Stranded

We found ourselves trapped in our tiny apartment in Prague, with our everyday lives no longer existing as we knew them. The new, post-pandemic reality was yet to take shape. Ironically, Roman had just bought a newly-released video game - "Death Stranding." Its plot and audio-visual components mixed up in my memory with Prague's abandoned and cold cityscapes during my systematic, almost obsessive old-town walks. The spring was icy. Day and night became mixed up, and we spent most of our time indoors. We experienced cabin fever, had constant Skype calls with family abroad, feared losing our loved ones all at once, had a few glasses of red wine over lunch, and shared intimate evening dances in the kitchen. This is my story of the first European coronavirus lockdown, although I assume it is not unique. We were both fortunate to make it through; the "plague" took some distant relatives, not close ones. At least, not yet. The battle is not over for anyone. As an atheist, I don't pray. I observe, document, and bravely surrender. This is bigger than us. This is the way the world works.