Pandemic. Plague. Call it what you will, but it spelled stay-at-home isolation for Leo and his neighbors. Except the new neighbor. Interesting looking but probably not gay and already hauled off to the hospital. That’s how Leo ended up with his cat, and mail, and food packages. A caretaker now, and he doesn’t even know the guy.<br><br>A major storm blows up, and people start piling in: the sick neighbor’s grandson and some other kid. The old lady neighbor with a tree through her roof and her long-lost flame. So much for social distancing, particularly when sex gets into the act.<br><br>Except for poor Leo. Odd man out. Until they decide to spring the sick guy from the hospital. What could possibly go wrong?

Love in Strange Times

Surprisingly, the woman at the desk said, “Room 512; take that elevator over there to the fifth floor. It’s the least contagious floor, otherwise you wouldn’t even be allowed to visit. We’re trying to be reasonable here, but it might not last much longer.”


He hadn’t thought of that; his mind was so full of new people and responsibilities and yes, laughter, that he’d forgotten about the plague. The lights flickered and came back on. “Don’t worry,” the woman added, her voice thin and stressed, “We have a back-up generator. But, um, the stairs, if you’d rather, are over there.”


Leo followed her pointing finger, deciding quickly that old as he was, he’d rather try five flights of stairs than trust the elevator right now. Anyhow, if he had a heart attack, where else would he rather be? Right?


Chapter 8