Future by Christopher Liu
I looked forlornly out of my window. It was a sunny day during lockdown, and I was tired of being isolated indoors day in and day out. My eyes carelessly wandered across the sky outdoors, which was a light shade of blue, before finally settling themselves onto the sight of an empty wire, suspended by itself in mid-air. I hesitated. Last time I saw the wire, I distinctly remembered seeing two robins, perched on the cable, at space from each other, looking absent-mindedly into the distance. They were at such great lengths from each other that they appeared to be respecting the social distancing rules of the humans, perhaps out of caution - or even sympathy - for the wretched creatures they saw on the ground, who were now confined within their own houses. At the time this had puzzled me. There was such a large area of sky - a vast, unending sea of blue - for the birds to explore, to travel across, yet still they were perched there, unmoving. The birds appeared to be trapped by some force unbeknownst to them, unable to move, like myself in a lockdown. Now, the birds would be flying again. They would be traversing the vast skies, travelling across lands yet unknown, and meandering past the endless landscape. They
would be able to do whatever they wish, unconstrained. I yearned for the future, for the time when the lockdown would end, when I would be able to do everything I wanted again. I yearned for the day that I would go back to school again without fear of the virus, and for the day that I would be able to travel to the places that I cherish, at my own whim. I have only begun to understand what the most important things in life are once I have begun to lose them. They are the most mundane things that I normally do not enjoy. I envisioned myself going back to chapel in my bests with a herd of unruly schoolboys, the sound of the chaplain faint within my ears; and last but not least, the dull and dreary days spent in the common room. These happy thoughts made me smile. Sometimes I asked myself: what if the lockdown will never end, what if the things I plan to do in the future will never happen, and those dreams of the future glided with gold become illusions and never truly materialise? In some sort of way, the lockdown was a learning experience. It allowed us to more fully appreciate what we used to have. Freedom seems more like an opportunity rather
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