Epidemic

In only a matter of days everything had changed. Jack disliked change. Jack liked good food, a good bed and good company. Jack was a small individual with black hair and sharp eyes. He looked up at the TV in the pub, one of his favourite haunts. There was a man on the TV who looked slightly bored and confused.

“In this current epidemic people are being asked to stay at home,” the newsreader read out.

Usually the Devil’s Punchbowl was very lively. Jack would see lots of people who would support him very generously. Jack realised that he needed to keep moving; there were essentials in this world which Jack had to make sure he was getting.

Jack’s next port of call was the hairdressers. There were loads of people there and always someone who took him in and gave him a drink. It was a long walk and Jack hoped that the walk would be worth it. During his journey Jack saw no people; it was all very strange. Jack was beginning to wonder what had gone wrong with this world.

The hairdressers, much like the pub, was deserted. Something weird was going on here, Jack decided. There were always people at the school, Jack remembered, but Jack wasn’t quite sure whether or not he was welcome there. The last time he had been there he had been chased off by a screaming little kid.

When Jack finally got down to the school, he wasn’t sure if he was relieved that he couldn’t see anybody at the school. Jack didn’t visit the school very often, but when he did, he always found a different environment.

Anne was finishing off some work and gazing out the window worrying about how to tackle this one particular matter when she spotted a figure moving across the playground. Anne went across to the door. Jack saw Anne coming out the school doors; quickly he moved across towards her.

“What are you doing here at this awful time?” Anne said expectantly.

“Miaow,” said Jack.

“Let’s find you something to drink.”