Stars were present everywhere, scattered like shattered glass against the pitch-black colour of space. A comet was visible just beneath his craft. Michael, who was on the spacecraft alone, wanted to admire the beauty outside. But he couldn’t do so after knowing about the damage his spacecraft had taken by colliding with a small asteroid. With his heart racing, Michael prayed that the damage wasn’t much critical when he saw a glimmer of light just outside the window. Was it the sun? But that wasn’t possible because of the part of space he was in. Though that light wasn’t as unexpected as the thing he saw next. A bird flew past the window of his craft. How could a bird fly in space?

And that wasn’t all. More and more strange things began happening. The glimmering light intensified, the black colour of space slowly transitioned to blue, the stars faded away. He could no longer hear the beeping sounds of his spacecraft, nor could he feel his spacesuit. The panels with all the controls disappeared, the indication lights strangely turned into tube lights! And in the end, his spaceship altogether disappeared. What was happening, Michael had begun to understand after he felt the gravity of Earth and the aroma of noodles, boiling in a corner of his room. He was back in his room, back from his imagination.

Michael enjoyed imagining such adventures while passing the time in his quarantine. The environment of both his isolation room and his spacecraft was similar; the only differences being the presence of the blue sky and the flying birds outside the window, and the absence of a control panel inside his room.

 Michael was an astronaut. He had returned from Mars after four years. But it was like a vacation for six months on Earth. After that, he was supposed to be back on the red planet, helping in further expanding human settlements and terraforming the planet.

His crew had left Earth to begin settlements on Mars during the month of January 2020. They had no idea about the deadly pandemic that had been raging across the planet since then. The information of the pandemic was kept hidden from Michael’s crew. It wasn’t until five months after their landing on Mars, that they were first told about it after a family member of their crewmate had been infected by the virus.

After working for four years on Mars the idea of going back to Earth on a vacation had crossed Michael. He wanted a break, he wanted to see the blue sky again. So he applied for leave and after getting it approved, he returned back home, steering his spacecraft for six months, alone.

But things weren’t as straightforward as Michael had been expecting. He didn’t know how much lethal the virus was, or even what the virus was. He only knew about the guidelines that were to be followed, according to which he had to quarantine for 14 days after landing. For him, the quarantine was a child’s play. He had already travelled alone, for six months.

It was on the very first day of his quarantine, that Michael came up with the brilliant idea of imagining to be on an adventure in his spacecraft. Doing so had been helping him in keeping himself engaged.

Mentally back in his room, Michael began thinking about what to do next. But he had to think so for fourteen days, so he had plenty of thinking job to do. He was not going to be bored, astronauts are not supposed to be bothered by boredom, but they also have plenty of other things to do which usually help them in being alone. Michael didn’t find much to do in that room. So he continued lying in his bed, not bothering to get the noodles.

 He was remembering the moment he had landed on Earth, how much euphoric he had felt to be back home. He was amused after knowing that he had to quarantine, thinking it might be a mistake. But he was disappointed after knowing that it was the truth. ‘But I’ve arrived from another planet, how could I be infected?’ he had thought of saying so in protest. But he didn’t say anything. He quietly agreed to whatever was to be followed. He was the first of his kind, coming from another planet during a pandemic, so a rule was still to be made. The authorities found no harm in quarantining him to avoid any risk; it was only a matter of fourteen days.  

For Michael, the days passed in his imaginations and thoughts, thoughts about what might have changed on Earth in the years of the pandemic. The only change he had noticed while on his way from the landing site to the quarantine centre was the presence of masks on every person’s face. At first, he thought that people had to wear masks only around him. He himself was given a mask to wear and was instructed not to remove it before reaching his room, though he had found it quite strange.

But his doubt regarding the requirement of masks was cleared on the tenth day of his quarantine when he went to the balcony of his room. He was instructed not to go to the balcony without wearing a mask. On the balcony, he realised what was going on. The people around him were supposed to wear masks, when around people, he had to wear a mask, and people not around him, walking in the streets, also had to wear a mask.

The fourteenth day arrived. His quarantine was over and he couldn’t wait to be out already, to be walking beneath the sun and the blue sky. He began dressing up according to the cold weather outside. While wearing the coat, he suddenly realised that he would not be able to breathe properly because of the mask. After thinking for a few seconds, he decided it wasn’t a big problem. At least he could walk on his land, under the sky of his home.

Dressing up quickly, he ran outside his room in so much excitement that at first, he forgot to put on his mask. Realising his mistake, he ran back to his room. After putting on his mask, he went out, excited to feel the wind and the sun on his face after four years.

The first step on the streets felt like setting foot in a new world. His unforgettable memory of stepping foot on the red planet was refreshed. And like Mars was a place he had to explore while wearing a spacesuit, Earth had changed so much in four years, that he had to explore it too while wearing a mask.

Before embarking on his journey, he thought about where he should go. Without much thought, he decided to go to a house in some street, the name of which he didn’t remember, but he remembered the route to be taken and the house number. He began, after ensuring once again if his mask was tight enough.

The first thing that drew his interest was the presence of the new position monitoring camera. Michael read about it in a large poster he had seen while on his way to the quarantine centre fourteen days ago. Many such cameras were present on the streets. Their function was to check social distancing between people and to raise the alarm if it was flouted anywhere. People of the same family were exempted from the rule, though they were required to wear a special wrist band for the cameras to identify them.

For the first few minutes, he didn’t find any person in his sight. His destination required a thirty-minute walk. The first person he saw was a lady. She was wearing a purple mask. As her sight fell on Michael, she raised her eyebrows in astonishment, as if she wasn’t expecting to see any person at that time of the day. Michael, relieved to find a person, carried on walking. As time passed, more people appeared, walking past Michael, keeping the required distance from each other. Another lady was walking, probably with her daughter, reminding her every time not to touch or lower her mask.

Michael was delighted when the rays of the rising sun fell on his face and the cold breeze kissed him gently. His memories of Earth before he had left were revived. It was serendipitous when drops of water began falling from the sky. Although the light showers didn’t last long, they had added to Michael’s delightedness. He couldn’t remember the last time he had experienced rain. He wanted to open his mouth and let the drops fall into it like he used to do in his childhood days. But he remembered the mask, slightly drenched by the rain.

As Michael walked further, his eye caught the sight of a building. It was an unusual building, not only because of its structure and isolated location but also because of the presence of army men and nurses in PPE kits. Ambulances were present in front of it. Michael counted twenty-five of them. He wondered if it was a hospital or something like that. On a wall of the building was a poster saying, ‘VOTE US FOR FREE VACCINES IN THE FUTURE!’ Michael’s memory about vaccines was revived. He remembered how he had to get those syringes forcefully as a child, how much painful it used to be. ‘Why isn’t a vaccine developed by now?’ Michael thought to himself. But not knowing much about viruses or vaccines or anything about medical science, he decided not to think more about it and continued walking.

The sight of people was as rare as the sight of any open shop, or a moving vehicle. He thought from time to time if it was alright to be out on the roads without any essential reason, or what should he say if someone asked him why he was outside, and many other such questions.

After walking for some more time, Michael looked around to confirm if he was on the right path. He looked at a street nearby, with rows of houses and realised that it was his destination.

The street wore a deserted look. Even the balconies and lawns of the houses were empty. He walked into the area, searching carefully for the house he wanted to visit. All the houses looked dull. The plants in most of the lawns had dried up. It was the seventh house from the left, he had remembered.

As he reached the seventh house, he was surprised by the absence of the mango tree, which had been there for decades. He was not at all expecting the tree to be absent from the garden. The nameplate had the letters ‘LARRYS’ engraved on it. Michael went inside, noticing many other things absent as well. The huge flower bush was also not there. It used to bear flowers of rose, marigold, dandelion, and his favourite tulips. He had retained these small details in his mind. It was because of these memories that he still remembered the house. But the absence of these details disturbed him.

Michael rang the doorbell. There was no reply. He waited for a minute and still, there was no reply. As he knocked gently on the door, he found that it wasn’t locked. He slowly opened the door and caught a glimpse of what was inside. All the furniture and corners of the walls bathed in spider-webs, the dust settled at every place where it could settle, all the windows closed and the whole house was filled with darkness. Michael thought if he had mistaken it for another house. But the nameplate said the name Larry, so he wasn’t mistaken, though he was shocked and confused.

He went inside slowly, the dust not affecting him much because of the mask. The wooden floors creaked as he walked. The person he wanted to meet surely wasn’t there. He felt penitent for not making a call before coming. He had thought of giving a surprise, but now he regretted the thought. He felt disturbed in the ominous setting of the house. ‘What might have happened to her?’ Michael thought to himself. And as he was moving around to leave, he caught the sight of a portrait.

It was the portrait of a lady. The lady he wanted to pay his visits to. In the painting, she held a bouquet of tulips, painted with colours as vibrant as her dress. She had a captivating smile. Michael remembered that smiling face. Also, it was the first time he had seen an uncovered face since his arrival.

He regretted having forgotten to bring his cell phone. He wanted to call her as soon as possible. As he was leaving the house, he heard a voice coming from a moderate distance. “Mr Larry! I am so glad you are back. I had been calling for the last few minutes. I was wondering if everything was alright.”

Michael turned around and saw Miss Emma, a friend of the lady whom Michael wanted to visit. She was waving her hand as she spoke. She began approaching him and got too close for the mandatory six feet distance. Michael became confused.

She gave him a wristband. “You know what to do with it, right?” she asked. He understood and wore it quickly. “Come with me, I’ll get you there.” Michael didn’t understand what was happening, but he didn’t ask Emma anything about what had happened at the house. He felt that he should just follow her, not knowing why he felt that. “It will take ten minutes to reach there,” she said, hesitating while adding on, “and I am so sorry for what happened, Mr Larry.”

Michael’s confusion rose to a level like never before. ‘Why did Emma say so?’ he thought as his anxiousness grew. He still didn’t ask her what the matter was.

As they reached the place, Emma said, “Here we are,” her eyes became wet as she continued, “I will come with you.” Emma’s tears induced tears in Michael’s eyes. She didn’t know that Michael was not at all aware of the situation. Michael noticed another thing that made his heart ache; it was the same building with the ambulances he had seen before. He could no longer hold himself and was about to ask Emma what had happened when a doctor approached them and said, “We are so very sorry, Mr Larry. It was the virus. We tried our best to save your mother. We had been trying to reach you since morning, but you didn’t pick up the call.” The doctor stopped as he saw Michael’s blue mask being drenched by his tears.

Michael didn’t realise his tears, he didn’t realise that he was on his knees. He couldn’t hear the doctor and Emma consoling him. He couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t see anything. Everything disappeared. In that crowded world, Michael felt alone. He hadn’t felt that much alone even in his spacecraft.

Emma was horrified after knowing that Michael didn’t know anything about his mother’s demise. She felt ashamed at not telling him anything first and directly bringing him to the hospital.

Emma placed her trembling hand on Michael’s shoulder, intending to bring him back, to make him feel alright. Still crying, raising his eyebrows in anger, he got up and roared in a voice that echoed throughout the quiet hospital, “Why wasn’t I informed when she got infected?” “We were about to tell you, but it was her request not to tell you what had happened. She passed away this morning only” the doctor explained.

Michael couldn’t think anything. He knew his mother, but he couldn’t understand why she made such a hurting decision, why she didn’t want Michael to know about her condition. He couldn’t figure out if it was actually the truth, or if he was still dreaming in his room. He felt like he was accidentally imagining playing a part in a sinister story. He waited to again smell the aroma of noodles so that he could wake up, wake up into reality, the reality where nothing had happened, where his mother hadn’t died, no one had died, no one wore masks, where there was no pandemic. He squeezed his chest, wanting his heart to end his imagination, to teleport him back. But all went in vain.

Emma understood the sadness and grief Michael had felt. She knew that Michael had lost his family. His mother was his family. She was his whole world, now far away from him. He had no one else whom he could call his loved one.

From leaving the hospital that day to the day he cremated her, Michael waited for that one moment, when his mind would stop playing tricks on him; when he would find out that nothing was real.

It wasn’t until three weeks had passed, that he slowly began realising and accepting the truth. He didn’t want to be back in his apartment, neither did he want to be in the city, nor in the country, nor on the planet anymore; the planet where people wore masks, the masks which now reminded him only the death of his loved one.

Earth, which used to be a beautiful place, had been inevitably transmogrified into the abode of a virus, which had stolen all its beauty and locked it deep in another dimension, rendering recovery impossible. Michael found that Earth as much abhorrent, as it had been attractive at first. It bore no significance for him, he was born and brought up there, and that was it.

The very next day Michael boarded his spacecraft, alone. He had got his vacation terminated, for there was no way he could stay any longer on that planet.

He didn’t think about his mother being far away from him, for she was never going to be away from him. He had the golden memories of their time spent together, enshrined in his heart, and she was alive and close to him in those memories. Her soothing voice reverberated all around him whenever he thought of her.

He was glad he didn’t see his mother in a mask. Her unmasked face wearing that enchanting smile was the only reason for Michael to smile, to feel happy and grateful for life.

As his spacecraft ascended, as he saw that Earth being left behind, he remembered the day six months ago, when he was leaving Mars and heading towards Earth. Even now, he was leaving Mars and heading towards Earth, the difference being that Earth was now Mars and Mars was Earth. He was heading towards his new home, far away.