I keep my phone on a table and go to the kitchen. I decide to make a cup of coffee and when it is done, I take it one hand and move to the front door to pick the newspaper. I take it in another hand and walk to the living room. I sit on the sofa and then take a sip of coffee. I open the paper and start reading it. There is nothing new that had happened and I start turning over the pages... I reach the international column and read the headlines. It said, “China started this bio war in the name of CORONA virus before 60 years- says America’s president.”

This is a shocking statement. Not because America has accused China but it says it had started back sixty years. Suddenly my hands start shivering, and it becomes a little pale. My hands shrink and get covered with wrinkles. I drop the paper and see my hands. My whole body feels weak and I get engulfed in fear. I quickly stand and run to my room and see the mirror. I see an old lady in it. She has got grey hair and a pale face. She stands slightly bent and her hands are shivering and so are mine. I look at my hands and look in the mirror. I lift my right hand and so does the reflection. It is me. I am that grey-haired granny in the mirror. I touch my face and those lines on my forehead. There is a beep sound on my phone and that is a message from my friend. “Hey! Happy 80 my old lady! You made it one more year! XD. See you soon...:p” 

Tears started rolling down my face in happiness. Today, I am at my happy eighty’s and when I look back at my younger days when I used to have so much fun with my friends, I really miss them. But to be honest, life in grey shades is also interesting, because we still have fun chasing each other in ‘wheelchairs and canes in our hands’.

- Abhinandana R

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