Desk behind the window

An arcing shadow darkened the screen. Pixels glaring around its muffling edge; words scattered away from its reach.

It’s stripes distorted into tendrils that effortlessly tore at the fragile paper. Pens scrawled furious chimeras on remaining shreds, that disintegrated before their ink could dry.

They have reviewed the situation. Stay home.

Encompassing the pin board, dates and plans were plunged into its abyss. Push pins that kept notes enslaved beneath them, quashing their pleas, became statues falling. No longer pedestalled, they lay at the feet of those they ruled over.

They have reviewed the situation. Stay home.

All began to cease. Tweeting became irregular, the familiar buzzing vibrations that punctuated the everyday, now events in themselves. Every email had the potential for an update yet none came.

They have reviewed the situation. Stay alert.

Keys vehemently protested the unfamiliar strain. The polemic some conjured rendered lunacy by the affects their action, or inaction, has on others’ health. Chattering jabs cascaded upon the keyboard. There is no way to undo. There can be no return to normality as we know it; no escape from the shadow we now live in.

They have reviewed the situation. Stay alert.

Light encroaches on the shadow as time trundles on. Steadfastly determined to project its warmth across the whole desk. But the shadow is stubborn too. Waxing and waning, only for a few days can it be forgotten before it spikes again.

They have reviewed the situation. Stay safe.

The chasm between the outside and I grows daily. It took five weeks before I braved a shop for milk and eggs. Another month after that I began to hold occasional conversations across hedges.

They have reviewed the situation. Stay safe.

The striped icon that was conjured to support heroes is equally a memorial. Whilst it hangs, whilst people watch it, it watches over the infected. A cheery faced caretakers amongst contagious crypts.

Rainbows erected to mask the storm.

They are reviewing the situation. It is ongoing.