A Girl, a Teddy Bear and a Locket

The lights on the tree twinkle and fill the room with a warm glow. The sound of fire crackling and the quiet chatter of the news on the television were the only sounds to be heard in the small cottage. The occupants curled together asleep on the settee after a Christmas feast. The man had dropped off first, his empty beer bottle slipping out of his hand landing softly on the carpeted floor. Seeing this the woman chuckled and curled onto his chest, breathing out a sigh as she too closed her eyes and drifted into slumber clutching the new heart shaped locket hanging round her neck in her hand.

Unbeknownst to the sleeping occupants, the newsreaders were informing the nation of a virus outbreak in the far east, reading information on cases and deaths and how quickly it had spread through the origin country. Quickly the show moves on, focusing on more important news about politicians and celebrity scandals.

1 year later

Panic spread through the man as his wife groaned in pain. The bag was ready by the door, they had packed it a week ago in anticipation for this day. Rushing round the house he gathered the last few things they would need, keys, phone, wallet, mask. Wait. Where were the masks? Searching through drawers he found a crumpled surgical mask shoved under old magazines. Only one. Rushing over to his wife he placed the mask on her face, if she had one on, they should let them in. Glancing down at the heart shaped locket hanging around her neck he turned to pick up the bag in one hand then wrapped his other arm around his wife’s waist leading her out of the door. Helping her into the car he rushed back to the house to lock the door, who knows how long they would be. He sprinted back to the car, put it in gear and sped out of the driveway. Weaving through traffic and ignoring some rude gestures from other drivers, the couple made it to their destination in record time. He grabbed the bag from the back seat and helped his wife stand from the passenger seat. Locking the car over his shoulder they made their way inside the building and came face to face with a flurry of people rushing around the entrance. Suddenly a man stumbles into them coughing and spluttering. With an apology he moves away, and a woman in scrubs comes over to greet the couple. Handing the man a mask they rush his wife through the corridor to the lifts and press number 9. The maternity ward.

As they stand in the lift the last sounds of the newsreaders reports can be heard on the TV in the reception. The number of virus-related deaths in the country passes 70,000 after a further 570 deaths take the total to 70,195. They announce the Queen’s speech coming up next as the doors finally slide to a close.

2 years later

The little girl looks out of the window of the bus, a teddy clutched in her hands and a heart shaped locket tucked under her shirt. The bus was filled with children, all of them orphans from the catholic orphanage. The little girls own parents had died before she was even old enough to recognise them. Her mother dying moments after she had come into the world and her father a couple of months later, struggling to breathe in an intensive care unit, his body plagued by the virus. He had finally named her Atalanta after weeks of the nurses referring to her as baby. He claimed it was after the ancient Greek hero and he hoped it would imbue her with the strength to face this world alone. Strength he wished he had as he faced his final days. Atalanta looked out at the world with big blue eyes as the bus drove through the edge of town and out through the barricade to the country. People ran alongside the bus, banging on the windows trying in vain to climb onto the vehicle so they too could be saved from the crumbling city, but little Atalanta didn’t flinch even as the other children screamed and cried. She just kept holding onto the teddy she had been bought by the nurses of the hospital she was born in.

The radio played quietly in the background of the bus, the driver straining to hear it over the noise of the children he was transporting and the nuns trying to calm them. The newsreaders were giving an update on the deaths and cases from the virus since the start of the pandemic, it had killed over 1 million people and infected over 40 million people in the country. The population had stopped growing, not just here but all over the world. The new strain had wiped out nearly 1 billion people worldwide with the majority being in 3rd world countries, any help they had been receiving had gone as countries struggled to cope with their own rising numbers. Riots were breaking out and governments were being called to resign as the world dissolved into panic.

4 years later

The farm they lived on wasn’t so bad it was on the grounds of an old monastery with high walls surrounding it which helped keep anyone untoward out. The girls helped cook and clean and collected eggs from the chicken coups. The boys collected firewood, and mucked out the animals. The older children took it in turns to get vegetables from the vegetable patch and gather herbs from the woods just outside the walls. Since Atalanta had been there 3 more busloads of children had joined them from various catholic orphanages in the area. At 6 years old she was smaller than other children her age but suffered from a temper which saw her getting into trouble with the nuns that ran the farm. The other children avoided her, too many of them being on the receiving end of her fury, all except one. Her name was Diana, she was the only one who didn’t care about Atalanta’s temper, instead just smiling and shaking her head whenever she snapped at her. For the most part the girls kept to themselves, Atalanta was a hard worker which kept the nuns from being too hard on her, but she did enjoy exploring. Her, Diana and Atalanta’s teddy ‘Remus’ went everywhere together. They explored the attic rooms with the old furniture, the cellar where the secret stash of biscuits were kept, the wildflowers that grew around the edge of the wall and even the old well, though when Remus nearly went for a swim at the bottom they all decided to steer clear of that for a while. The one place they hadn’t explored though was the forest outside. The nuns had strict rules about going outside the walls. Stories of disease, famine and war were told whenever the outside world was brought up and distant memories of desperate people banging on bus windows only helped cement the fear in the other children, but not the girls. When Atalanta went to sleep at night, Remus in one hand and locket clutched in the other, she would whisper with Diana about running past the gate into the forest and all the fantastical things they would see there. They would live with wolves and run as fast as the wind just like the Atalanta in the old Greek stories did.

After the children were in bed the nuns would gather in the living room and listen to the announcements on the radio. Televisions had stopped broadcasting about a year ago, the only way to hear news was through the national news station that aired once a day to inform everyone on the current state of the world, where the latest food banks and volunteer doctors were located for those in need and notable people who had passed. Over the last few years the banks have collapsed, the government disbanded and everyone but the wealthy have been plunged into chaos, fighting for food, water, medicine and other goods. The virus, still sweeping across the world, had claimed the lives of over half the global population. There is talk that some will develop an immunity to it or at the least be just carriers developing no symptoms. As for the rest, time will tell how long the virus will be around.

8 years later

At 14 years old the girls are free to go to the forest to gather herbs with the other older children. Still smaller than the rest Atalanta has channeled her temper into fitness training, being one of the fastest in the farm she goes deeper into the forest than other children, managing to run in and out before the nuns get worried. Remus now permanently living on her bed no longer comes on adventures with her but her mother’s heart shaped locket still clings to her neck. Diana preferred staying close to the gates when she left, she enjoyed picking flowers for the many rooms of the monastery and most were found at the edge of the forest rather than deep within. The forest blows in the wind around her as Atalanta runs, she rarely gathered many herbs but the nuns still let her go out. As she crouched down to pick some mushrooms she hears a scream, carried through the wind but coming from the direction of the monastery. Adrenaline pouring through her veins the young girl sprints back through the trees, leaping over tree stumps and ducking under branches. Skidding to a halt her breath catches in her throat as her blue eyes scan the scene in front of her. Men and women armed with weapons shooting into the monastery, the gates still open from them leaving to gather herbs. Trucks and vehicles are parked haphazardly on the old road that led to the gates. She spots the bodies of some of the other children who were out strewn across the floor, blood covering them, as more bullets are fired into the farm. Among them, Diana. Splayed out on the floor, flowers surrounding as if she was some sort of forest fairy she looked almost peaceful. Sneaking over to her Atalanta drops to her knees, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. Screams fill the air as some of the younger children are dragged out and loaded into trucks along with food, animals and medicine. Blinking back the tears she reaches to the back of her neck and unclasps the locket and carefully places it on the body of her friend. Muttering one final prayer she stands and falls back into the shadows, holding her breath as one of the armed assailants comes dangerously close to where she was. With one last look toward the place she called home for so long she turns and runs into the forest. Unsure of what lays in front of her but certain it is better than what she is leaving behind.

On the radio announcement that evening news of a monastery of children and nuns being slaughtered by raiders shocks those who still hold onto their humanity, while others see this newly unoccupied space as an opportunity for new ventures. For one girl it is a reminder of what she has lost. Of a girl, a teddy bear and a locket she will never see again and of a rage settling deep in her stomach, one she will use to change this new world.