Critical Exponent

Staring into the distance, she slowly chews her food. Lost in thought, like she can't be bothered with the here and now. Someone walks in; her eyes dart and fixate, silent. She swallows, and opens her mouth distractedly when fed another forkful. I wipe her chin yet again.

In another solution to the equations that define the universe, President Clinton addressed the nation in a somber tone as she grieved the lives lost in the journey to today's announcement that infections were now at a manageable-enough rate to declare the pandemic under control. A semblance of normalcy on the horizon! While there was still discomfort at the draconian extent of the isolation measures that had been enacted, most agreed these had prevented an unfathomable disaster.