The apartment was quieter than it had ever been. Lila sat in the corner of the living room, her laptop open in front of her, but she couldn’t focus on the Zoom call. Her mind wandered as her 10-year-old son, Tommy, bounced a ball against the wall for the hundredth time today. Her husband, Ryan, was pacing back and forth in the kitchen, talking on the phone with someone at work about the latest developments. The entire world seemed to be on fire, and their small apartment had become a little island, still and full of tension.

"Can you stop?" Lila called to Tommy, her voice tight with exhaustion. She hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in weeks. Every day felt like it blended into the next, the line between work and home long erased.

Tommy stopped the ball and sat down on the couch, but his restless energy was palpable. "Sorry, Mom. I just... I don’t know what to do. I’m bored."

“I know,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “We’re all stuck in this mess together.”

Ryan’s voice from the kitchen softened as he spoke to his boss, but Lila could hear the strain in his tone. He had been working from home since March, juggling conference calls, dealing with layoffs, and fighting the increasing pressure of keeping everything afloat. He’d gained weight, his shirts no longer fit, and he wasn’t as quick to crack a joke anymore. She missed the carefree man she married.

The clock on the wall ticked loudly, filling the space between them with the absence of normal life.

Lila’s screen flashed as her colleague asked a question. “Lila? You’re on mute.”

She blinked, pulled back into the moment. “Sorry, just... zoning out a bit.”

As she answered, she noticed Ryan, standing by the window, gazing out into the streets below. The world was quieter now, emptier. A world of isolation where neighbors no longer waved from across the street, and stores that once hummed with life were now shuttered behind empty windows.

She missed being outside, missed the touch of human connection, the simple pleasure of meeting a friend for coffee, or catching up with a neighbor while walking the dog. But the world had changed, and so had their lives.

Ryan hung up, slumping into the chair across from her. His eyes were tired, too, his shoulders heavy with the weight of an invisible burden. "I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up, Lila. The office is talking about more layoffs. People are quitting... hell, some are getting sick." He ran his hands over his face, the lines of worry deeper than before. "And then there’s you... you’re juggling a full-time job, being a mom, and keeping this family afloat. I can’t even imagine what that’s like for you."

Lila smiled weakly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I don’t know how much longer I can do it either. Every day feels like I’m drowning in this... routine. I try to keep it together for Tommy, for you, but it’s like I’m losing myself.”

Ryan was silent for a long moment, and Tommy, sensing the heaviness, crept over and sat down beside Lila. “Mom, you know... you could take a break, right?” Tommy said quietly, his face full of concern. “You don’t have to work all the time. You’re always on the phone or at the computer.”

Lila looked at her son, then at Ryan, and the tears that had been building for weeks finally spilled over. She had kept it together for so long, but now it all felt too much—the fear of the virus, the isolation, the constant pressure to be productive, to be perfect, to be present. But in that moment, surrounded by her family, she realized something: they were all in this together. No one was okay, but that was okay.

“I don’t know how we’re going to make it through this, but we will,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Together.”

Ryan reached out, pulling her into his arms, and Tommy snuggled up next to them both. The world outside still seemed uncertain, but in the warmth of their little corner, there was solace. They didn’t have all the answers, but at least, for now, they had each other.