LOCKDOWN

LOCKDOWN!!

The year was 2020. It was a dark, frosty, solemn night and things were about to go downhill completely! Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, had just announced the first-ever lockdown due to the deadly Coronavirus pandemic. Talia knew it was going to be the hardest thing that she had to do because she knew she would have to deal with her draining mental health alone. This wasn't exactly hard for her because she didn't have any GOOD friends. Well, except for one. He was all Talia ever needed; he understood her like nobody else, he could relate to her and he was just a vibe to generally be around, she loved him. His name was Tavion. She couldn't tell her parents, Lauren and Miguel how bad her mental health was because they would feel bad and try to help but the help she needed was very expensive and her parents were not in the best state money wise to pay for it on top of the bills and other expenses.A few days into the wretched lockdown and she had just been scolded by her parents for something she didn't even do(it was most likely her sister that started it), but once her parents started going, they didn’t stop whatever the circumstances were. So she let it happen and went to her airy, modern bedroom (that she shared with her sister)she knew she was going to breakdown and she did not want to have to bawl her eyes out in front of her little sister so she swiftly went to the bathroom and she sobbed and she had thoughts like: ‘why is it always me’ and ‘who gives them the right to treat me like this. ’ but as normal she cleaned herself up after a good hour and went about the day. When she explained to Tavion what happened later that afternoon on FaceTime he said “Come on, you're going on a socially distanced walk with me through the nature trail.'' She didn't need any more convincing she told him to come to her house and then they'd go from there.

Talia loudly called out: “I’m going out” and shut the tall, brown and splintered door, which had been damaged from the way the door was slammed all the time, behind her quickly. They ran all the way there not because she was a disrespectful person but because her mom couldn't tell her to come back inside that way and it was just easier for everyone. They stopped when they reached the nature trail entrance and started to walk, they laughed hysterically at how funny it was that they had to act that way and then began talking about how life is going for them and what life would be like if things were different for them. The day was most definitely getting darker that was for sure Tavion checked the time and realised that they left at four and now it was half-past six, so they'd been out for around two and a half hours they decided it was about time to go back even though Talia was dreading going back home to her siblings and her parents, they made their way to the exit when a cloaked figure in black dropped something and then they started to frantically move away. They got up to it and found out it was a weighted antique black book, surely he knew that he had dropped this as for one this was heavy, there is no way that he didn't notice and two they felt like they were being watched as Talia flicked through the book. She found nothing but plain greenish-yellow

pages and an envelope inside she chose to keep the envelope (that was full) and discard the book so that is what they did. Tavion did desperately want to keep the book so when he walked Talia home he went back to the trail, took the book and ran home swiftly.

That night, Talia opened the aged and envelope and found the sum of £20,000 in cash enclosed. She couldn't believe what she had just discovered. She was thinking of all of the things now possible that she could do with the money. Nothing had ever excited her more. She starting thinking of the things that she needed like braces they were really expensive and she would be able to afford them. She also knew that her mom and dad needed some money to help get the business going properly as much as her parents criticized her every move and complained to her all the time she loved them more than anything wanted to help them out as much as she could. There were a bunch of things Talia wanted but her needs were her top priority.

Talia rang Tavion a few days afterwards to check if he was okay as they had not spoken in a while, she had found out that he had fallen ill all of a sudden, she worried that it may be covid but he did not have any symptoms that were ruled out as he was explaining to her what was going on all sorts of thoughts were pacing through her mind. This was mostly because the media was reporting that at this moment in time thousands of people are either in the intensive care unit or have died from the coronavirus without having any symptoms. They spoke every day after this and Tavion began telling Talia that he thinks the reason he was ill was because of that book it may be cursed. Talia didn't know how this was possible because they left it in the nature trail and walked away together then he told her he ran back picked the weighted book up because it looked really cool and went home. Talia then lied and said her mom was beckoning her to go downstairs and ended the call. She then got up hurried off into her bright bathroom and bawled her eyes out and had a panic attack. She was drenched in sweat, she felt sick and had a banging headache because ‘It was all my fault.’ ‘If I Hadn’t pointed it out to him, ‘If I Hadn't complained to Tavion he wouldn't have ended up sick’.’ Oh why am I such a baby.’

Tavion was most definitely getting worse his mom was the one that picking up his phone from now on as he had ulcers in every nook and cranny in his mouth he then had black bulging boils all over his face however he was still alive due to many breathing problems that he had, it was horrible for Talia, her only friend that has been with her through thick and thin is now suffering at the expense of picking up a book that they spotted.

Weeks surpassed and things were starting to look up for the long-awaited recovery but then Talia had just got the phone call from Tavions mom at first she was just crying and hyperventilating into the phone and then the news came Tavion had just died because of the ulcer close to his uvula had burst and sent acid guzzling down his gullet when Talia had heard what happened to practically the love of her life she hung up. Just like that. She couldn’t believe it. It must be a joke: she thought. Talia froze, she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t hear, She staggered to her mother’s room and cried in her arms no words were spoken just silence and the occasional sniffle from Talia. Her mom wanted to ask what was wrong but she knew in this situation she should wait until it was over. Talia was distraught her once beautiful tawny brown eyes were bloodshot, her nose was running, her breathing was rapid and she started to double her breathing. She was as shaky as a nervous drunken gambler's hand when he placed his last roulette chip on red. Once she stopped shaking and howling she explained to her mom what had happened but nothing about the book or the envelope, if she had her mom would tell her to put it back and she couldn’t do that she had a good idea of what she wanted to do with it. Talia went to the store to pick up some groceries and whilst she was there she picked up a fake lottery ticket. She was forced to because she never wanted to leave her room. That night she scratched the card and, Talia had just won the lottery, she had won £20,000 her family were psyched but she just sat there being nonchalant, Talia went to her room and lied down on her bed cradling a framed picture of her and Tavion when they were toddlers and wept on the glass she thought: ‘why take him from me, god, I was the one that didn’t want to be here but now he has left me I have no purpose’. Just as planned, she went to the store again and “cashed in the card” she took the envelope filled with cash to her family and made an announcement: “I would like to give Tavions mom £7,000 for his funeral, I am taking £10,000 to better myself and get the help that I need and the £3000 left I would like to instrument it into your business mom and dad” they thanked her and then Talia’s mom(samara) rang Tavions mom(Mirabell)and said that Talia would like to pay for the whole of his funeral when they are allowed to hold the ceremony, Mirabell thanked her and said, “I wasn’t even sure I would be able to afford to give him a funeral so this is a big help.”

In June they had a funeral for him it was only 30 people due to the restrictions of the lockdown, but he didn’t have a lot of family like Talia had so it wasn’t too much of a problem. Talia got braces, she got the therapy she needed and had some extra money to live on should her parents ever need to borrow any and her family’s business was going great they made a lot of revenue from it and everything was going well.

That was until October...