Gastro. Its insidious presence has infiltrated our house and if there were ever I time I wished I could yell ‘cut’ and go to the next scene, today would be it.

Boatloads of washing, frantic spraying of disinfectant over ever possible surface, springing to life at every moan and holding buckets ready, holding the fort when your husband goes down and continues being sick every hour until 10am.

At this stage I’m feeling very thankful that it hasn’t touched me, but a film comes over our house – a shroud of invisible germs that are waiting to ensnare hapless victims should I falter in my duty as cleanliness protector. I lunge for Hudson with ‘quick soap’ if he puts his hands anywhere near his mouth, dive for drink bottles before they are thoughtlessly shared, uselessly instruct kids not to touch each other.

I know this won’t last forever and we will be back to the land of the living again. In the meantime, we are playing each moment by ear, watching lots of shows and devouring the activity bag kindly dropped off by my mother-in-law. One long moment at a time.

This post is part of the #Write31Days challenge that I’m participating in along with a talented community of other writers. We free write for five minutes (or more) guided by a prompt. Today’s prompt is ‘cut’. 

For more information on 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes, check out Christina Hubbard’s site!