THE MASK

THE MASK

    Morning dawned bleak and overcast with a cold seemingly incessant drizzle. Randolph (his friends called him Rand) rose when his alarm clock rang at exactly 6:30 AM, just as it did every day except Sunday, for the past twenty-two years of his utterly dull life. He showered, shaved, flossed and brushed his teeth, then put on his uniform (he was a long-time employee of the chi-chi restaurant, La Tomaine). He then proceeded into the kitchen to prepare the same meal he had eaten for those same twenty-two years: bacon (extra crispy) and eggs (over easy), two pieces of whole wheat toast with elderberry jam and black coffee.

    When it came time to leave for work, he could not find his face mask. There was a pandemic and he would not leave the house without it. It was gone! Oh well, he figured he’d pick up another on his way to work. He stepped outside. Before he got into his car, he noticed something eerily strange. He quickly realized what it was. His face mask had left the house without his face behind it! 

   How could this possibly be? It defied every physical law imaginable. Then he noticed that there were many more masks of different colors and designs, and they were all floating down the street also without faces! What was going on? Others came out of their homes and were also totally confused. Rand’s experience was echoed by the other men he talked to – at a respectful distance, of course.

    Then, they all saw it, a huge formation of faceless face masks, looking a lot like a big flock of ducks, heading east toward Washington, D.C.!

By the time this formation of masks hit Washington, their number had increased to well over 200,000 masks! The masks gently descended, landing on the west lawn of the white house.

    There they stayed. Masks were added one or two at a time exactly mimicking the number of Covi-19 deaths in the U.S.!