Pandemic in Tom's Eyes

My friend has constantly been going on and on about how happy she is that the "so-called" ongoing pandemic is ending, and she can go outside whenever the mood strikes her and be skin-to-skin with her friends and loved ones without fear of contracting the disease. She is also overjoyed that she can finally take off that dreadful face mask and reveal her lovely features and enticing smile.

Three years have passed, but I still think about this memory from time to time. At any rate, it appeared that the pandemic only grew more severe, contagious, and ultimately fatal. Everything I once loved about this city was now dreary and sorrowful. As I walked through its silent streets and hardly saw anyone. There was such eerie silence that I almost thought I'd gone deaf from the lack of sound from passing vehicles, humans talking, dogs barking, and birds singing. When I looked up, the sky had transformed into a dark blue ocean that surrounded my world. Buildings that touched the sky are deserted, and their windows are grimy and unclean. There are mosses everywhere, and there are more of them every day. A metropolis that is the polar opposite of what it used to be.

As I walked on, I passed by some of the locations my friend and I had previously visited; at the end of the street, two enormous hollow spheres approached me; the material of these objects was transparent, and I could see right through them. It's like those hamster balls my friend is always watching or those beach balls. Inside it was a creature, a rare one; I hadn't seen them for two years, a human. They approach me in an unsteady fashion, almost like a starfish, calling out to me like my friend used to with a series of "psst psst, psst" noises. We were the only ones on the street, and their voices echoed through the silent city. I stumbled upon dirty mirrors that reflected me; I saw whiskers, green eyes, slit-shaped pupils, and large ears that looked straight forward. I continued my walk toward the humans that reminded me so much of my friend, with hopes of my world becoming bright and vibrant as it once was.