A covid inspired fantasy. I know the Lit crowd wishes more happened here, but this is my true story. Sorry if you are bored. I certainly wasn't.
After ending a 17-year marriage back in 2018 (I almost can't believe how long ago that feels), I tried to find my "new normal" as a newly single woman. I envisioned all these soap opera-type romantic flings or even daring erotic rendezvous--I was determined to find out who the real "me" was after a very restrictive and depressing relationship. I bought new clothes, new lingerie, new cologne, I cranked up Gloria Gaynor in my Jeep and sang along way too loudly. By the time 2019 rolled in, I vowed to myself that it would be My Year, whatever that meant. I was excited to find out.
My Christmas decorations were barely down, and I remember hearing about this SARS-like virus that was spreading in Asia. I wasn't necessarily sweating bullets, since I felt like we already knew the drill, and like most people, I never imagined something like the coronavirus could impact the US like it eventually did, but I did keep my eye on things, reading whatever I could. As a high school teacher, I knew that whatever form a new virus took, I was almost certain to be among the first group who would be impacted.
It was one of the first times I admit I hated being right about my concerns. By March, US businesses were shuttering doors, and by April, my school moved to remote learning. 2019, it seemed, would definitely, most assuredly, not be the year I had envisioned for myself.
Months wore on, and I found it impossible to get used to an empty bed after nearly two decades together with my former partner. Summer came and went, and my daughter went back to college (ridiculously taking her classes on Zoom, which made me wonder why she had to go back in the first place). By September it dawned on me, that here in my too-quiet house, I was alone for the very first time in my life as an adult.
I hated it.
I tried. I read novels. Then I read sexy novels. They just made me feel more alone and frustrated. Eventually I found this site, and a while after that, the chat rooms, which were a wonderful distraction. But...I ached for something real. I was so mad at the world for seemingly conspiring against me in my darkest times. I wanted to move on, and I was ready to. But there was nothing to move on to.