Chronicles of a married man in Isolation

My name is Al, I am married to Z, we both live and work in Abuja.

Our regular weekday starts at 4 am in order to prepare and beat the traffic and return by 6-7 pm after a hectic day at work. I always look forward to weekends which is also filled with activities but no alarm for weekends or rush to beat traffic.

Our day -to-day itinerary is always clustered with little or no much time for rest and a holiday is something we always wished for.

The outbreak of the global pandemic has forced all activities to a halt thereby forcing people into isolation, quarantine and a standing order of Stay At Home in order to curtail the spread of the pandemic. This is like the holiday we have always wished for.

I work with a Government organisation and due to the Government’s order of Working from home and the rumoured cases of the virus around my estate, I have no choice but to remain indoors until there are signs of recovery or safety.

Day 1.
A weekday, the usual alarm rang and I jumped out of bed only to realise I wasn’t going anywhere. I checked to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. I wasn’t feeling sleepy at all and didn’t know what to do with myself, about 6am, I proceeded with my daily devotion and forced myself back to sleep.
I think time was moving slower than usual or was it me? I woke up after sleeping for like 5hours in my head only to discover it was just 7:46am!

My wife who was also tired of lying down asked, ‘what are we eating this morning?’
Ordinarily during workdays, we take chips to work for breakfast but today I wanted her to rest and see if we could buy something for breakfast but the women who hawk around the estate where nowhere to be found.
We took ourselves to the kitchen to put things together, while trying to catch up on our lives, cooking, gisting and eating at our pace without interruption a rare opportunity that we enjoyed.

The erratic power supply didn’t encourage watching television so I had to go online for news and company on my phone as I tried not to panic at the grim updates.

My wife was glued to her Laptop as she definitely had to work from home.
By noon, I was already looking forward to lunch, then later dinner by 7pm and in between these times, I exercised by walking to the kitchen to keep my bored mouth and stomach entertained as I consumed gallons of water, fruits and all edibles I could lay hands on… Gluttony too is a sickness right?

I didn’t even sleep during the day time, something I always look forward to during normal busy workdays. So, kitted with masks and protective gloves, I decided to walk around the estate with my wife because of her condition and to prevent me from having a condition also…

Day 2.
Same as day 1 only for the fact that I didnt jump out of bed as my alarm rang, I was getting used to that part. I think my body adjusted a bit cos I slept a great deal during the day time and also had to go to the market to buy food stuffs and stock up as the news of the pandemic wasn’t getting better. I spent more time on my phone, surfing the internet while my wife was doing her own job online.
Having slept during the day time, 11pm I was still up with my eyes wide open as if the day just begun😭😭

Day 3.
I still cant get used to not doing anything productive and have to stay indoors with limited activities. Went out to a shop around the estate to get something and I realised my fuel gauge was still intact and I haven’t bought fuel for days, it felt strange. Got back home to watch the TV and the news was the same across continents; the pandemic. Suddenly I was beginning to realise sitting down in one place is a punishment, at least for someone like me. By this time, my wife was done with her work and all her attention was on me. When we exhausted all discussions, we turned to our phones surfing the internet and keeping up with friends and colleagues while sharing funny stuffs we see online.

Day 4.
Day 4 is a weekend but what difference does it make? Same thing applies and other meetings and social activities cancelled due to the pandemic. At this point I have to admit that life and living has changed. I got a notification that the regular Home Cell at our house wouldn’t be holding, as we are asked to join the fellowship online. Things are fast changing…. and we have to adapt.
During the past days, I have been tempted to go hangout with friends at night within the estate here but my wife wont take chances, she has warned that I will have to bath myself with a sanitizer before she’ll let me in. Lol.

I am not a writer and have never been, this chapter ends here as I try to find something doing this boring and trying times…