42 DAYS Alyssa Krivak 10th Grade • Riverside Brookfield High School
42 days, Aly thought. It has been 42 days since I’ve been in a car. Since I have been to real school. Since I have seen my teachers, my friends, and studied for a test while walking blindly through the halls to my next period. As much as I miss my friends, it isn’t so bad, though. I don’t go a day without FaceTiming them and I won’t go a day without living my life and staying connected to all of the people I love. “Rise and Shine!” Aly’s mom says as she flicks the surprisigly bright light on to wake her up. As Aly squeezes her eyes shut thinking maybe it’ll make her fall back to sleep, she slowly regrets telling her mom to wake her up early the night before. “Even if that means dragging me out of bed and onto the floor from under the warm comforter!” she recalls from her request to her mom from last night. “I’m up…I’m up....” She yawns as she stretches every morsel of herself until she feels satisfied that she is woken up and ready for the day. After filling out the attendance form for her online classes and flipping the scintillating light back off, Aly crawled under the covers again and into the stream of sunlight projected from the window. As she lay there grasping the sunbeams with her gaze, Aly thought about her life at home. Her mom would be leaving in a few hours to work, for she was an essential worker. For the
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