There was a lot about the COVID-19 virus that wasn’t understood. For the health of the general population, being put on lockdown was completely understandable. But knowing the reason and even agreeing with it doesn’t make it any easier to endure.<br><br>Clay is beginning to feel the mental strain of being at home all the time. He is sick of his furniture, sick of his books, and sick of everything else in his bubble world. That’s the reason he sneaks out to go for nocturnal walks around the neighbourhood. And he isn’t the only one. One evening, he begins to regret he ever left the house.<br><br>As walks past an abandoned wreck of a building in a very unsavoury part of town at night, he gets a sense he is no longer alone. He picks up the pace and hurries away, but no matter what he does, he can’t shake the feeling someone, or something, is following him. He calls out into the darkness and immediately regrets it. Rather than knowing if anyone is there, he’d much rather know if he’s going to make it home or not.

The Visitor

He continued walking at a brisk pace, passing an evening jogger who was going in the direction he had come. If anybody really was following him, the jogger would at least distract them, hold them up so he could get even further away. He inhaled deeply and continued to weave his way through the streets, moving ever closer to home and feeling awfully glad about it. Yet even inside, with the door locked, he couldn’t shift the feeling he wasn’t completely alone. He poured himself a whisky and drank the lot in one gulp, its restorative properties immediately setting to work.


His nerves calmed, he flopped onto the couch, and within minutes, found himself drifting into a welcome slumber. 2


Chapter 2