The truth is that, since the beginning of social isolation, I've been strategically observing this field from inside my house—nobody in the morning, completely empty in the afternoon and at night—and during all this time of quarantine, nobody even dared to set foot on it: one or two survivors would skirt it along the side paths, some old people would use the exercise equipment nearby, but on it… nobody stepped!
After so long having only the backyard as the main space we could use, I decided to take the family for a daring outing at the end of that Thursday afternoon: while warm rays of sunshine cheered us up without being overwhelming, the children ran around happily like bunnies released from their cage, and my wife, in addition to about ten full laps around the perimeter, took the opportunity to do a hundred jumping jacks and other exercises… it was a beautiful and unforgettable autumnal moment.
That night—a good while after we'd returned, already lying in bed in the air-conditioned room—my conscience began to weigh on me: what if there was contamination somewhere? Did I touch my face? How long does the coronavirus survive on a stone surface?!
While I was suffering with these conjectures, my nose was getting more and more congested, the mucus was making it difficult to breathe, my throat was starting to hurt… I tossed and turned, but no position felt right!
Suddenly I feel my chest starting to burn, an overwhelming urge to cough!
I quickly grabbed the pillow and put it in my mouth to avoid any risk of getting sick. splutter To reach my wife who, after many activities, was sleeping like an angel…
It must have been past midnight when I started considering going outside to sleep in the hammock… at least I could wrap myself in a sheet to try and avoid the involuntary and painful blood transfusions demanded by the mosquitoes: since I went to so much trouble cleaning and preparing that space, if I'm infected I'll be sleeping there for the entire quarantine!
If death catches me, it'll be even easier to put this gigantic body on a stretcher!
My chest burned strangely, my throat and nose were more than constricted, I was sniffling a lot and occasionally coughing into my pillow… how long does this thing take to kill someone?
— Ah… I'm too weak to leave here! Let her wake up tomorrow and figure out how to remove the corpse!
My consciousness was already alternating between fleeting dreams and reality, but each time the dreams were getting longer and more realistic… I no longer knew if I was awake or asleep.
I died.
7 AM.
I woke up all sweaty, feeling an uncomfortably hot feeling: my wife had turned off the ceiling fan which, I couldn't see in the dark, had been on all night and was forcing cold air directly onto me!Now that I'm deaf, sleeping is an act of total silence, and I don't even hear the little noise of the propellers anymore...)
Except on the hottest summer days, we don't usually use both at the same time: when I came in, the room was already dimly lit and I didn't even see that the thing was on…
I was quite alive, breathing perfectly... and my throat didn't even hurt!
The whole family was fine and really looking forward to having breakfast…
I didn't die!
Just in case... we didn't go to the square anymore today.
Thank you for reading.
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