A DAY LIVING WITH COVID-19

Another day, waking up to a cold and dark room. I pushed myself out of bed with all my might
while turning off my phone alarm which showed 5 a.m. I grunted, protesting as to why I was
waking up too early. Suddenly, I heard the call to prayer. I braced myself and voilà! I was out of
bed. I struggled to look for the remote to switch off the air-conditioner as my feet were freezing.
Nevertheless, I took a shower quickly and was ready to pray with my family. After we
finished praying, my mother suddenly said, “Kimie, take care of yourself at school. I don't want
my child to get infected!". Since I have not eaten my breakfast yet, I was only able to reply, “Yes,
mom!”.
After eating, I was ready to go to school with my Lagenda 115z since I have possessed a
valid motorcycle license. “Kimie!”, my father called me as he was getting into his car. “Yes, dad!”,
I answered. When I looked at him, he was making signs with his mouth. I was wondering what it
was, and then it clicked, “Ooh, thanks for reminding me, Dad!” Oops, it was my facemask that I
left on top of my study table. I chuckled after I put on my mask while looking at my father, thinking
of the trouble I would have faced if my father did not remind me of it. My father shook his head
in disbelief. Maybe he was scared that I might be stopped and fined by the police on my way to
school for not wearing a mask or if I managed to reach school, I might get told to go back home
by the discipline teacher for not following the Standard Operating Procedure. Scary! Then, off we
went to each other`s destination.
At school, everything was going well. Everyone followed the correct procedure. “Wow!”,
I thought to myself since this was the first day after two weeks of lockdown that our school was
reopened, and nobody broke the new rules and regulations in conjunction with the Recovery
Movement Control Order phase. As a prefect, I was astonished that not a single one of the student's
names popped up in my report book. Usually, a couple of names will pop up but, on that day, no
name was written in my report book.
2.00 p.m and it was time to go back home. I had a great day at school although I can`t eat
together with my friends. Then I thought to myself, a lot of lives were taken and sure enough every
single human on this Earth were facing a drastic change in their lifestyle. No more going out with
family members and friends as freely as before for all of us! I was devastated but I relieved myself
by being positive as every cloud has a silver lining. We should never feel hopeless because difficult
times always lead to better days and sooner or later, this pandemic will end.
Before I realised, I have reached home. Entering the house, my mother immediately
ordered me to take a shower to clean myself. I let out a huge sigh. “Mom, can I eat first?”, I told
my mother as I was hungry. “Kimie, if I was admitted to the hospital, would you regret it then?”,
my mother scolded me. “Okay mom. I love you!”, I ended the conversation and headed to the
bathroom.
Later that night, I was doing my schoolwork when my father called me to eat dinner. At
the dining table, we were eating my mother's homemade pasta when we heard the news stating
that there were several new cases on that day. Upon hearing the news, our satisfying-looking faces
changed to a frown.
To our surprise, one of the new cases was from our town! My mother was anxious, and my
father had to calm her down. Me? I was busy eating my pasta. I was afraid that it would be the last
day for me to taste my mother's cooking. I also realised at that point, everyone is in constant danger
since anyone could get infected by this terrifying disease. My parents, who were usually calm,
were also very frightened.
After the news, we listened to the prime minister, Yang Amat Berhormat, Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Bin Mohd Yassin, giving a speech. He addressed the citizens with respect and calmed
everyone. He ensured us that the government is doing everything that they can to contain COVID-
19. He explained the steps to be taken by the government in order to fight the pandemic, but he
also stated that he would need everyone's help to ensure its success. After listening to the prime
minister's speech, my family was sure that we have made an endeavour to help the government
fight the pandemic.
Later on, we got ready to go to sleep as the clock was showing 10 p.m. I was on my bed
when my father knocked on the door. He entered the room and lay beside me. “Are you okay,
son?”, he questioned me. I just nodded to assure him. But he did not believe me and said that he
noticed that I was stressed out about something. Eventually, I told him all of my concerns. He
listened and then he advised me that I should not worry as everything is going to be fine.
After that, I felt composed thanks to my father. Now I know that we must always be grateful
although there are bad things happening. Furthermore, even though our actions are limited during
the Movement Control Order, we should also look at the fact that this pandemic has brought our
family closer together which reminds me of a famous quote, March winds and April showers bring
forth May flowers. My father then wished me goodnight and left my room. I switched on my air-
conditioner and switched off my light. I was off to bed!