I woke up excited because the news made it sound like we were maybe going to be okay. I walked outside with the dog and the sun was shining and we deserved it. I listened to a podcast about how podcasts were really popular. Down the hill, a woman stopped to give the dog a treat, and the dog was quite pleased. I removed my headphones. The woman said something but I didn’t make it out because fabric covered her mouth.
“Yeah,” I said.
There was a line at the coffee shop. I asked the barista if he’d gotten that sweet sweet vaccine yet, which is maybe an inappropriate question?—a notion I didn’t consider until three other people in line began arguing over the efficacy of vaccines. They had different opinions on the facts, or maybe they’d heard different facts, or the facts were changing? Whatever it was, they wanted to get to the bottom of it, loudly.
I pretended I was invisible and snuck quietly out the front door, relieved to find my own precious opinions strengthened by caffeine. A guy with an electric skateboard scooted up the street. He had headphones on and his knees were bouncing rhythmically as he carved arcs on the pavement. His arms extended like wings; his face beamed, wide open.