A letter to COVID-19

You awful, treacherous disease,

Within a year, you have grown into this pandemic, and in all the 195 countries, you are negatively affecting the lives of 7,832,635,355 people, of whom 74,534,155 got sick so far, more than 1,655,226 died, and 52,372,534 recovered.1

You are a gruesome monster, and I hate the pain and hurt you cause. You disrupted our lives like nothing before, and we are devastated because of it.

I have no idea why you exist or what can be the purpose of your being here, roaming around the world. Perhaps it’s Mother Earth’s way of telling us that things have to change for the better because we are still making a mess out of Life, out of our existence on this planet. Perhaps you are a reminder of our resilience and the way we humans face adversaries.

But I fear you! I still fear you every day.

So, I socially distance myself from others, wear masks in public, wash my hands frequently, and am self-quarantined. I would be very lonely if it weren’t for the Internet and websites like Writing.com. They keep me sane and mentally healthy.

This year, 2020, has been a challenging year.

Since I learned from the national lockdown in my country, The Netherlands, on March 14, I immediately traveled to another city to take care of my stepmom of 86 years old. At the time, she had some ailments, and somebody should take care of her during the pandemic. There was nobody else but me, so I lived with her.

I thought for three weeks; it turned out I stayed for six months.

During those months, her memory deteriorated, which was a complicating factor on its own. But we managed. She is still doing great.

And now, I am almost 3 ½ months back in my own house again. I live in my COVID-free Buble and stay home while people around me are getting sick and know sick people and are dying because of you!

There is an economic crisis on top of the health crisis that will linger on for the next year, I am afraid. This is by no means over yet, although Monday here in Europe, the new vaccine will be approved. But it will take time to vaccinated all.

And in the meantime, we have every opportunity in every contact to get sick, you only need one chance to jump over, and it’s happened—an unequal battle to fight.

But, we fight you, with everything that makes us human. You are the common enemy, and we will defeat you.

P.

WC:436

Note ▼

Featured in "Drama Newsletter (December 23, 2020)" 
HM in "The Bard's Hall Contest"  [13+]

Footnotes
1  The world population clock at December 17, 2020