What if We all Cared?

Celeste woke startled by the rising water. Gathering her meager possessions and gripping her beautiful jar of firefly friends tightly she carefully climbed the ladder up to the manhole cover, all the while water flowing down upon her through it.

“Sure glad we didn’t drown!”, Celeste exclaimed as she struggled to move the manhole cover and climb out. Standing there in the downpour, Celeste looks around and contemplating her next housing option.

She remembers in the distance seeing an abandoned car, with the luggage still strapped onto the roof. The freedom to leave in a car, even if that was the worst possible idea, cost many their lives. Their loss may give her an, at least overnight, place to rest and regroup.

As Celeste walks slowly towards the car she’s alert to signs there may be others nearby. The car is somewhat hidden under overgrown trees so seems appealing, but could also be occupied.

It was covered in glistening intricate spiderwebs reminiscent of Princess Serenity’s creations. Celeste paused to gaze at the webs and listen… There was an odd muffled noise from within the old car. Slowly and silently Celeste backed away and headed down a nearby alley.

As she walked Celeste thought about the 2nd pandemic and how it affected some and not others. It seemed to hit around the world all at one time with no rhyme, reason nor cause. Many thought it was simply a “natural” mutation of the first covid, that it simply was. That it always had been.