How COVID Stole Christmas

Elissa Tabbara, Reporter

Bethlehem Tekle, Editorial Editor

January 8, 2021

Editor’s Note: This story was written prior to Winter Break, but unfortunately was not able to be published in time. We still wanted to share it with our readers, however, so please enjoy the story!

One night, Corona was frowning a frown as she sneered at the houses below in the town. No one knew why she was feeling so ruthless; it could be because she felt so fruitless. Or maybe because mean words tend to stick or possibly because she could make people sick, but we think that the very best reason might be that she couldn't be friends with human beings. Whatever the reason her friends or her foe. She stood there hating the people below.

“How dare they go round disrespecting me! Maybe if they couldn't have any friends, they'd know what it feels to be me!” So she thought of a scheme. “They better start respecting me! I know just what to do.” She started professin', “I’ll teach all those mean people a lesson.”

So she caught a wind drift down to the town and she found other viruses. She told them the plan and they all agreed they'll do it now while the humans sleep. And so down in the town the plan went into action; only a fraction of humans would get sick although it would spread with interaction. One by one, each day more people got sick and the viruses said “Yay!” But it got out of hand and now we're in trouble. This is how the trouble began.

As night slipped in and all was well, Corona was planning on plaguing the town. And so her plan worked! Cities in dire need of aid but no one to help. Corona smiled her evil sneer but felt an ounce of guilt in her heart. She needed to stop this or the humans will perish! “Oh no what have I done; no more children with parents?! I need some help so I’ll sacrifice myself. I’ll ask my enemy to help the humans in need and I shall reap the consequence of my deed. So Santa can come give the toys to all the little girls and boys.”

So off she went to her doom floating past empty rooms. Lights were out in a little wee house then she heard a soft sound just like a little mouse. That’s when she heard a little whimper she saw a little boy in a cute little jumper. The kid said “Please Ms. C, you’ve got to stop this, my mommy is sick and you’ve got to fix this! How is Santa going to put toys under my tree?” She felt really bad and that ounce of guilt turned into a ton. She told the boy she’s on the run; she’s going to fix this and she’ll go away forevermore.

The humans will be okay. They’ll live to see another day! She took the boy and put him to sleep and without another word or a peep, she slipped out of the house onto the street. She then heard the sound of two little feet. Was it the boy? Oh no it wasn’t it! It was the vaccine! “Well here goes nothing. My time to perish is here. No one will miss me, no one will hear. The vaccine will spear the humans for years.”

Vaccine took her by her arm and pinned her to the ground and said, “Your time here is done. It is my duty to protect the humans, and so I will.” Corona felt a chill go down her spine then with fear she opened her eyes. She said, “Take me away now so I’ll turn good. I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve understood.” So Corona transformed into another vaccine, and they lived together for many years, happy to be together with their peers.

That night Santa came and went. The children woke up and wept happy tears; their parents were fine, they've survived! No one noticed Corona was missing, but she was fine. The other viruses started to whine, “Why?! Why didn’t it work? Oh well, we’ll still infect every once in a while.” Meanwhile, humans partied wild! They stayed six feet apart, just in case Corona came back. But for now everything was good, the humans took caution and had fun with care. They tried their best to be careful not to over step six feet apart. That’s the story of how COVID stole Christmas, and we hope you do your part!