Love in the Time of H1N1

On the third day of my quarantine, my husband returns home from office rather early.

Standing at the door, he sees me in tears as I sit, fully blanketed, watching the news.

Kenapa, sayang?

Seeing him coming, I hurriedly put on the face mask, and move to one end of the sofa.

He sits down, and sees that I have been watching the coverage on H1N1's death toll.

Abang.

He turns around.

I'm scared.

He looks at me quietly with longing eyes, and then extends his hand with a warm smile.

Come here, he says. All you need is hugs and kisses.

But abang - nanti you pun kena!

I don't care, he says, pulling me closer. I miss you, and holds me in his arms.

He pulls down the mask, and kisses me on the lips, full with lover's spit.

He wipes the tears off my cheek, and whispers, Let's fall sick together.

Author's notes: I was in my car, warming up the engine, coming home from a technical course - when I saw a young couple, barely in their twenties, walking down the street and holding each other's hands. They were both wearing face masks. They stopped and stood on the curb to cross the street, when the girl leaned over and in a spontaneous romantic gesture, gave the young man a quick peck on his cheek through the fabric of the face masks. The young man turned towards her, pulled down his mask, pulled down her mask, and kissed her proper on the lips. Gentle, quick, discreet, but passionate. As they both crossed the street, running hand in hand, the girl had a big glowing smile across her face.

After I saw this scene unfolding before me, my heart immediately felt like exploding. As I drove home, all I could think of was, I need to write this down before I lose it. This flood of emotions, I can't lose it.