A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 2

Kindergarten was fun. I got to play with Karen and other kids. Recess was my favorite part since we got to run around and have fun. I was ahead of most of the class when it came to reading, Mom made me practice every evening saying that it was very important.

I got off of the bus and ran to the house. I smelled banana bread and quickly went to the kitchen. Mom was there and gave me a big piece of it. It was still warm from the oven and had butter on it. Yum. I went upstairs to change out of my school clothes.

I looked at the mirror on my dresser and smiled at my reflection. I quickly brushed my shoulder length hair. Many thought it was black until they saw it closer and realized that it was actually a very dark brown. I grinned at my dark brown eyes and went back downstairs. Maybe I would be allowed to watch some cartoons if I asked nicely.

I went to the living room and looked around. I turned around to see Dad come down the stairs in his fancy clothes. It was Friday again, so they must have another meeting. Auntie never had any problem with me watching cartoons. I ran over and gave him a hug. He hugged me back and sat on the big chair and put me on his lap. I grinned up at him, "You have another meeting tonight?"

He nodded with a smile, "Yes, Auntie should be here shortly to watch you again."

I tilted my head, "What do you do in these meetings?"

He grinned, "We learn about ways to be self-sufficient. Remember that fancy heater I installed a few years ago?"

I nodded and he continued, "That is one of those things. Even if the power goes out in winter, our house will stay warm."

The phone rang and Mom answered it. She gave a small cry, "What?! Are you serious?"

Dad frowned and sat up straighter as he watched Mom. She shook her head and started crying, "No, I talked to her this morning. This can't be."

She was silent with tears running down her face as she listened to whoever was talking with her. What was wrong? Why was Mom crying?

She took a deep breath, "Okay, we will be there tomorrow morning." She hung up the phone.

Dad looked worried, "Isabelle, what is wrong?"

Mom looked up with a sad face, "A drunk driver hit Auntie's car and both went off of the bridge. Neither of them survived."

Dad put me on the chair and went to give Mom a big hug. I was frozen with guilt and sadness. I had Auntie's angel. He wasn't there to help her this time because he had been with me. I looked up as Mom sat beside me.

She wiped the tears away from my eyes with a tissue, "It's okay sweetie, don't cry. Auntie will be in heaven and her leg will no longer cause her pain."

I buried my face in her dress as I cried. How could I say I was sorry that I had Auntie's angel? What would Mom say if she knew? I didn't know. I wonder if I could tell Auntie how sorry I was. "Where is heaven?"

Mom rocked me as tears flowed out of my eyes, "Heaven is way up in the sky. We won't see it until we leave this world."

I sniffled, "If we don't know where it is, how will we find it?"

Mom smoothed down my hair, "Your guardian angel will take you there and stay with you in heaven."

Panic gripped me. How was her angel going to guide her to that nice place if he was with me? "What if her angel went somewhere else for a while?"

She continued to rock me as she sniffled as well, "Her angel would know the instant she died and would have returned to guide her to heaven."

Dad sat beside us and also put his arms around us. They skipped their meeting that night.

I put a red rose on the coffin. It was closed, but I had been told that Auntie was inside. "Goodbye Auntie." I silently apologized once more for borrowing her angel. They would both be in heaven by now. Lots of sad people were in the room. Mom had said that Auntie was in a better place, but if that was true, why were people so sad? I missed her badly, perhaps they missed her too. Mom said I wasn't going to school today. Dad promised me that they would take me for ice cream afterwards.

The service ended and everyone went out for ice cream. I happily licked my chocolate ice cream and swung my legs on my chair. I listened to Dad talking to another guy.

"I hear that virus over in the Middle East is spreading pretty quickly. Almost everyone who contracts it ends up in a coma. Nasty thing."

"Yeah, I saw that too. We are going to go shopping and stockpile a bunch of stuff just in case it crosses the ocean."

"Best thing we can do is stock up and hunker down if something that bad appears around here. Where are you going to store it? You don't have a basement or cold room."

"In the spare rooms on the second and third floor. We are choosing stuff that doesn't have to be kept cool and will have a shelf life of at least three years so we don't have to worry about replacing it for a while."

I saw a cute puppy and started to climb off my chair.

Mom caught me, "Laura sit and finish your ice cream first, then you can play with Claire's puppy if you ask her nicely."

I sulked a bit, hoping she would let me go anyways. Mom shook her head, "Don't throw a tantrum. Claire may not let you play with her puppy if she thinks you might hurt it. You have to prove to her that you are a good girl."

I ducked my head and mumbled, "Sorry." I quickly finished my ice cream and after asking Claire politely she let me pet and play with her puppy. I giggled as it licked my face. Eventually we had to go home.

I helped Mom and Dad carry in grocery bags. I was running out of spots to put the bags, the floor was almost full of bags and boxes. I managed to find a bare spot and put my bag there. I looked up as Dad carried in the last box, "Is all of this food?"

Dad nodded, "Yes. We are going to put most of it upstairs in case that bad flu shows up around here."

I nodded and carried a small box up the stairs. Mom and Dad were really worried about that flu across the ocean. They were scared that it was going to make something called a pandemic. I wasn't exactly sure what that was, but Dad said that it is something really bad. He liked to be prepared. He was always building things or changing things so that our house could stand against anything. Last year he had installed windows that even a small tornado would be unable to smash.

The four spare rooms were getting really full. Boxes were stacked to the ceiling. The office just had water bottles. Lots of water bottles. More than I could count. I just hoped that they wouldn't put any of this stuff in my room. Well, maybe that big box of crackers. I bet they would taste pretty good, but I don't think that they would like me eating the food they were trying save.