"Have you hear about this weird virus that's going around? Apparently it's exactly like the flu but different somehow. I heard that Jenna went home sick with it a couple days ago and no one has heard from her or her family since. Wonder what happened." My friend Megan and I have been wondering about Jenna ever since she went home. "I don't know. I'd go check on her but she lives so far away from me. Why don't you go see her since your place is pretty close to hers. It's a couple blocks away, right?" She rolled her eyes slightly. "You live the farthest away from the school and practically society. I'm surprised you haven't turned into a redneck. The sooner I can get you out of those woods and to the mall the better!" She laughed. She's been wanting to drag me into the mall for so long but I just hate the mall. It's so crowded and she'd make me buy everything in sight! The only reason she can do that herself is because she has enough money to do so along with her credit cards. "You know my dad would shoot me with his crossbow if he found out that I went to the mall and bought expensive clothes!" I giggled, somewhat serious. "Oh Anna, you and your family need to get out more! You can't stay out in the boonies forever!" We both laughed. She was right though that I've been wanting to experience city life even though I love being in the woods and hunting with my dad and uncle Merle. We made it to where we go our separate ways and said our goodbyes like always, never thinking that this would be our last.
"Dad! Uncle Merle! I'm home!" I yell as I kick my shoes off, going upstairs to my room. I got no reply so I guess they either went hunting or to the store. I sat down at my desk to do my homework. "Ugh, math" I mumbled, thinking that this will be hard without dad. I had to skip about seven questions because they were too hard for me to do on my own. I tried looking on the internet but it didn't really help me since the explanations were too complex. I noticed that it had begun to get dark out and neither dad or uncle Merle have come back. 'I'll wait a little longer before going out to look for them' I thought to myself, hoping they're okay. Suddenly I heard the front door open along with the sound of plastic bags meaning they went to the grocery store. The sounds of the plastic bags were accompanied by their yells. They've been fighting a lot more lately and it kind of scares me since they can get violent so I stayed upstairs in case it became physical. They were fighting about... me? Why would they be arguing about me?
"Anna! Come down here and help!" I jumped when uncle Merle yelled so suddenly. I slowly climbed down the stairs and saw tons of bags on the floor. I've never seen this much food in the house and a lot of it was canned which was kind of odd. "Are we stocking up for the winter or something?" I laughed but received no reply, not even a chuckle. I silently put the groceries away and had them all away when dad came in with the last of the bags. I hugged him, hoping to lighten the mood. "Hey dad can you help me with my-" "You ain't goin' to school tomorrow" He said quickly as he returned the hug. I looked at him confused. "What? Why not? I'm not sick or anything." I was one of those 'weird' kids who actually enjoyed going to school. "Well there's somethin' weird about this virus that's goin' round and we want you safe. So you ain't leavin' this house until they've found a vaccination or cure for this virus." Uncle Merle sighed, knowing that I'd be upset and I am. "We ain't leavin' the house either since we don't want to catch it and end up givin' it to you." Without saying anything, I stormed upstairs and slammed my door. They couldn't just keep me inside the house like it's a cage! This meant no more hunting, no more seeing Megan and no more doing anything relatively fun. The only fun thing in this house is having access to the computer but you can only be on the computer for so long!
About an hour later I heard a knock at my door. I was still mad so I didn't say anything and just stared at the ceiling. I heard my door open then close and my dad walking towards me. "I brought your dinner and it's your favourite!" I turned away from him, trying to resist the wonderful smell of the Alfredo sauce on the fettuccine noodles. I suddenly felt my dad's hand on my side 'He wouldn't... would he?' I thought to myself before he started tickling my side, causing me to burst into a fit of laughter. He turned me over and tickled my stomach, causing me to squirm and kick my legs. At this point my eyes were closed and tears were streaming down my face. Before I knew it, uncle Merle was tickling me too! "You traitor!" I barely managed to say in between my fits of laughter. Usually uncle Merle would tickle dad so that I could get to safety but not this time apparently. Dad never tells anyone that he's ticklish. I found out he was ticklish one day when I was little when I tried to wake him up on his birthday. He wouldn't wake up so I started poking him, causing him to burst into laughter.
By the end of it we were all laying on the floor laughing. My dinner had gone completely cold but I didn't really care. We all stood up and I hugged them both tightly "I love you so much!" I was no longer mad at them. They only want me safe and I'm happy that I'm with them. "We love you too" They both said as I grabbed the bowl of pasta and went downstairs to heat it up. After I finished eating, dad helped me with my homework even though I wouldn't be going back to school until this virus thing was figured out and I went to bed.