Pandemic, a perspective by Emma Liu

 Pandemic

By: Emma Liu

Sitting on the couch with the remote resting peacefully by my side, I watched the latest news flash as the reporter displays expressionless pictures of people in hospitals: sick and dying. A pandemic has come, she repeats, and we must all stay home during these times.

I jerk upright, sudden and numb, before clawing at the T.V. for more. A pandemic? I watched the reporter’s mouth move, her tongue rolling and clicking, yet no words flowed to my ears. 

Outside, the faint noises of nearby neighbors and cars struggled to keep me in reality. I slowly walked out of the house and glanced around, taking deep breaths. Kids were playing underneath the hazy orange sun while mothers laughed in between sips of hot tea. Outside, everybody seemed calm. Happy. Normal. 

Clenching my stomach and making my way back to the T.V, the news had been switched. A happy newlywed was now clutching her baby and smiling as her baby made bubbly gurgling sounds. Frowning and picking up the remote, I began switching channels in an attempt to find the expressionless reporter. Yet she, and her story, were gone. 

Silent, I slumped onto the couch, and buried my face in pillows, hoping to escape from the world. With my head engulfed in pillows, I wondered how many people in that world saw what I saw. The news, the pictures, the reporters… how many people?