Lockdown Letter #3

Dear reader,

I’m not sure when someone will read this, it maybe a month, a year, a decade or maybe never. It might be something that I read to my grandchildren when they ask me about quarantine or maybe will be put in a book and be read in a history lesson, imagine that, I would be famous.

Before we were quarantined, I was at boarding school. The whole country was confused, and nobody knew what was going to happen. A couple days before we were sent home, we were all sitting in the dining room eating dinner and some teachers walked in. They told us that the government has decided to close schools and that we were going home on Friday. We were all really upset, and it was sad to have to say goodbye to everyone for a little bit.

On Friday 20th March, my dad came to pick me up from school. The timetable was different that day, we did things like karaoke and watching a film. My dad and I travelled home, as soon as we got home my mom told me that we are quarantining, and I cannot go out except for walking the dog.

At the start of the quarantine I was quite lazy, and I did not really do much. We were given usernames and passwords for Microsoft teams. On Microsoft teams teachers can send us work as an assignment and we (students) can ask questions on the teams/group chats or message the teachers. I would facetime my friends a lot and we would do the work together. We only had a week until our Easter holiday. The peek of the virus was around Easter Sunday (12th April).

In the holiday, I started taking my dogs on a walk. I would not walk too far away from my house. Infront of my house is a part of a walking path, I would walk up the back path which had trees all around so it was like a tunnel which led to a main road or a path that would take you back round to my house. I would walk down the path that would lead me back to my house. Then I would continue down the path, this path had lots of little sharp rocks and pebbles on it. In the middle of this path there is a little wooden gate that leads to a steam train, the steam train is mainly used for the polar express experience. You go on the train around Christmas in your pyjamas, drink hot chocolate and watch polar express. At the bottom of the path you can carry on or walk along houses. At that point I turn around and walk along the pavement back to my house. It forms a figure of 8. Opposite the pavement there is a mini hill with some rocks and benches on top. Sometimes I will sit on the bench and take pictures of the trees and sun.

Pippa is my dog, she loves walking and could walk all day, so I take her out for a couple of laps. Then I take Max and Rosie the other two dogs. Rosie is older and does not really like to walk too far. Max just stops when he is walking. So, I only take them out for a short walk, but they still love it.

This one time, my dad and I went on a walk with all the dogs. When we came back, I took off my shoes and started taking off the dogs leads. While my dad was going into the garage. When my dad opened the front door, Pippa ran out. Pippa is a really fast runner. She was running in the direction of the main road. I know you’re not supposed to, but I ran after her because that was the only way I would catch up with her. I ran as fast as I could in my socks. She stopped twice but when she saw me running, she started to run again. I was screaming her name and I think the neighbours heard. She was nearly at the road, but she got distracted by something on the floor and I grabbed her lead. We started walking back home and I saw my dad. He said mom had got in the car to drive to the main road.

Then online school started again but this time we were given zoom accounts so we could do lesson live like a facetime with the whole class. We still get assignments, but the teachers can explain them in more detail and share their screen to show PowerPoints or play videos that we watch. On Mondays the whole school will join together at 9 am to do assembly, where we support each other. We also have registration in the morning, where your form will go on to a zoom, do the register and talk. In my form we have been doing mini quizzes on Kahoot. My form tutor will pick a topic and she will be given a game pin which we enter into the website. Then we enter are names and we will be in the game. The teacher will read the questions and the four answers that it could be which are colour coded. On our screens will be the colours and you must pick the colour that you think the answer is. There is a leader board that is shown after every question. At the end of the game it will show first, second, third and the two runner ups.

My family has started to do online shopping where it gets delivered or click and collect.

Sometimes we cannot get a slot so my dad will go into the shops with a list. The shops can only have a certain amount of people inside so there are always long queues plus you must be two metres apart from people that are not in your household. There are marks on the floor to show where you stand in the queue, so people do not get too close.

If they can, people are working from home. My mom works from home but has to travel to work once a week. My dad works from home but sometimes has to travel to check up on things or do something. All the parks, social areas and non-essential shops are closed. Some people have even moved into there place of work to stop spreading the virus like carers in care homes and people who look after the animals in the zoo.

Every now and again, I will go visit family but either in the garden through the gate or they’re at the doorstep and we are on the drive.

Every Thursday, like the rest of the country at 8 pm we go outside and clap for the NHS and keyworkers to say thank you. We also have drawing of a rainbow on our window. I made a collage of a rainbow for my nanna’s window. When I go outside, I hear clapping, whistling, horns and fireworks. I also see the neighbours and wave to them.

I’ve been doing a lot of online clothes shopping on Shein. I also brought my friend a personalised card with a chocolate bar inside the other day to make her smile.

Hopefully this will all be over soon, and everyone is happy and healthy. So I can see my friends and family again.

From

Harriet xx (age 13)