County Clare 2020:
A Day in My Life
Creative Writing Competition for children and teenagers
Shortlisted 10 to
12 category
County Clare 2020: A Day in My Life
by Molly Cahill
Who in their right mind could have predicted three months ago when we were all at school having a great time that a few months later I would be stuck at home not going to school or seeing my friends .This pandemic is affecting us all some more than others, but we all need to stay positive in this difficult time.
When we have pyjama day at school it’s so much fun, but now all I want to do is throw on my uniform and go to school but that is all a dream in my head. Now everyday is the same, get up and go downstairs and try and put your head down and concentrate on your school work. It’s pretty difficult when your brother is kicking a football, your sister is singing at the top of her voice and your Mom is hoovering the floor. I mean I would give my left arm to be back at school listening to my teacher droning on about the lakes and hills of Ireland in the Geography lesson but that seems like a lifetime ago (sorry Ms. O’Connor but Geography just isn’t my favourite subject!)
Since this pandemic hit, I’ve taken up a few new hobbies such as baking and sewing. Unfortunately, the sewing took a turn for the worst one evening. I accidentally left a needle in the carpet and my Mom stepped on it. It went up through her foot and snapped in half. She and my Dad had to go to A&E in Limerick so she could have it removed under local anaesthetic. It hasn’t stopped my interest in sewing, but I’m just a little more careful where I leave my needles now!!
I never knew my weekly visit to my granny would turn into a ten-minute video or phone call or that my holiday to Spain would be cancelled and instead it would be camping in the back garden!! A trip to the beach to get a “99” seems impossible now so we have to settle for a choc ice in the back of the car driving around seeing the empty streets and closed restraunts and cafés of Ennis.
I’m in sixth class now so I was so looking forward to all the trips and activities we were going to get to do together as a class but that’s all gone out the window. When Leo Varadkar announced on Friday night that we weren’t going back to school my heart sank because I finally realised that we weren’t ever going to get back and finish sixth class. My next time in school is going to be in secondary school and to be honest I’m a little terrified because I’ve missed half a school year so I hope it won’t be too much of a change.
Being off school and everthing else for that matter has made me realise that I need to appreciate things a lot more, for example I have a huge back garden which is perfect right now because I can play outside and have a great time, but some families don’t have that. Now driving to Tesco and just sitting in the car for the first time in weeks feels like an adventure to be honest.
All I hope is that this will end soon and we can get our lives back to our old normality.
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