A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 1

This story is unedited. Please be patient with it until I have time to come back and give it a solid edit and a polish.

Here is a line for those who like to note if they are First Time Readers (FTR) or Re-Readers (RR).

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I moved the toy horse along my dresser pretending it was galloping along a cliff top. I laughed as Karen moved her horse to catch up to mine.

"Mine's faster!" Her horse passed mine and jumped to the window sill.

"Mine's prettier!" I ran a mini brush through her tail.

Karen giggled and put the horse down, "Let's go see if your Mom will let us have some cookies!"

I nodded eagerly and we both scampered down the stairs. I found my Mom in the living room, she was visiting with Dad, Auntie, and Karen's Mom.

"Hi Mom, can Karen and I please have some cookies?"

Mom turned to smile at me. Dad also smiled at me, I loved how his smile caused the corners of his eyes to crinkle up. Mom replied, "Only one each. Karen has to go home in a few minutes. Your Dad and I have to go a meeting, so Auntie will keep you company."

"Thank you!" Karen darted into the kitchen and I quickly followed

Mom said that manners were one of the most important things I could learn. Please and thank you were big ones. Karen took a big bite out of her cookie and I inspected the cookie jar before figuring out which one had the most chocolate chips and grabbing it.

Mmmm... I loved Mom's chocolate chip cookies. I barely finished my cookie when Karen's Mom called her. I went to say goodbye to her, although I would see her in school on Monday. Karen and her Mom left as I waved goodbye from the window.

"Give me a hug, we will see you in the morning. Be good for Auntie." I spun around and ran over to give Mom and Dad a hug. They usually had a meeting every Friday night and didn't come back until after I went to bed. Auntie almost always babysat me on those days. Auntie stood behind me in the window and we waved while they backed out of the driveway.

Auntie looked down at me, "So what do you want to do?"

I tilted my head in consideration and thought hard since Auntie was too old for most games. "Can we build a fort out of the couch cushions so I can color inside of it?"

Auntie nodded and pulled the couch cushions off of the couch. A few minutes later I had a small fort with a blanket ceiling. I lay down inside of it with some paper and crayons to color. I bet Mom would love to put this picture on the fridge once I colored it. I decided to make the horse dark grey with blue eyes. I colored in some grass and flowers as well. Mom loved flowers. She really liked red ones, but I made most of them purple because it was a better color.

I glanced up to see Auntie frowning at the tv. I looked at it, but it was that weird lady on the news channel. She always wore bright green eye shadow and had big bulging eyes. I was positive that she was a witch in disguise. She even wore a witch hat last Halloween, I think she forgot to remove it because she said she was sorry that she was late and rushed to get in. She normally hides it where we can't see it.

"Auntie, if no one likes the lady on tv, why does everyone watch her channel?"

Auntie chuckled and grinned at me, "It isn't so much that we don't like her, it is that she is the first to know of bad news and let us know about it or any changes or emergencies."

I scrunched up my eyebrows in confusion, "Why would people want to hear about bad things?"

Auntie shrugged, "I guess it is out of curiosity."