day2day

“Joe and Ringo”

It was Saturday morning, little Joe woke up early and very pleased it was not a school day for him, the rest of the family were still asleep. His adventurous heart told him to get up, and after grabbing a piece of bread, he washed quickly not spending much time in the bathroom and ran through the back doors to the garden. It was his world, he said “hello” to his dog Ringo which was so pleased to see him as he knew it was the time for a long, adventurous walk through the woods nearby. Off they went, the day was dry but cloudy, birds were singing, squirrels were jumping the tree branches, the natural smell of wood freshness was all around them, Ringo was happily walking alongside Joe who was silently singing and enjoying the wonderful morning time which he always had looked forward to for the whole week. “Favourite time, favourite time” he sang, the joy of his voice was clearly understood by Ringo who was waving his tale with his head up listening to his human friend. Joe had a dream overnight where he saw a huge castle somewhere in the woods, it was a beautiful white building with sharply ended several little towers around the top edges of its structure, he could not remember anything else of it, however, this dream kept him greatly inspired for the whole morning walk. Life seemed better in the nature of the wood environment than the busy, noisy streets of San Jose which Joe did not like. His school was not a big one but Joe loved Ringo most of all his school friends. Coming along the wooden path there was still no castle on the horizon, Joe knew the difference between the dreams and reality, however, he also knew that all is possible in his world, the joy of the time was most important to him, he also knew that Ringo loved their time together which was always making them both so very happy, their friendship grew and grew beyond any description. They understood and trusted each other. Soon the morning became noon, both friends had had a wonderful time and were on their way back home as Joe was helping his parents with the housework on Saturday afternoons so he did not want to be late for that duty. He loved helping his mum and dad in anything that they were doing, let it be baking, cooking, gardening, or car repairing. Everything was always an enjoyable adventure for him, life was fun. When they arrived home, mum was getting ready to cook dinner and dad was in the garden, he needed some help from Joe as he wanted to repair the shed that day. Some of the parts of its roof began to be loose so Joe and his dad were working on it till the dinner was ready. Joe enjoyed learning to use all the tools needed to repair the wooden parts of the shed, the metal parts were still in good shape and needed no extra work. It was a warm, sunny day so the work was going pleasantly well for both of them, there was a small radio in the shed so they could turn it on at any time they wanted, however, they preferred to chat when they were together, they always had something to talk about. Suddenly they realized they were running out of nails so Joe jumped on his bike and left off for the local shop to get some more. It only took him less than twenty minutes and he was back.

Suddenly they heard the news on the radio that there was a virus spreading all over the world. Joe thought to himself “How is that possible? “, “What is it?”, “What will happen if anyone of us will get it?”, “Does it also affect dogs?” He had no answers to his questions at that time, however, the happy day has just had a dark cloud arrived on it, things were about to change.

Joe’s and his parents’ neighbour came down to see them to ask if they have seen the news, Mrs Griffiths was in tears and could not speak clearly. Joe’s mum has welcomed Mrs Griffiths warmly and offered her a drink, they both sat down and talked. They were always there for each other for all the years they have lived in the street, next-door neighbours sharing kindness and help almost every day. Mrs Griffiths was an elderly lady whose husband passed away some years ago and they did not have children, she was living alone as her brother and sister also passed away. Mrs Griffiths was the kindest person you can ever meet. Joe could not stop thinking about what he has heard and found it difficult to fall asleep that night. Sunday came after a long night for everyone. First time since the war the church service was not held at the local church, instead, people were heading to the groceries shops and supermarkets to get more food and more household essentials, that was caused by a massive spread of fear that soon shops may not be open and there will be no food apart from what was growing in the gardens if one had one. Life took a completely different turn, people became to worry and felt unprepared for a possible long-term social shut down. Joe could not believe what was happening, he would normally be happy to hear he did not have to go to school but this time he was not. Schools were about to close and there was no certainty when they would re-open again. “What will happen to the teachers?”, “How will he see his friends from school?”, so many questions were popping out in his mind, scary time, no one knows any answers for the coming weeks, months, what is happening.

There have been more deaths reported that the virus caused, many people had to self-isolate at their homes, hardly knowing what to do apart from waiting for seven or fourteen days and hoping they will feel better and the sickness will go away without killing them. It seemed to be worse in larger cities, gladly Joe lived in a small town, people were friendly and kind to each other, it was sad to see some of them already died and some of them you did not see as they had to remain at home, especially elderly people.

The next day, Joe and his father went to the shops and made larger shopping, they have bought some groceries and several tins of food for Mrs Griffiths so she would not have to worry as she could not go out anyway, they would not let her feel any more worried than she was. Mrs Griffiths loved to read, she hardly watched the television, maybe that was good as there was a constant flood of bad news on there all the time, the world has changed dramatically within a few days, all over the world on each continent. Things were getting worse, soon there were many people who died in hospitals.