Life Abridged

The Peters family was a typical middle-class working family, with normal dreams and achievable aspirations. But the new pandemic had terrorized millions of families and had plagued itself into this one as well.

Greg Peters was an electrician and had been since he had graduated high school. He was an average height with wavy blonde hair and always carried a pen with him on the collar of his shirt, which came in handy because he was often forgetful or had to jot down notes for work.

Greg had met Meaghan their freshman year in high school where they first sat together in their English class and became inseparable after that. They would be the first to volunteer to read excerpts from Romeo and Juliet, and were not shy about acting out the parts.

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art though Romeo?” Meaghan acted out. Laying her cheek upon her hand with her straight brown hair elegantly falling alongside her face, looking at Greg, who could do nothing but smile and wait anxiously for his line. Greg hadn’t officially asked Meaghan out on a proper date yet and felt that he had to wait for the most opportune time. That time came when they had to recite their favorite poem individually in front of the class, and he knew exactly what he was going to read.

“And what are you going to be reading for us today, Gregory?” Mr. Perez asked while Greg made his way to the front of the classroom. “I’ll be reading a favorite from Edgar Allen Poe.” He said while smiling at Meaghan.

“It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea, that a maiden there lived whom you may know by the name of Annabel Lee,” Greg recited as he lifted his hand towards Meaghan. “And this maiden, she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by me.” He continued as he walked towards her, “I was a child and she was a child, in this kingdom by the sea.” Greg stopped at her desk where he got down on one knee. “But we loved with a love that was more than love – I and my Annabel Lee.” Greg then placed a note in her hand and waited for her to open it.

Meaghan opened the note and it read: “Will you go on a date with me?”

She couldn’t help but to throw herself towards Greg and wrapped her arms around him.

After finishing high school, Meaghan enrolled into the local University where she majored in English Literature, in hopes of becoming a high school teacher. By the time she graduated, Greg had already finished his trade school program where he was working to complete his apprenticeship as an electrician. Two years after they both settled into their careers, they decided to bring in little Bryan into their family.

Bryan was named after Meaghan’s father, Bryan Matthews, whom they both admired and had passed away from a stroke a year earlier. Greg had always enjoyed going over to visit Meaghan’s parents. Her mom, Christie, would take Meaghan into the kitchen to help peel potatoes for the salad while Bryan took Greg outside and showed him the secrets to a good barbecue.

“You always wanna choose the right type of wood, depending on what you’re cooking,” he would tell Greg. “With pork, we’re gonna start with some apple wood and throw in a little cherry at the end to give it a nice kick of flavor.” Greg always hoped little Bryan would inherit his grandfather’s natural smarts.

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Already seven months into the pandemic, businesses were slowly beginning to open back up, only letting in a few customers a time. Greg was taking Bryan to get a new computer for school. He was starting his senior year and it seemed like this last one would be entirely online.

“You doing ok?” Greg asked, noticing Bryan’s sad gaze looking out of the window.

“Not yet.” He said while wiping away a lonely tear. “I just miss mom so much.”

Meaghan had passed away from the new virus two months after it started. One of the teachers had went out of the country on a vacation and went back to work at the school while he was sick, thinking it was just a cough. Meaghan was not allowed to have a proper funeral service with all her loved ones there. The wake had consisted of only Greg and Bryan, each having their moment to say goodbye.

Looking down at her casket, Greg could not help but think of the lines from the poem:

“And neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.”

On the drive home after picking up the computer, Greg asked Bryan if he wanted to stop and pick up some food on the way home. More restaurants were opening back up and it had been a while since they have had some good quality restaurant food, even if it were to take back home.

“Yeah, a steak sounds pretty good right now,” Bryan said while reading the box of his new laptop.

They both walked inside to order at the front counter and sat down in the waiting area, noticing the new barriers the restaurant had put up between all the booths and closing off every other one. Soon after, a man walked in and not wearing a mask.

“I’m sorry sir, but you have to wear a mask in the public areas,” the hostess explained. The man began to argue with her until the manager came walking by. Greg and Bryan kept to themselves and waited for their food and for the issue to be resolved.

“I’m not wearing a stupid mask!” The man shouted out and then pulled out a gun.

Greg grabbed Bryan by the arm and ran to get cover by the bar area. The manager tried to stop the man and had jumped to tackle him. They both fell to the ground where the gun went off.

Greg tried to shield Bryan, but then had felt his entire weight drop against him.

“No!” He shouted. Greg inspected Bryan all over, trying to see where he had been shot. The bullet had made its way into the right side of his abdomen.

Bryan was taken to the hospital and immediately taken into surgery.

The doctor finally came to see Greg in the waiting room after waiting for what felt like an eternity.

“Is he going to make it?” Greg asked, with every part of him shaking.

“He’s going to make it, but he’s going to have to stay in the ICU for a few days. The bullet had hit his liver and we managed to stop the bleeding, but he has to be monitored for at least four or five days.”

Greg couldn’t help but to let out tears of relief and sunk into the waiting room chair. He was only allowed to see Bryan for a few minutes in the ICU where Bryan was under anesthesia and had tubes coming out of his mouth. Greg had given him one last big hug before he had to leave.

The drive home was unbearable. Greg already had to live knowing that Meaghan was gone and couldn’t help but breaking down knowing that Bryan had almost suffered the same fate. Suffering in silence is what it seemed like all he could do. He enjoyed the fact that the family had an open and honest line of communication and could talk about anything. Bryan loved hearing the love story of his mom and dad in their high school days and had hoped he could do the same whenever he wanted to ask a girl out.

The gas light had interrupted Greg’s thoughts. He pulled over to a gas station nearby and let out a sigh to collect himself before having to go inside. Greg pulled out his wallet to see if he had any spare cash so he didn’t have to use his card. Ever since Meaghan’s death, the cost of her hospital bill and the funeral and burial had run into their savings.

In the store, Greg had gone to grab a cup of coffee to help clear his mind. While pouring the coffee, he noticed a black notebook for sale alongside a few other office supplies. After staring at it and getting lost in thought, he picked it up and placed it on the counter next to his coffee.

Greg dropped on the couch after surviving the trip home.

“He’s going to be OK. He’s going to be OK.” Greg kept saying to himself, trying to remember what the doctor said. His ICU nurse said Greg would be able to return in four days, where they are hoping to take him out of anesthesia and wake him up. Greg then looked at the notebook he had placed on the kitchen table and got up and went to write.

Two days later, Greg had got back home from work. An office space had lost their power due to outdated wiring. Greg surely didn’t mind, as it made for work for him and gave him another chance to catch up on the bills and couldn’t even imagine the next one coming his way after Bryan was let out.

Greg dropped himself onto the couch as soon as he got home, grabbed the notebook off of the coffee table and began to write again. After a few minutes of writing, Greg decided to go check the mail since it had been a while since he last checked. Their mailbox was in a cluster mailbox that was a few houses down, so he took his notebook with him so he can walk and read through it.

Opening the mailbox, his neighbor, Jesse, was returning from the grocery store and pulled up near the mailbox and rolled down his window.

“Hey, bud. Is Bryan doing OK?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, he’s doing fine. Should be home in a day or two.” Greg said, trying to keep his composure.

“That’s great! Let me know if you guys ever need anything!” Jesse waved and then pulled into his driveway. Jesse got out of his car and walked to the back seat to grab his groceries. After filling up his arms with bags, he turned around and noticed Greg laying on the sidewalk in front of the mailbox.

“Greg!” He shouted, dropping his bags and running towards him.

The ambulance brought him to the ER, where Greg regained consciousness for a short while. He saw the same doctor that came to see him after Bryans surgery, and handed him the black notebook. Greg had tested positive for the virus where it had rapidly made its way through him.

Greg died soon after.

The doctor took the notebook to his desk and flipped through it, seeing stories about Greg and Meaghan, and then went to the last page:

Hey Bryan,

Your nurse said you should be out of the hospital in a day or two. Maybe we can just cook at home this time. I’ve been trying to keep myself busy with work. I’m almost done catching up on the bills and even made one of those cool GoFundUs pages to help out, but you can just worry about getting better and resting a lot when you get home. Just know that I love you so much, and I look forward to sharing more stories about me and your mom. I’ve been writing it all down for you.

-Love,

Dad

The doctor looked up Greg’s GoFundUs and sent an email to his colleagues, sharing his story with everyone. It didn’t take long to reach the $20,000 goal. The doctor then took the notebook to Bryan’s room where he had just woken up.

“Hey doc,” Bryan said, “Is my dad here?”