Chapter - 37 - Lockdown

The three children were giggling after they had greeted their mother who arrived with their father.

They kissed her right hand and hugged each other.

"Hey! What's so funny? Is missing you made it funny?" Splash asked her children.

In chorus her children replied. "Dad told us about your naughtiness against him."

"Sydney Britton!" She yelled as loud as a banjo.

"Honey, I was forced to tell it to them as they were too curious about your unknown sudden disppearance."

Then Sydney reprimanded their children so to shut up their mouth.

Like any other ordinary days, they had their routine. School, home, store, work, church, supermarket, mall and park. They were similar to their fellow constituents residing in the Philippines. Once there was a national issue, every citizen was affected.

At that moment, Philippines was not excluded from the other countries in the world. Just like the continents of the world, Philippines that belongs to Asian countries was also hit with a pandemic that caused an almost massive death as it was an invisible virus. To prevent the people from being contaminated the President of the country and his Comrade declared an ECQ-Enhanced Community Quarantine. Everybody should stay at home and be safe so the virus would not be able to be transmitted from one person to another as it's contagious.

Solis- Britton family was not excluded from those people who should just stay at home for safety measures. Before the lockdown, panic buying occurred.

Fortunately, Sydney's family had stored goods for their daily consumption. However, they should still purchase some more as the lockdown had no exact length of time when to be lifted out. As there was strict prohibition in the purchasal of some goods, Sydney and Splash decided to buy separately.

Splash and Athens were pairs. Adrianne May and Sydney Ace were another. Sydney was alone. The result was an almost complete grocery items as they had to share some to their household helpers.

"Promtness and alertness often surpass being hard working." This is the motto of Sydney that was why a week before the lockdown was declared, he was able to send the products to his customers who ordered through on line.

Time for the ECQ.

Time for naughtiness of...( Take note!) Sydney. It was no longer Splash.

Time for the family bonding by sharing the household chores.

Time for the couple to send their helpers and driver-cook be with their own family with an assurance of financial support from them.

A daily schedule was written on the white board at the family room. They started at the second floor for their general cleaning. They were done after five days for they included the washing of the draperies, pillow cases, quilts, bed sheets and rugs.

The next five days were spent cleaning the ground floor including the servants' quarter. Just like what they did upstairs, they also changed the curtains to a fresh and clean ones.

Still, there was that ECQ nation wide.

It seemed that they would be gardening. And so they did that all of them agreed to duplicate the orchard of Sydney's parents in America. A variety of fruit seedlings that they had in small pots were finally planted on that weedy part of their spacious yard.

Avocado, jackfruit, Indian mango, Atis/custard apple, guyabano, tamarind, Santol, Pili/Almond tree and kamias/averrhoa bilimbi consist their newly made orchard.

Sydney's naughtiness was done through a challenge. For instance,

He declared: "Whoever wins first in running would receive the biggest gift."

So, the race began.

The first prize winner was Pearl Ace May Solis Britton!

A rolled piece of paper tied with a peach ribbon was handed to each of them. The size of the rolled paper depended on the order of their winnability. As expected, Splash rolled paper was bigger and longer than the rest. Inside it, they would be able to read what the prize was.

Everybody was so excited and thrilled to read it. For a suspense, the last to read was the first prize winner no other than Splash.

When she read it, it was a measurement of an area. Six yards length and six yards width.

She didn't understand. It was Greek to her. So, she tried to read what was written on her children's paper. Alas! It was similar to hers. Only that it is smaller in size.

"Hon! What's this all about?" She inquired from him.

"Everybody.. Listen well. That's the size of your area of responsibility to weed and plant for our orchard."

"You mean... I have the widest area?"

"Didn't I make myself clear that the first prize winner would receive the biggest gift? That's the biggest gift, so far!"

"Sssyyyydddnnneeeyyy! I hate you!"

The chase started. This time, it was the other way around. Sydney was the Chased enmity while Splash was the one chasing him.

Eventually, on that day the weeding was not started as it was only spent running one after another. Splash, being the mother coerced and bribed her children to help her caught their father and mauled him by her.

But they failed.

The declaration of world war against him was declared.

He was evicted from sleeping in their bedroom. Neither did Splash opened the guest room and other rooms for him. She hid the bunch of keys including the duplicates.

As a result? Sydney resorted to occupy the vacant servants' quarter that night.

The next morning, white flaglets were all over the house. Before cooking their breakfast, he hung them where his wife would be able to see at once.

To appease her wrath against him he put a placard up front of their bedroom. Then she read.

"You can use your IBT in weeding so you won't have a hard time enjoying your reward."😘😍🤗😜

She was relieved that she grasped her IBT from its hiding place, took her planting attire out together with a wide brimmed hat.

She brought them in the dining room where everybody was already waiting for her to dine with them.

Before sitting down, she went straight to her husband, kissed him

on his cheek saying... "GRACIAS!"

Adrianne May said, "I told you, those white flaglets meant long time truce between them."

They all laughed joyfully.

"Dad! Was it awful sleeping in that quarter?" Sydney Ace teased his father.

Another boisterous laughter broke the serenity of their home.

Sydney Ace and Athens were the dish washer while the couple and Adrianne May were at their backyard for the weeding.

As usual, Sydney taught both her wife and her oldest child how to

manipulate/command the IBT do the gardening.

A month had gone, ECQ was extented to fifteen more days. But in some places with their inhabitants were COVID free, they were declared to have GCQ- General Community Quarantine.

Therefore, it meant that they had to send financial support to their household helpers and driver-cook.

With the extention, it gave them time to challenge their children. Say, who most likely be the best house cleaner, the cleanest in washing clothes, the tastiest in cooking, the first to finish watering the plants and the shiniest car each of them washed.

For every challenge, a prize was always given to them. The best challenge was; "Whoever had the biggest amount earned would receive the same amount after the lockdown."

As religious activity is also a form of social gathering, the family attended daily Holy Mass through social media. It was a live stream that gave them opportunity to listen to the words of God and did the highest form of daily prayer.

Their vegetable garden was a sustainable food they prepared

for the meal that they serve on

their dining table. Not to mention

the mini poultry that Sydney was

likewise busy with during his idle time. Moreover, a pigpen was not empty. Beside it, a mini fish pond had milk fish and other fish that lives in a fresh water. Hence, Splash's family had no problem when it came to their food supply.

This lockdown had trully tested

one's self-sustainability to live comfortably. As a matter of fact,

Sydney was able to prove that

they need not to spend a lot of

money in order not to die hungry.

It was in fact, a matter of raising one's own resources for foods like

gardening and animal raising.

Hence, despite Sydney's multi billion savings, both in peso and

in US dollar, plus the monthly income of his wife, still they had

exerted so much effort in gardening and poultry raising.

Therefore, while many Pinoys were complaining about the relief goods and financial assistance from the government, Splash's family was staying at home complacently in abundance.

Afraid that their household helpers and a driver-cook be one of those whiners, they sent them a weekly assistance for their daily need. It was their purpose of storing some goods at their home all along.

Aside from them, they also shared whatever they had to those who was occupying their apartment just across their residential abode.

This lockdown was an opportunity to every family to have a closer-knit relationship with each member but most especially to God whom most of His creatures were forgetting Him to be adored and gratified.

Because almost all had stopped operating, Mother Earth was relieved with the different kinds of pollution. Thereby, it possibly healed its wounded ozone layer that filters the radiation from the source of energy that man can never create.

The lockdown was the greatest chance to heal the world even for momentary only despite the invisible fatal virus.