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Wash Your Hands

By LVA

Every morning she washed her hands. There was a protocol.

First run them under the water for 12 seconds 19 times.  Then put soap on them 1 time and rub her hands together for 30 seconds. Run them under the water for 3 seconds 11 times.

She’d been doing this for 4 years since October 10th. This morning she did the math. She didn’t have school after all and it was easy.

Covid-19 broke out on 12/19.

It was declared to be a Public health emergency of international concern on 1/30.

Then recognized as a pandemic on 3/11.

On 4/10 1.6 million cases of Covid-19 had been reported.

Now there were approximately 95,600 deaths.

She added up her hours of life. She was 10.9 yrs old. The same number of deaths that had happened in hours of her life lived.

She was a math genius. Willing to run numbers to prevent paranoia, to help her feel more calm. 

Except now she knew it was all her fault. This whole thing was her fault.

Every morning she washed her hands. There was a protocol. 

Today she stopped washing her hands. The very same day most people started her exact protocol:

First run them under the water for 12 seconds 19 times.  Then put soap on them 1 time and rub your hands together for 30 seconds. Run them under the water for 3 seconds 11 times.

And, now do it for the the next 4 years.

She won’t. She stopped washing her hands.

Sometimes it’s better to not do the math.

Filed Under: LVA Blog, LVA Essays, LVA Fiction, LVA Writing

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