME AUTHOR ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜YOU ARE AN AWESOME AUTHOR ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜YOU ARE AN AWESOME AUTHOR ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜YOU ARE AN AWESOME AUTHOR ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜YOU ARE AN AWESOME AUTHOR ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜YOU ARE AN AWESOME AUTHOR ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Whether you believe it or not! (This was Issac's idea by the way)

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17:27 Mar 11, 2021

Loved this. Beautiful.

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Emma Bates
01:24 Mar 12, 2021

Aww, thank you, i don't think it is beautiful yet, but I still appreciate it, thank you so much!!

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Valerie June
23:48 Mar 08, 2021

Hi Emma! I’m also a new writer on this amazing platform, but their are so many talented and kind writers here it’s crazy. I loved how the character continues to ask questions about the pandemic (aren’t we all doing that, lately?) A line that really stuck with me was this one: “It being in a cage isn’t the sad part, but I wonder if it sometimes wised to have grown up in the cage right from the start instead of being given a taste of all the thing it could do outside from it.” It was just so powerful and relatable. In that sentence, I think t...

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Emma Bates
03:54 Mar 09, 2021

Oh hi!!! Thank you so much for the suggestions, I will pay attention to that from now on. Thank you for pointing that typo out too! I totally didn't notice that at all. That is indeed true, there are so many talented authors here, it was such a treat to read so many different authors' wonderful stories! If I don't seem nosy, what language are you learning as a secondary one?

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Valerie June
05:11 Mar 09, 2021

No not at all! I'm learning Spanish right now and if you don't mind me asking, what was your first language?

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Emma Bates
11:12 Mar 09, 2021

Oh Spanish? That's nice, thought about learning it but people warned me against the screaming owl named duolingo 😂, My mother tongue, I am not sure if you have ever heard about it, but it's Mongolian. You know all that Ghengis khan stuff? Yeah, that place is my country, I promise we don't live in yurts or that we still live in the 13th century 😂

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Valerie June
19:11 Mar 09, 2021

Oh my goodness, whatever you do beware the duolingo owl! I tried learning Japanese on that app, but I kind of just stopped because I learned nothing except a lot of vocab words that I don't even remember. :D Wow, I've never even heard of Mongolia (I had to look it up on a map XD), but I'm so glad that you learned English. I can't wait to read more of your stories!

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Emma Bates
01:26 Mar 12, 2021

Ahahahha, I am dying. True, Mongolia is not really well known at all, but I am glad I learnt English too!! I can talk with lovely people like you without any problems! I will try hard to make good stories!

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