A mother untapes her daughter’s rainbow drawing from their upstairs window. She places it into a box in the loft, among old birthday cards and school paintings. She hopes her daughter might discover it years later and, even if she has no memory of making it, feel touched that it had been kept for so long.
A florist opens the doors of her shop to the day’s customers. She passes through her flowers, yearning to unwrap her face scarf and inhale the aromas. She knows she must resist, but their closeness is so cruel.
On a nightshift, a supermarket worker unpeels arrows from the aisle floors, grateful he will no longer have to wipe down the trolleys with antiseptic wash or work behind a mask.
A breakfast television presenter sits beside her co-host on the studio sofa. She’d forgotten what he smells like, and misses having her own space.
The town of Barnard Castle experiences a short-lived surge in visitor numbers.
NHS workers hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for an end to their pay freeze. The proposition is put before parliament, and voted down.
A man walking along the beach bumps into an old friend he hasn’t seen since their schooldays. He asks after the man’s health, his work, and suggests going for a drink to catch up properly. They depart with a hug and the man continues his stroll beside the sea.
Graduate scheme applicants are asked to describe any skills they developed during lockdown that could set them apart from the competition.
Families from across the globe gather for the wedding of a couple who met on a Zoom call.
A woman goes to a nightclub. Pressed in among bodies that feel so much younger than she does, she has a single drink and goes home.
An actor is exposed for his collection of rare and exotic pets. Demand for such creatures has boomed, despite the global ban on wildlife trade, for those who can afford the prices.
Stars and bands of the twenties reunite for a festival to raise money for developing nations still suffering the aftereffects of that era.
Reports of a novel flu emerging in Hong Kong spark headlines, but it’s soon forgotten with the announcement of a new royal baby.
Researchers conclude their study on the cohort conceived in 2020. The findings are inconclusive.
A young boy and his mother pass elderly gentlemen shaking hands. ‘Why are they doing that?’ he asks.
A curator assembles an art exhibition reflecting on the pandemic. Works include a recreation of a studio apartment in lockdown, Damien Hirst’s butterfly rainbow, a ventilator running twenty-four hours a day, and a wall of medical facemasks. Visitors are instructed to keep two metres apart while exploring the gallery, which they regard as a novelty.
Friends in a nursing home reminisce about the spring they could hear the birds, when they noticed the bloom and wane of daffodils, primrose, tulips and daisies, saw the trees blossom and new leaves begin to shoot.
‘And Then’ was written for Hammond Houses’s Staying Home competition in 2020, where it received a high commendation.