Flu Season

Everything was fine, just me and Mom. And her precious tuba. Then the pandemic came and everyone had to adapt to a new normal. Until the new normal became unbearable. We awoke one morning and the news was worse than before. Food rationing, no power, gas lines. Mom decided we should leave, wait it out at my grandparents' farm, but danger followed us, north and south, to the east, all the way to the coast, trying to find safety with family members who instead needed our help more than we needed theirs. I had to trust Mom to find us a sanctuary - but not on an island where other survivors of the pandemic are trying to set up their own society, with rules as strict as in the city. Definitely not a place where our family secrets will be exposed.