A Lockdown To Remember

An address to the nation

The sky was bright and blue, happy as it looked could not tell the situation on land it was protecting. It was few days past Mid March and summer had begun to bloom. Sitting in her room Xenia had nothing better to do than stare at the ceiling. It was a weekday however every single being was at home behind a locked door. A new Virus shook the world, killing many, infecting more, increasing the fear with each passing minute. Many countries were under lockdown. India was yet to get legal however fear had locked millions inside their homes already.

Xenia, after having lunch had decided to go in a spare room, as again she was sleepy and did not wish to get scolded by her father. Her initial plan was to sleep however her guilt kept her awake. She had done nothing productive nor did she wake up early to sleep again, resulting in guilt. Her mind was vacant, she had nothing new to think or do. After being home for a fortnight nothing interested her. She was exhausted of boredom to such an extent that a little disturbance outside her window drew her closer. The window did not provide a clear view however she could comprehend a car being somewhere near. Her interest diminished when her mother asked her to come to the kitchen.

"Keep all the bottles inside," Her mother ordered. "Where were you?"

"What was happening outside? I heard something. Is something happening in that house?" Xenia said referring to the house adjacent to them.

"Did someone come? They were going to come back to sell the house. Maybe they came."

"Now? Everything is closed down. What is the point in coming here now?"

"They might have bought the flight tickets. That is not cheap. But did they come?"

"Something was happening. Not sure what it was." She jogged towards the window and peeked out. "Cannot see anything. Uncle and aunty are coming or just their family?"

"No one knows. Give me the pees, I will peel them. You are going for a walk?"

"I want to go. Can I? Feels irresponsible. Maybe I will walk in the back yard. I don't know. But I will go for a walk for sure."

The day, similar to how the last fifteen days had been spent, had nothing but sitting and watching involved. As she had said earlier she went for a walk in the evening however in her backyard. She had music on and walked as fast as she could. It distracted her and made her feel energetic for the first time that week. She pledged to walk daily.

It was ten past eight and she was deciding which song to play next when she heard a voice. It did not take her long to recognise who it was. The PM was addressing the nation. She did not stop to hear what he was saying despite her interest in the topic. However, her neighbours were watching the speech on the television which she could hear giving her all the important inputs she needed. Corona, or Covid-19, as people had recently started calling it, was out of control. The nation was under lockdown for the next 21 days.

"It would be better to die than stay home for 21 days!" One of her friends said.

"I am already bored. I am going to go crazy in 21 days!" Said another one.

"My brother will be home for 21 days." Xenia frowned at the thought. "I am dead."

Going inside the house after approximately forty minutes she sat in front of the TV watching the details of the lockdown. No one could leave the house, no schools or colleges, no offices, nothing only essential serves available.  Her parents, like every other Indian, went to buy some necessities, mostly groceries. A wave of panic flew over the country. Some were scared, some were amazed but no one was untouched by the wave. A global pandemic as it was decided to slow down the earth for a while.

"I hate Corona." Her friend, Ashwini said. "I want to go out. I am going crazy!"

"No one really loves Corona," Xenia said as she sat on the deewan in the spare room she was in earlier that day. Her friends after hearing the news decided to have an urgent meeting to discuss the crises that fell upon them. "Why did they change the name? The first one wasn't spiritual enough?"

"Twenty-one days at home. That's 504 hours! Bloody hell," Her other friend Haim said.

"You calculated that?"

"Of course! 504 hours Xenia. Modi should have killed us instead."

"Why didn't to answer the call earlier Ashwini?" Xenia asked. "We called you so many times!"

"My mother made me wash the dishes. I am telling you, she is training me for marriage. I don't have more than a year."

"Ashwini, look you have a chance. Die or she will get you married." Haim said making Xenia laugh.

"Yeah, Ashu do not miss this opportunity. We don't get it daily."

"Kutrya. I want to get married. Then I will die. But first I want a husband. I hope he is wearing a mask."

"He has Corona, " Haim teased her which made her narrow her eyes.

"What do you two plan to do for the next 21 days?" Xenia asked them after they had stopped arguing about Ashwini's future husband.

" What can we do Xenia?" Ashwini was the first one to say. "We will get bored and nothing."

"I am getting fat," Haim said next, "my mom made paneer chilli. All I do is eat and sleep."

Xenia shook her head. "I am getting fat too! Hate this."

"You two stop talking about your weight. You two have already lost so much. Now stop it!"

Xenia briefly looked towards the window as she saw a shadow before smiling. "You both are looking at your own selves, aren't you?"

"Yes." They said in union.

They talked, whined, laughed for half an hour. They were all tensed, worried a little but the video call made them forget everything and lifted their spirits high, making their night better. Two hours after the Video call ended Xenia was still in that room using the social media sites for distraction, her only refuge during the lockdown.

"I don't know what to do!" Xenia heard an unfamiliar voice. It took her a few moments to realise that it came from the room which though was in the neighbour's house was close to the room she was in. The windows especially were not very far from each other, making the words clear as crystal. "Nothing can be done for twenty-one days. There are no flight out, too. I am stuck here. No, I know no one here. No, a suitcase fell on me. It was bleeding a lot." This made Xenia look up from her phone. "It is fine now. No. Because I don't know where the medical store is. I don't know if there are any neighbours or if they will help me. I don't think so. That's fine. I am not in a mood to talk to anyone right now. Yeah, I will call them in the morning. Yeah. I will sleep for now. Bye." There was silence for a moment before she heard something fall and then the unknown voice shrieked in pain. When he cursed she realised the intensity of the pain. Hesitant at first she moved closer to the window. "The store," She said, still not sure whether to talk or resist. She told herself that the arrow had left the bow and would not return. The reasonable thing according to her was to continue talking. "The medical store. When you are out of the gate turn left and walk straight then take the second right. It's the second or the third shop."

For almost a minute the air did not move making her regret her decision. But then the unknown voice broke the silence saying, "Thank you."

She smiled widely but gave no reply. She frowned when a post on Facebook reminded her of those twenty-one days she was going to be imprisoned at home. Long as the time was did not appeal to her, but that was because she did not know what the uncertain time had for her, what was waiting and what was to come.

***

And I am back!!!

How are my people???

So a 21-day lockdown calls for a new story doesn't it!?

Hopefully, for these 21 days, I will publish a chapter daily and the story ends with the lockdown.

Very excited to be back! I missed you all sooooooo much.