Lockdown Fever

TheGR shouts at the top of his voice, at the television, but not really at the television. The ticker tape at the bottom of the news bulletin reads, daily exercise may be removed if people continue to flout social distancing rules. 

The downstairs neighbours never did move out, their sale got shunted at the last minute for all sorts of reasons, mainly them. The lovely Spanish couple that were due to move in and expecting a baby bought a flat around the corner. 

TheGR is besides himself with rage, but also drunk having not had alcohol for 10 days due to illness, have we all been sick with coronavirus, we don’t know, we didn’t lose our sense of taste or smell, but we did have aches, temperatures and coughs and extreme fatigue and weird chest and back pains.  Today is the first day we’ve both felt well enough to eat and drink and be merry, it’s obviously gone straight to his head.

'I feel like smashing something, why don't I get any thanks, how can they not understand the terms and conditions of the lease, he stares out of the window at the offending downstairs neighbour, yeah that's right... he says menacingly, I'm talking to you.'

He’s passed out on the sofa now, I’m at my makeshift desk, especially for lockdown, half of mum’s antique table top balanced on the piano stand, a jigsaw of butterflies 3/4s finished underneath my laptop.

I took Erbie out for a walk around the block at 7.30am this morning, it was sunny, the first time he’s been outside for 20 days. The skin at the parting on the top of his head looks blue like a polar bears, from lack of sunlight.

A family three doors down are all doing Thai Chi in their back garden and have put up a swing. They’ve been hanging their bedlinen out on the washing line, I’ve not seen any washing hung out on a line since we’ve lived here, now it’s daily occurrence in clement weather.

TheGR wakes up stomps through to the bathroom and pulls the bedroom door shut, I take it he’s angry with me too then. Why do I stay? Why do I stay? Bathroom door closes, front room door shuts with a loud click. 

The downstairs neighbours have been in their garden all day in the Spring sunshine, he has turned pink, he’s talking at his mobile in Dutch. They are drinking champagne from flutes and wearing flip-flops. 

The beautiful lady renting the house adjacent to ours, I’ve not seen in the street with a single hair out of place – obviously very high maintenance, hasn’t been dressed for over a week. She’s been in the garden in slippers, a fluffy dressing gown, all kinds of leisurewear in fact, hair pulled back in a pony or sort of non-descript fuzzy.

It’s the first week of April 2020, everyone has been shut in at home for three weeks, some people are coping better than others. We are stressed, having bad dreams, drinking too much, eating too much, not exercising enough if at all. We’ve been sick and our energy levels are low. We’ve got lockdown fever.