Ray of Hope

                                                             He switched on the television and flipped it to the news channel. All he saw was people celebrating and the reporters talking about said celebrations. Sighing, he turned it off and hearing the click of the toaster, he walked to the fridge, got out a tub of butter and with a knife, coated his slabs of toast, getting ready to eat.

                                                             As he sat at the table, alone, he stared out of the window. It was practically cloud free and the sun shone in the dining room. He squinted as he pulled the curtains together. Today, he did not want to see sunlight. At all. He could not understand why all those individuals were out there wasting their voices on shouting in that obnoxiously loud parade. Grabbing his earbuds, he ignored the commotion outside by plugging it in his mp3 player and listened to rock music before realizing he had to go to work.

                                                            Normally, he would have embraced his family wholeheartedly, promising to be back soon and enjoy the rest of the day together. But today, he was furious, in addition to having a bad mood, so much so that he did not even acknowledge his wife being there and just stormed out the house, slamming the pine door behind him as his stomping footsteps were heard miles away.

                                                           At the workplace, he had planned to just open his laptop, type in random numbers for a few hours, get home, sleep and hopefully forget this day even happened. You see, he was an accountant, and because not only was the day turning out to be horrible, but he also really hated his job, he had an extra urge to rush through the day as much as possible. He hoped that his (and the others') first day back was going to be as silent as a rabbit sleeping. Alas, he couldn't be more wrong. That day turned out to be a celebration day, not a work day and so, poor Arthur was forced to hear whistling sounds, laughter and overall jubilance and see tears of joy and people hugging and even kissing each other (unbelievable after what the world had just been through) when he really wanted to notice anything but that.

                                                           His colleagues pestered him, asking why he wouldn't join in and the reason behind his sulking. It was all for nothing, however, as he did not utter a single word and like with the parade, just fully tuned them out of his system. He was in fact the only one to be willing to work that day, which really flipped things around 180⁰. The hands of his circular office clock seemed to be playing a cruel trick on him, as they were passing by slower than the traffic in his hometown.

                                                          He messed up some calculations, half of his mistakes due to the hustle and bustle occurring inside and outside and half due to his racing thoughts in his brain. At the end, he was forced by his boss, to return to his home. Outside, he tried to look outraged, but inside he felt relieved. At least he didn't have to listen to any more hullabaloo. He thought this as he opened the metal door of his peach hued Hyundai car, and prepared to face anger from his wife for not taking notice of her. He kept his eyes on the road, but he couldn't see anything. He just saw a haze of black, which he knew represented his bubbling anger, which was rising to the surface.

                                                        Just months ago, people were afraid of even touching each other, thinking they would contract the virus that caused the entire world to go into lockdown. Businesses had gone into a frenzy, people had to work from home, everyone had been nervous to even step foot in a supermarket to buy their necessities. And now it seemed that everyone had forgotten that it even existed. Just thinking about it caused Arthur to want to bump his fist against the dashboard. And he did so. Unfortunately, now, in addition to his negative emotions, he now had to deal with a throbbing pain in his right hand. But he simple couldn't understand how just a few months ago, people were terrified out of their wits, praying together, promising each other that they would never take each other for granted again and remember this as a lesson for the rest of their lives and now everything reverted back to normal. It was like the world was a device, gone back to factory settings. Nothing should have changed that fast! Everyone was risking their lives like this! And after his loss...no...he didn't even want to think of that...

                                                       After what seemed like forever, he trudged up the stairs, and with the click of the keys unlocking the lock, Jenny hugged him and brought him to the sofa. She held his hand in hers and with her eyes, tried to communicate a message that wasn't received by her beloved husband. After a few minutes of silence, Jenny carefully asked him why he didn't join the celebrations at work. Startled, he asked her in a dangerous tone of voice on how she knew that. Meekly, she said that she received a call from work.

                                                     Outraged, he started going on a shrieking rampage, suddenly angered at everyone and everything, especially his workplace and his wife, who instead of adorable, sweet and lovable, now appeared to be annoying and interfering. He shouted at her, kicked the wall and Jenny had to combat him for a while until a few words managed to shake him back to his senses.

                                                      "I know you are missing Kayleigh. So am I. I mean, she was our little girl and princess and to lose her like that...but we have to move on. You remember her last words, right? She told us to be happy and move on with our lives. And she's probably upset that you are still saddened by her death."

                                                         He raged a bit more, telling her not to dare mention their deceased daughter at this time, then he seemed to have a sense of whiplash and, clutching his head he sat down on their cream, leathered sofa and did something that Jenny had never seen him ever doing: he was weeping. Putting her arm around him, she comforted him by rubbing his back and hugging him. Then when he had stopped, she told him that they should go and see her and then celebrate. "She would have wanted that, Artie." Suddenly he seemed to change his demeanor and attitude and slowly, he reached for his car keys and holding his wife's hand they slowly descended the stairs and opened the door of the car for the second time that day.

                                                          He seemed to be in a daze, so after much belittling, she drove instead of him. The sun was setting and the sky was filled with a rich colours such as cerise, sunshine yellow and deep purple, the latter being their daughter's favourite shade ever. Suddenly, she had tears in her eyes, and her peripheral vision was distorted by cracks of pain. She had only been 7 when she contracted it. It had started with a sore throat, and after much dismissing that it was just a cold, she had come up with a fever. A trip to their local health centre and one swabbing later, she had been diagnosed positive for COVID-19. They had burst into silent tears, trying not to alert her with their thoughts. For the next two weeks, they had been self-isolating without her, praying by candlelight, reassuring each other that she would survive and trying to occupy themselves without thinking of her. Then, one fine day, they received a phone call from the health centre to visit her for one last time as she was in critical condition and probably wouldn't make it. Rushing all the way there, they had talked to her daughter one last time in the nick of time, because when they had said their goodbyes she had rested in peace, forever.

                                                            Before they knew it, they had arrived at the cemetery, and walking up slowly, they passed the iron bar doors, changing their lives for the rest of their lives for two reasons: the first being that they were going to see their daughter as a slab of stone for the first time and secondly as they knew that after this, they would heal from their grief. They always had each other to lean on and now they would need it more than ever. But as long as they were together, Jenny thought as she placed a bouquet of carnations (her favourite flower) in front of the grave, there would be a ray of hope for them all. All they needed was hope. Forever.