A Lockdown To Remember

Day 13

A morning where every member of the house was awake and alert, was as rare as humans on the street and everyone being cheerful and energetic was a myth. On the thirteenth day, the second consecutive day, everyone in the house was awake before ten. Her parents rarely slept longer than that, she slept early the previous night and her brother had a meeting. Like mentioned earlier, early in the morning in a lockdown everyone having high spirit was impossible and it was Xenia who proved the theory right.

She was sitting on the sofa, right next to her father with her arms crossed, her eyes low and her face hanging. She was observing her brother, who was walking back and forth in the same room. "He woke up early two days in a row. Will the system handle it or we need to reboot him?"

Her father smiled as he said, "what we need is to update him. However, the wifi has connection issues."

"Look at him. Walking back and forth. Eating all that he wants and gaining not a gram. This is what evil must look like."

"His metabolic rate was always high. Yours was always low. Even in the womb."

"When he is visible he is visible daily and when he goes in his den, he disappears for days. Why is he walking? Showing off his perfect waist? Why does he never wear a T-shirt these days?"

"Summer. He sweets a lot, you know."

"With long hair and working hours in the kitchen, I can say I have some summer issues. However, I don't roam in the house like that. Funny how rules are different for us."

Her father frowned and looked at her. She was out of spirit and the reason was not known to her let alone others. She was critical and blunt, making people around her wonder what was wrong with her. "Xenia go and turn off the stove, " her mother said politely.

Keeping the pillow on the sofa she went to the kitchen. She walked slowly and quietly. She turned off the stove and then opened the fridge before she heard some disturbance. She walked towards the window and peeked out. She could not see anything so standing on her toes she lender forward. Her head, her whole upper body was outside the window which was grill-less. No outsiders were allowed in their neighbourhood except for cleaning personnel and it was they who caused the disturbance. They were collecting garbage from each house and their trolley caused the noise. She was quietly looking at them without any motive when she observed her Neighbour's behaviour. The family who lived right in front of their house had an old lady who was blacklisted by all. She was very pretty and looked like a sweet woman however her tongue was always on fire. She had issues with many and disliked by all. The door of that Lady's house opened however no one came out. A moment later she was something coming out of the door and before she could comprehend what was happening, a black bag was thrown towards the cleaning worker. The man walked to the door, picked up the garbage bag and walked back to his trolley. Disgust and angry Xenia stood in the same position observing the man work. Maier who entered his kitchen frowned for a moment at the scene in front of him before opening the cabinet above the stove. "What happened? Did the birds fly wrong today?"

Xenia, upon seeing him retreated and went back to her fridge. "The lady in that house is weird," she replied softly.

"You saw her throwing the garbage out?"

Xenia nodded her head, "Did you see it, too?"

"I saw it last week. And sometime this week, too. It made you angry?"

"Oh. A little. Those workers are risking their lives. They don't deserve to be discriminated. They are working for us."

"True. But I think she is scared. Cannot blame her. Everyone is scared."

"You do not know her. No one likes her. And even if she is scared she cannot be mean like that."

"True. I am done with your book. I left it in your room. Do you want me to hand it to you?"

"No, I will take it from there. Which book do you want now? I heard 'the Secret' is a good book. We have it."

"It is. You have never read it?"

"No. I never found it interesting. I actually have some grudges against it."

"Against a book? Why?"

"Our teacher forced us to watch a documentary based on that book instead of letting us go home."

"Okay. You did not like the documentary?"

"I did not. I actually paid no attention. I was too busy resenting the teacher."

Chuckling he switched on the stove. "Sounds like you."

Giggling she went back to the living room. The day was more or less similar to any other day. Some were busy, some were bored and some were normal. But that day God seemed to be bored and wanted some entertainment. Which was why around nine in the evening half of the city blacked out.

"What the hell!" Her brother exclaimed coming out of his room. "Blackout was supposed to be on Sunday not today. Call MSEB."

"No one is answering," Her mother said, "They must be under staff. Only a few people are allowed I heard."

"Then when will we get the electricity back?" Xenia asked with a frown on her face. "My phone is about to die."

"Everyone else save your batteries," said her father, "You never know when it will be back. With less or no staff maybe no one will fix the problem. It will take time."

"True."

Xenia groaned and covered her face. They stayed together for half an hour however no fan or AC in summer was not easy to endure. One by one all of them went up to the terrace. Xenia was the last one to go as she left only after her phone had turned dark too. There to her surprise, Maier was present too. And to her more surprise he and her parents were sitting together. She raised her eyebrows and looked around. Her brother was in another corner using his phone. She walked towards him instead of walking towards the happy party. "What is happening there?" She asked her brother.

"They were out of friends so they made a new one." She smiled before her brother continued, "Why are you here and not there?"

"What will I do there?"

"Isn't he your friend?"

"Why will he be my friend?"

"I saw you both talking a couple of times."

"He needed help. I was just helping. We are not friends."

"Them go and help him again. Rescue him from our parents."

Smiling she looked at them. Maier laughed at something her mother said and soon her parents joined in. Their smiles were contagious and she smiled just as brightly. "They all look happy. Let them enjoy."

"You will be in trouble if they enjoy too much."

She wrinkled her nose and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I think it would be nice. Let them mingle. You stay here. You got no business there."

Frowning deeper she chuckled. "What do you mean?"

He laughed. "Nothing. See that white object is called the moon."

Her brother chuckled and she joined. It was a nice evening in spite of the blackout. The moon was bright and the sky was pleasant, and the people were in a good mood, something that as rare during the lockdown.

***

I really wanted to add more to the blackout but got a headache and I really really want to sleep! Sorry about that.

Also, I was debating whether or not they should see each other before the lockdown ends and though I am still not sure I added it in this chapter. So let me know what you guys think about it? What would be a better idea?