Wednesday, November 24, 2021

The New Hereafter

 Amanda Peterson laid in her comfortable bed, one small child on each side of her, and her beloved dog at her feet. Her husband, Rob, was at the hospital, where he had been ever since they had made the frantic trip home. She hadn’t seen him since he’d dropped her and the children and their dog off at home, yesterday afternoon. A weekend camping trip ended abruptly. But she knew now that it was FAR more than that, now. It was a world, a whole way of like, ended. At least for the foreseeable future.

It wasn’t noon yet, but the bedroom of her Atlanta townhouse was like an oven, even with the windows open. No air conditioning, because of course there was no power. It was so odd, because even with the windows open, it was eerily quiet, except for a few muffled voices and a dog barking in the distance.
No traffic, because, indeed, there was nowhere for anyone to go, really. All businesses were shut down, and at the moment the only food and water they had was whatever they had in the pantry.
A little later, when the children and dog woke up, Amanda fed them a simple breakfast of cereal and milk. The milk was still cold; she would use it as long as it lasted. The children were fussy because of the heat, and there was no way to let them see videos or play online games, of course, but she finally got them interested in coloring pictures with crayons, while she played with their dog, Annie, who was a bit restless, since she hadn’t had her daily walk. Amanda had been reluctant to take the children anywhere other than either the penthouse, or the back yard, even though things seemed calm enough outside. Indeed, everyone seemed too dazed with their new reality to be causing too much trouble for anyone else.

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