Covid was after me.

I know I’m not imagining it. At first, it was just a whisper, a rumor. Reports of infections rising on our little island. At the doctor’s office, they mentioned a surprising surge in cases. Shops closed when their staff tested positive. But we were careful. We used masks, we had our booster shots, we avoided crowds. Then our neighbors on one side got sick. Then the other two sides. The virus had us surrounded. We drank our orange juice with zinc. We told ourselves it was okay to get the variant because everyone says it’s just like having a cold. 

Except it wasn’t. Our temperatures spiked to 102 and 103F (38-39C), our headaches were epic. We generated so much mucus, slugs worshipped us as their new gods. The test was almost anticlimactic. We’ve been sick for days now, crawling out of bed only for life…