Dear World,

Some are relaxed, and some stressed out. Some are becoming MasterChef while some are sitting clueless. Birth of a new virtual world they say. But do you know how it has affected my life? I don’t have a clue why my mom keeps on spraying sanitizer on me or stopping me from stepping out of the house.

It has been so long I haven’t met my friends and shared stories with them. The air is clean outside, but I cannot go out and play with them, to distract myself when I see my parents fighting in the house. I sing to myself and imagine it’s an action movie. I can’t think straight unless I do some running around in an open space or jump around. But, that’s not possible in my 3BHK flat. Why is my mother not following my schedule? Why am I no longer visiting my therapist, who made me so relaxed? Mom says “Corona” has to be blamed for it.

Can you imagine our whole school is now fitting into one screen! But I wonder how does my teacher write on a screen and where do all the pages disappear! My eyes burn sitting in front of the iPad, but I can’t take a day off as that is the only time I see my mom resting, without worrying about me.

On the other hand, my friend quite likes this new school. She says she feels the teacher is talking only to her through her headphones. I guess we all are different! Virtual school cannot make up for the hugs of my teachers and buddies.

All I ask for is to talk to me. Ask about how am I feeling. Maybe like you, I also want to sleep for long and on some days not attend school and watch cartoons. Looking at you, arguing every day, shouting, scares me, besides this feeling of fear in the air around me. Sit with me, explain to me the situation. Give me alternatives for my needs. Is it too much to ask

There are walls all around me, and my tiny little brain sits crouched up in a corner, chanting “Go Corona, Corona Go”.