I carry a few essential things.
I carry a face mask and vial of hand sanitizer. This is due to Covid-19, prevalent in our world and infecting and killing millions. I carry these for safety, or the feeling of safety, for it may be that such items do not protect me enough. I also carry my fear of Covid-19, represented by my face mask and hand sanitizer and my cautious steps and manners. I will carry these items until the eradication of the virus, and perhaps a little after that, for I am and will continue to be scared of death and I do not want to take any chances.
I carry with me my clothing, for I need warmth and dignity and privacy, and because clothing is a requirement of society, a result of evolution. As it is necessary, I will carry clothing for my whole life. I carry with me my body, a large, heavy thing, necessary to perform any task. I carry it because this is what I should do, and thus I do it. I will carry my body until I die. I carry my glasses with me. I am nearsighted and farsighted in my left and right eyes, and I must wear glasses to regain my former powers of sight. I will carry my glasses until my eyesight is cured, if that ever comes to pass.
I used to carry paper and a pencil. I had carried these things because I was too lazy to tuck them away neatly into folders and binders, and in case I need to write things down. However, as no such occasion presented itself and upon parental nagging, I stopped carrying such things.
I used to carry candy, for I love it and the flowing of sweet exotic flavors of tropical fruit and rare flowers, chemically approximated as they may be, through my mouth. I still do. However, I stopped carrying after my parents excoriated me for doing so, backing up their statements with numerous studies which I did not understand but accepted all the same.
I carry thoughts and emotions, the most eternal and existent of which are fear of death, joy in small pleasures like food, sports, and little successes resulting from hard work, and ambition for money, power, and legacy. I carry these emotions because they are proof that I can feel, and feeling things and thinking things are good and numbness and unconsciousness is bad. I cannot rid thoughts from my mind, though I have tried. Nothing will make me stop carrying these thoughts and emotions except perhaps sheer force from some divine force up high.
These are the things I carry.
Leo F. is a Grade 7 student in Xiaoyu Huang’s Virtual English Seminar.