A Viral Little Christmas (NYC, March 2020)

Chapter 1

It would be nice, thought 10-year-old Alice Madison, if there really were some ghosts wandering the streets of New York City. But here it was, early March and no one was shopping, or buying flowers from Miss Cristina's Blossom My Dearies flower stand. The Book Nook, Jean's Cuppa Joe and Tobe Lerone's Art Gallery were all closed.

Only D'Agostinos was open, and there were just 10 people in line, all standing 6 feet or more apart, wearing masks. One of them she recognized as one of Uncle Vanny's friends. Only Sparkle Plenty would have taken hours sewing rainbow sequins on her surgical mask. Alice opened the window a little bit and gave the loudest wolf-whistle she could manage. The drag queen turned, curtsied and blew a kiss in her direction, before dutifully moving 6 feet forward to be 2 people closer to buying whatever remained on the market's nearly bare shelves.

"Alice!" exclaimed Tom, "Close that window now!"

"I was waving to Sparkle!" she replied.

Her step-dad quickly strode over to the window, and howled like a wolf. The entire line turned towards him, 6 floors above. Sparkle, ever the showgirl, bent her right leg up and blew more kisses, finally hop-skipping into the market. Tom doubled over in laughter as he closed the window. Alice closed her eyes and sighed. It was really, really good to hear him laugh.

Her real dad was already at Sweet Surrender, making candies, cakes and pastries for delivery all over Manhattan. He kept on just one staff member, Pete Jimenez, and had told the rest to stay home with their families. He still paid them their weekly salaries, thanks in large part to the sweet shop's continued success over the past 5 years. He'd hired a number of teens from New Alternatives to work as delivery personnel, providing them with bicycles and protective gear. Her brother Chris had called them "The Sweet Riders" and the name had stuck.

Tom worried about Dad too much, Alice thought. So, it was good to hear him laugh. She glanced at the grandfather clock – a wedding gift from Uncle Vanny – and saw that it was nearing time for her online classes to begin. Math to start, then English, Lunchtime, Social Studies, Science, and International Chat. The last was her favorite – an idea that one of the teachers, Ms. Quinones, had come up with. Every day, you'd log onto a chatroom with students from around the world and talk about how your lives were changing while living with the virus.

She passed her 13-year-old brother's room, where she heard him playing Fortnite with one of his gamer friends. If Chris didn't stop soon, he'd catch hell from Tom, who absolutely did not put up with any deviation from the daily schedule, or else you got a 'naughty' mark. And Tom, who was Santa's nephew, could make that mark stick. She booted up her desktop, and was pleased to note that the "Good Morning, Students!" page was still up, which meant she was early.

When the page disappeared, the chair normally occupied by Ms. Walters was empty. What she saw instead were two gentlemen in the back of the room carrying a stretcher with her teacher on it, who then vanished beyond a doorway. The microphone was on.

[Male voice] "Mr. Halloway, please. She needs to go, now."

[Male voice] "But she's Online now! Who will..."

[Coughing]

[Female voice] "David, I'll handle it. You go to the kitchen, and get some disinfectant, or some hot water, soap and a sponge."

[Male voice] "I don't understand, she..."

[Female voice] "Now, David!"

An elderly female with a mass of grey hair appeared on the monitor, wearing gloves and a mask. She placed what looked like a sheet over the desk chair and sat down, looking straight at the screen.

"I'm sorry if you're frightened, children. Ms. Walters tested positive last week, and is being taken to the hospital to get better. I have Mr. Collins standing by to take over this class." The screen went black, to be replaced seconds later with the ruddy face of Mr. Collins.

"I see she had you studying 3-dimensional shapes. Let's begin with..."