Has there ever been something that you really loved to do and then all of the sudden it didn’t seem fun anymore? That is how I felt about writing my stories. It seemed like a lot of work and I stopped doing it. I’m not sure why. The Lady went on a few trips and I didn’t want to go with her. When she came home, she said that people had asked about me, that they were disappointed that they didn’t get to meet me. Then I felt sad. I have been a confused little blue and orange furry monster about whether to write or not to write.
This week The Lady has not been going to school, but she has been working at home. That seemed strange to me. I thought maybe she got tired of teaching like I got tired of writing. The Lady told me that that was not the case; she is working at home because we are supposed to all stay at home because of a car on a iris.
Hmm… Why would we have to stay at home because of a car on an iris?
I know that irises are pretty flowers. We have some in our yard. But I couldn’t figure out why an iris in the road meant that The Lady couldn’t go to school. I went outside to check on the ones in our yard. Sure enough, one of the flowers had fallen off of its stem and the car was on it.
That was sad, but I still wasn’t sure why this meant we had to stay home. Then I thought maybe the iris had thorns on it and it had flattened the tire.
Nope. There were no thorns on the irises and the tire was fine.
The Lady said that we have to Shelter in Place and that means we can’t go out and be around other people because the car on an iris can make people very sick and we want to stay healthy. Then I got scared because I had just been outside looking at the car on an iris. I don’t want to be a sick little monster!
I was upset and The Lady knew it. She explained to me that it is not a car on an iris that makes people sick, it is germs call Coronavirus. She also told me that she was pretty sure that little monsters could not get the virus. The only thing that might happen is that I might get the bad germs in my fur if we go out around lots of people and then I could share them with Mr. Guy and The Lady. That’s why we have to do the Shelter in Place. I was relieved. I can do that. I can stay home. This little monster doesn’t want to make anyone sick!
The Lady told me that not being able to go to school or to church or out to eat with her friends feels very weird. She said that sometimes you don’t realize how important something is until you don’t have it. I knew exactly what she meant. I told her that is how I feel. I realize that I miss writing my stories.
The Lady said that I could fix that. All I had to do was start writing them again. I was excited for a minute. Then I remembered that we can’t go anywhere or do anything so I won’t have any stories to tell. The Lady reminded me that I am a creative little monster. She said that she was sure that I could think of something to write about. And if not, I could tell some of the stories about things that I have done in the last year when I wasn’t writing.
My little monster heart is happy.
I guess I had to not do something to realize how much I love doing that thing. I wonder if all the people who are doing shelter in place right now will think about what things they miss and what things they don’t.
I think I’ll write a story about what shelter in place means to a turtle.