Track #34: 24 Hours
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Shawn's POV
March 14, 2020
I don't know how good or bad an idea it was to read the whole WHO information booklet I was handed on the plane this morning, because now I find myself panicking my way through the airport like I am experiencing a serious case of claustrophobia, trapped among all these people gathered in one place.
It never felt super good to be in public in situations like this with strangers, unless of course it was at concerts or parties I've agreed to go to, and it's usually pretty overwhelming for me, but this feeling has clearly gone to another level. I am terrified.
My pulse is racing and my palms are sweating. I move as far away as I can from the other passengers who have just landed in Miami, looking at each other in terror, thinking about the strong possibility that one of us is infected with the virus that has killed hundreds of people today. It seems like a very bad joke, even like a movie, that I am living the beginning of what experts call a pandemic, which may last much longer than I thought because the numbers continue to increase drastically with each passing minute.
Did I make a big mistake by not listening to Andrew and dropping everything to come all this way? I guess I'll find out later.
On the way out I catch a cab to take me to my girlfriend's house, who thank heavens arrived intact last night. I haven't been able to talk to her very well because I've been kept busy following mandatory security instructions. My flight was delayed, many others were cancelled due to airline closures and I wasted a whole day just doing paperwork, so my spirits are at rock bottom when I finally arrive at my final destination.
In a hurry I pay the driver and sling my only backpack over my shoulder before crossing the street in front of an imposing white house, much like the one she has in L.A., surrounded by greenery and large palm trees swaying in the wind under a hot sun of about... 35 degrees. No doubt the weather is going to be my worst enemy, just as I remember it from the few times I've traveled here. I'm already suffocating, and I haven't even touched the intercom.
I sigh exhausted from the journey but evidently relieved to see such a familiar face as the wooden door opens. Camila smiles at me excitedly and looks at me with those beautiful bright brown eyes I missed so much watching, trembling restlessly barely holding back the urge to jump into my arms. I would gladly get close but it's not wise to do so when I've just been with other people of very dubious backgrounds. I might bring the virus with me. You never know...
- Hello, mi amor! - She greets me pouting and extends an arm as if she wants to touch me even though she knows it's not right. - I missed you a lot.
- And I missed you, honey. - I smile and wink at her, seeing how her cheeks are bathed in an intense red color.
- Come, don't just stand there.
She invites me in by stepping back from the door two meters away from me and I drop my backpack in the hall momentarily, undecided on how I should continue. I'm here, with my girlfriend, both apparently safe and sound (which makes me very happy), but... I don't feel like myself. Everything seems to have lost its normalcy in a matter of hours. I feel sick in my own skin. This is pretty... weird, for lack of a better word to describe it.
In a heavy silence I observe the empty living room around me, if I don't count the big black dog asleep on the sofa so unconcerned about life, wondering what will become of us now in this present that welcomes us full of uncertainty in a year that we all thought was going to be the best, until the universe conspired against us sending us to the very end of the world.
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Songs For You - (Shawmila, The Story) Vol. I
Fanfiction''Camila, you know it's been a long time coming.'' ''We can't keep doing this, Shawn.'' I sob, aware that my heart is breaking as well as his. ''I really didn't want to lose you, but I don't want to keep playing these games with you. I'm tired of bu...
