Francesca Webb, 10Hartley Wintney, UK Self Isolation Francesca Webb, 10 Sitting at my desk Wishing it could be next year Missing summer fun On google classroom My days are long and boring What is happening? Hospitals full up Doctors working very hard No more face masks left Nothing in the shops I hope old people are fine Our street is quiet Sitting in my room I’m safe but I am worried We have to stay strong
COVID-19
Lottery (or, the real winners get the toilet paper…), a cartoon by Natya Chandrasekar, 12
Natya Chandrasekar, 12Palo Alto, CA Lottery Natya Chandrasekar, 12 One day my mom was so happy, as if she had won a lottery and she was jumping with joy and dancing. When I asked her what made her so happy , she said she had found toilet paper online, and they are being shipped to our house. This made me think that in the future, or at least in the time of COVID-19, toilet paper is more of a lottery win than the real lottery money. Natya is selling prints of all of her cartoons to raise funds for a nonprofit organization in her local area called REF (Ravenswood Education Foundation), which has established an emergency fund to provide financial relief related to the school closures due to COVID-19. Ninety percent of students in the school area qualify for free and reduced-price lunch, and the majority of their parents work hourly service jobs. REF is working closely with the school district to plan and address specific needs, including in technology and distance learning, food and food distribution, emergency childcare, and financial support. We at Stone Soup are very happy to support Natya in spreading the word, and congratulate her on her work and her fundraising efforts for her community–well done, Natya! You can look at the complete collection of cartoons and choose your favourites either in this Dropbox Folder or Google Drive folder, and write to Natya if you would like to obtain a copy of your own. You may pay for the prints either by making a direct donation to REF here, or discussing directly with Natya and her family.
A Life Change, a short story by Vaishali Andukuri, 10
Vaishali Andukuri, 10Oakland, NJ A Life Change Vaishali Andukuri, 10 I had a normal life. A slow life, sure…But it was good. I was just a regular 12 year-old who had a standard schedule. I woke up, went to school, came home, played a bit, helped cook dinner, ate it, went to bed and my day was done. Until one day when my life changed. I was going to school, and on the way, I stopped by a small corner shop, to buy water. When I came back from school, I heard the news that there was a virus going around. Something COVID? I didn’t care. Not much comes to our town. I went to watch TV. Apparently some big cities were on something called “quarantine”? Also there were some huge numbers. “The Death Toll” they said it was. I just assumed that it was a bunch of people crying because they got a cold. The next day, I was coughing more than usual. Two days after that, I felt weirdly warm. My mom checked, and said it was a fever. I was sick for a while. It wasn’t too bad. I got “get well” gifts, and my parents took care of me and gave me food in bed. Then one day while I was playing, I got tired. I took a huge breath, and it hurt. Slowly and steadily, my breathing worsened. Then it got so bad that my parents took me to the hospital, where they ran some tests. A doctor came, and took a nose swab. He then took it to the lab. He came back with the results. He looked scared and sad. He said that I was going to be okay, and that my parents would be right there. I was confused. Why would I be worried? Why was my family in a rush to come? I asked him what was going on, and he looked surprised and confused at the same time. “You didn’t figure it out? You have the coronavirus, or SARS- CoV-2.” he explained. I was mortified. “I have a fancy cough?!” I yelled. “Oh trust me, it’s not just for the fancy people. Tons of normal people are contracting the virus.” the doctor replied casually. I did not like this doctor. “What happened to them?” I asked warily. “Oh…. Some died, some got lifelong breathing problems, and some are absolutely fine.” he responded unhappily. Now I was scared. I had probably got it in that shop! I didn’t want to die, so I asked what I could do. He said all I could was wait it out and try to stay alive. I was unhappy, sad, in pain, and exhausted. I couldn’t sleep, and it was horrible staying in the hospital. I wished I had taken the safety precautions. I would have been safe. I was not the first to learn the hard way. Tons of people have ignored the precautions and gotten sick. Some had even died. I got out of the hospital alive, but I had breathing problems. I wish for everyone else to stay safe and not make my mistake again. Before, I had lived an ignorant life. Now I have changed for the better.
