Day: Monday 

Date: 4th May 2020

Dear Diary,

Social distancing. 

That's what they call it. The first time that I heard of this term, I thought they were talking about staying away from social media platforms and ending all your relationships with other people. Now, this is one of the most frequent words in my vocabulary.

Social distancing also called physical distancing means keeping space between yourself and other people outside of your home. To practice social or physical distancing, stay at least 6 feet which is about 2 arms' length (believe me, I measured) from other people, do not gather in groups and stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gatherings.

Basically, avoid the kind of human interaction that was common until the twentieth century, the time where smartphones were only a fable.

The news about COVID-19 began circulating in February, before that it was nothing more than news I did not care about. What I did care about was the drama that was going on at my high school and the story about coronavirus seemed less appealing than the cutest couple in school breaking up.

I had board exams in March and we were forced to endure a particularly hard set of test series held by the school in February and it was during one late night of studying session when my mother approached me.

Her expression was not too concerned as she handed me a mask and a newly bought bottle of hand sanitizer.

I had looked up from my thick book of notes and doodles, unable to understand how giving me a mask would help me in my exams and voiced my doubts on the opinion.

She, used to my strange mutterings had ignored my words and proceeded to tell me about the news that had started capturing the front pages of many newspapers and that is when I first heard the term social distancing. 

"I am not supposed to have any friends?" I had asked unable to comprehend her for my mind was still trying to fit in knowledge about Napoleon and his annoying civil codes. 

"You can have friends, just do not shake their hands, hug them or stand too close to them when they speak." She had paused for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing as she thought before casually adding. "Don't talk to them at all."

"But they are my friends!" I had protested unable to understand exactly what was happening and why it was happening.

"I don't want you to get the disease." My mother said looking unperturbed after she had ruined my excuse for a social life that considered a total of four friends. 

"Dad!" I had yelled trying to find some reason in the situation. "What the hell is going on?"

My father had entered the room with a disapproving look on his face as he heard my unapproved use of the word 'hell'. After he had told me to mind my language (even though I have heard him yell the word 'hell' quite frequently) he told me that I should pay heed to my mother's words for they were truthful and valued.

I was stunned after this revelation and had nodded my head to her instructions before glancing back at my notes that suddenly seemed to be trivial.

The next day was an awkward one. I had chosen to ignore my mother's warnings and had stuffed the mask back in my bag until I entered the exam room and found that all of my friends had a mask covering the lower half of their faces. 

Apparently, my mother had called the mothers of my friends and had told them about the virus that had been spreading through different parts of the world (mainly China) and had suggested that they make their children wear masks.

I had felt betrayed by the fact that my mother did not trust me but then I glanced at the corner of the mask that was sticking out of my bag and shrugged.

The days that had followed were full of conversations had revolved around the strange coronavirus. Every day the number of the infected would be checked and announced to all. The conversations would vary from the precautions we ought to take to conspiracies that included theories that the virus was nothing more than just a biological weapon.

The conversations continued until the mid of March, the time where our exams came to an end. Even with the cases of coronavirus spreading, plans to have a small get together after the exams were made and people invited.

They all had to be cancelled of course for the country was sent into lockdown. The news of the lockdown did not make sense to me, it stated that no one was to leave the house except for groceries and soon after the rare trips to the stores were also banned.

My mind had been unable to understand the situation and I had voiced out my disbelief to my parents who had given me a look and told me 'to understand' and 'cooperate'. Then instead of trying to calm me down and try to help me understand, they had started their own stories of the time when a curfew had been ordered.

They told me stories of how they couldn't turn the lights on and how they did not have smartphones or television to entertain themselves. I was horrified to hear that for my smartphone was as valuable to me as my arm, however, I was quickly assured of the fact that the virus won't be able to take the internet and any other sort of technology from me.

The first few days of lockdown were easy,  they seemed strangely similar to the first few days of summer vacation. The part where you were done with school and happy with the idea of doing nothing. My days were spent busy watching (and completing) all seasons of Brooklyn-99 on Netflix.

Netflix was unusual to me, my parents were middle-class people who did not believe that sites like Netflix must be paid for. Why should they when you could get the show with a horrible view and cracked audio?

But the lockdown had resulted in sharing of many great movies and shows and my parents had conceded to the fact that paying for a site and using it every day to watch a movie would indeed be worth their money.

Having Netflix was a strange privilege for me for I did not have to scrounge the internet looking for a show that I could bear to see and understand but initial benefits of the lockdown started to ebb away leaving me antsy and bored. Looking out from my balcony in evenings was a depressing sight, I was used to the sound and view of children playing and the deserted swings only helped in making me want to go out.

It was strange. If I was given the choice between leaving the house or staying in, I would have chosen to stay in but now that going outside was banned, I felt as if someone had taken away my freedom from me.

One day, I casually mentioned that I had nothing to do and she just as casually replied that I could use the time to study and get ahead of my peers. Maybe even start preparing for college.

I had ignored her words until a few days later when I found myself falling under the burden of assignments full of chemical reactions, mathematical equations and theories provided by dead physicists.

I was mad at her for making me a slave to these injustices. Why couldn't she understand that I was perfectly content trying to figure out how many times can you watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. until you develop an immense hatred for it. (The answer is 25 times by the way.)

A lot of things had changed during the lockdown. My lunch sometimes turned to dinner, my dinner to breakfast and my breakfast to lunch, I once had breakfast for dinner to keep it interesting.

The door to my apartment has turned into something of an enemy. An unspoken rule claims that you should remain at a distance of four feet away from the door at all times, to make sure that it doesn't attack you, this takes place at night when we check if the door has been locked.

(It's an irrational habit my brother Marvin possesses and pointing out the fact that no one had opened it all morning and even the crooks are on lockdown, does little to stop him.)

I have come to one conclusive realisation. The virus is spreading and there is nothing I can do except to stay at home and avoid becoming the host.

So I sit at in home, telling myself I am a hero as I watch the deserted swings and listen to the lack of laugher which marks the rise of the pandemic.

Yours truly, 

Sadie.