Memorial Day was quieter this year than usual, due to the pandemic still going on. Even with some states reopening their businesses, officials were still urging people to stay cautious and maintain social distancing. Sadly, some people refused to listen and there were already beaches crowded with people. But then, on a hot Memorial Day, going for a swim was too hard to resist.
Which is why there was a party being thrown at the Lover's Woods campgrounds for the juniors and graduating seniors of WSA today. The campgrounds were open enough that the students can have enough free space as well as keep talking with others. While there were no official cases of the corona virus in Lyre yet, nor of any Animalian catching the virus, people still didn't want to take chances. Especially since evidence suggest that while Animalians were more resistant to the virus, they weren't outright immune to it. Though it seemed most likely that Animalians would suffer few symptoms themselves but they could still get other people sick.
Anyways, there were precautions at the party asides from keeping a healthy distance from each other. The human students were all wearing face masks and quite a few of the Animalian students were also doing that. There was also a limit to how many people can be at the snack tables at a time. There was certainly a lot of food, mostly barbecued meats and vegetarian options. Probably the most visited table was the dessert table, which had carob-based cookies and cake.
Simon and Malice were helping themselves to some of that cake. "So, is this what chocolate was like for you?" asked Malice.
"Well, it's a bit different from what I remember, but it's really close," said Simon, "I just wish they made donuts of these. I remember wanting chocolate donuts after I converted."
"You would have thought they'd have gotten more into this carob stuff earlier," said Malice, "I mean, they've made good Animalian-based sweets and desserts before, but this has so much potential."
"I sure hope Abby's parents decide to grow some carob trees on their land," said Simon, "Say, where is Abby, anyways?"
"Oh, she and Samson are over by the lake," said Malice.
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On a hot day like today, swimming had an irresistible allure. Public swimming pools were still out because of public health, but there were less restrictions on the lake. It may not be as clear as a pool, but it was enough for people who wanted to swim. Plenty of the students had brought swimming suits so they can get in the water, Abby and Samson among them.
"You know, this wasn't how I imagined my senior year ending," said Abby as she and Samson rested on a raft.
"You mean with you being a horse woman and being mated with me?" asked Samson teasingly.
"Well besides that," said Abby, "Seriously though, I had expected something very different, at the start of the school year."
"And I bet the pandemic put a damper on that," said Samson.
"To put it lightly," said Abby, "I was hoping that when we'd graduate, it would be a big thing. And then we'd spend the first few weeks of summer on Animalia's cruise ship. We'd have been back before the convention started."
"I'm wondering how the Animalian games will be done next year, considering that's when they'll be doing the postponed Olympics," said Samson.
"I guess they'll be postpone to the year after," said Abby, "This stupid outbreak messes up a lot of things."
"But at least we still have each other," said Samson, squeezing Abby's hand.
"I know," said Abby, "But being stuck on the farm is going to make me more restless."
"Well, there's still graduation," said Samson.
"I just hope it tries to be close to what I imagine it to be like," said Abby, "It's bad enough to miss prom."
"But we'll have the Gala later this year," said Samson.
"It better be an Autumn Gala instead of a Winter Gala," grumbled Abby.