2020-2021, Abdullah at the start of the year was still in third class.
School was predictable. He would go in, listen to the teacher, and do his work. At yard time he hung out with Tomek and John, playing all kinds of games. He loved it. Life was fun.
Their class had a new section of the yard, and Abdullah could see all the younger lads—the second-class kids. Looking at them, he wondered, "Were we that small? They look tiny." But they still weren't the top dogs in the school. Abdullah wondered what it would feel like when they finally reached sixth class.
The year was going by quite fast.
Eventually, things started to change.
The news began talking about a virus outbreak in China. Teachers started doing annoying little things. Abdullah thought to himself, "Why do we need to use hand sanitiser all the time? It smells so bad."
Teachers talked more about hygiene and washing your hands.
February came, and it was Tomek's birthday party. Abdullah went with John. Tomek brought some other friends too people Abdullah didn't really know. There were five kids at the party but only four controllers. They played games, but Abdullah had to take turns with some other kid.
"When's my turn going to come? I really want to play," he thought.
But when his turn finally came "This game is boring." He thought
So, Abdullah just looked around the room instead.
"Tomek's room is so cool," he thought.
There were posters from a show, lightsabres, fake guns, swords, a plastic axe. Two slingshots. A desk with a lamp. A closet. A bunch of magnets, toys, LEGO, slime. It was full of fun things.
I wish I had a room like this, Abdullah thought.
His own room just had a bed.
Still, he enjoyed the day. They ate good food, they played, and he liked simply being there with his friends.
But eventually, everything changed.
Abdullah didn't know it. None of them did.
March came, and the pandemic hit badly.
The school told them they'd be off for two weeks. Everyone was happy two weeks of lazing around or playing games at home.
But the kids didn't know those two weeks would turn into months.
At first, Abdullah didn't mind. He didn't go out much anyway. He spent his days watching things all day long until eventually he felt like he was going crazy from 16+ hours of screen time.
He missed being outside with Tomek and John. Looking out into the empty streets not a soul in sight.
And the Zoom calls… they were completely useless for Abdullah.
He was half asleep, not paying attention, learning nothing. Homework piled up because he never did it.
Every day he would try to get himself to do it saying he would do it tomorrow but tomorrow never came.
So, he spent more time with his family they were his only company.
He and Ali would play fight constantly, wrestling, pillow fights, anything to pass the time. Once, Abdullah even got his tooth punched out by Ali.
"Ow, what the hell?" Abdullah shouted.
"Oh shit, are you okay?" Ali panicked.
"No, I'm bleeding!"
The tooth was already loose, and an "accidental" uppercut knocked it clean out.
Other times they played rock-paper-scissors, hide-and-seek in the dark, or random games with their sisters.
Often they tried to teach Aaliyah to ask their mother for things like chicken nuggets because they knew their mother was more likely to say yes if Aaliyah asked.
Other times, the boys would play with Zara, grabbing her hand and punching themselves with it like she was super strong. Zara loved it, laughing and giggling. They picked her up like a rocket ship, jumped around with her, giving her own amusement park rides.
So, the lockdown wasn't all bad.
Eventually, time moved on, and Abdullah's family got a call from back home.
They found out his younger aunt, Amara, was getting married in a few months. Which meant that by the end of the year, Abdullah would finally be in his homeland again—for the first time in ages.
But there was a slight issue Ali needed his visa for them all to go.
Right now, though, none of that mattered to Abdullah.
He was just excited to finally go
Home…