The Beginning of the End by Lorana Hoopes (readict txt) 📕

She’d lived in her neighborhood for years, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d walked the streets during the day. Everything felt quiet and odd. With nearly everything shut down, shouldn’t more people be outside?

Raven turned down the side street that led to a small park. Goosebumps had erupted on her arms, and she suddenly just wanted to see other people. Surely, some of the older kids who were out of school would be in the field or even playing on the equipment, but the park was empty.

However, someone had been there recently. Near the entrance was a sign staked in the ground. Raven moved closer to read it. Park closed due to NCAV spread. Closed? How did one even close a park? Then her eyes landed on the yellow caution tape surrounding the play structure.

Not only had the governor shut down schools, but he’d shut down playgrounds as well? True, there were fewer kids now than six months ago due to the disappearances - and those children would already need therapy in the future - but now they weren’t even able to play outside and try to find some semblance of normality again? What did the future hold for them?

Though no one was around her, Raven felt a tremor of fear snake its way up her spine, and she turned back toward her house. Suddenly, being stir-crazy in her house seemed more appealing than being outside.

Anger boiled inside Lily as she watched the governor give his latest press conference. It seemed he was only capable of doling out bad news. Not only had he extended the lockdowns for another month, but he’d also just shut down schools for the rest of the year.

“Can you believe him?” Lily asked Katie as she muted the TV. She had no desire to hear the news anchors pontificate about how caring the governor was being, especially since he’d just destroyed her hope for a normal end of the school year.

She supposed deep down she had assumed that would be the case, but she’d been hoping the temporary lockdown would be just that - temporary - and they would get to go back. Online school was not nearly as fun as being in class. It was odd. Lily could remember complaining everyday about having to get up and go to school, but now she wanted nothing more than to have that freedom.

Katie sighed and pushed herself up from the couch. “I hate how he applies the same standard for the whole state as he does for those with the higher case count. The last time I checked, we only had five cases in our whole county.”

Lily stood and followed her into the kitchen. “Right? Like why can’t we finish school?”

Katie chuckled as she opened the cabinet and grabbed a bag of popcorn. “You just want to go back because you’re hoping The Spring Fling will be rescheduled.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. Bryce had barely even returned Lily’s text messages since the shutdown, and she was eager to see him again. Plus, she really wanted to dance with him. Heat crawled up her neck and flamed across her cheeks as she imagined his arms wrapped around her. “Okay, true. I want to go to the dance first and foremost, but you can’t tell me you are enjoying this distance learning thing.”

Katie shrugged and turned on the microwave. “I don’t know. It’s not that bad. I feel like they’re giving us less work than if we were in school which gives me more time to research what I want, but I do miss being able to go out. You know I haven’t gotten to get a coffee in weeks.”

“I haven’t done anything in weeks,” Lily said, folding her arms across her chest. “Do you think we’ll ever get to go back to normal?”

Katie shook her head. Clearly it was a question she had no answer for either. “Who knows, but speaking of normal, have you been to the grocery store recently?”

Grocery stores, gas stations, liquor stores, and pot shops were about the only places the governor had deemed as essential to stay open, and Lily and Katie were only old enough to enter two of the four. Every other business had been ordered to shutter its doors until further notice. Even doctor’s offices had canceled appointments and were only seeing emergency cases.

Katie had switched subjects so abruptly that Lily blinked at her for a few moments before answering. “Not in a few days. Why?”

“People are starting to wear masks in the grocery store. Not the workers or anything, but shoppers. Haven’t the doctors been saying not to wear masks?”

Lily shrugged as the popcorn began popping in the microwave behind Katie. “People are paranoid. I guess whatever makes them feel better.” When the virus had first hit, she’d watched the news daily, hoping for some good news that they had it under control and life could continue as normal. Unfortunately, that hadn’t happened, and now it was generally a repeat of the same things: wash your hands, stay home, stay away from people. She was tired of hearing it.

“I’m not wearing any mask,” she continued. Lily couldn’t stand things around her neck or her face. Turtleneck sweaters never even touched her body because she felt like they were choking her. Having something blocking her ability to breathe in clean air sounded like torture.

“What if he passes a mask mandate?” Katie leveled a serious gaze at Lily. “They have in China and many of the other countries.”

“Yeah, but they have way more cases than we do. We only have five, right?”

The popping stopped, and Katie opened the microwave. “Five can become fifty pretty quickly.”

Lily scoffed. “Even fifty would be small here. Our county has over two hundred and fifty thousand people.”

Katie opened the bag and poured the popcorn into a bowl. Steam and a sweet salty smell filled the air. “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling