They said it so often during those horrible times. 'Hero' they would say, all smiles and joy. I saw it on the news, in online articles, heard it on the lips of every radio DJ.

Yet I never believed a word of it. I just suited up, put on the mask, and braved the dangers every day.

I was threatened. Villains who were convinced of their righteousness, willing to go to any length to get their way, cost to those around them be damned.

Many others tried to fight this battle. So often they fell victim, always calling on the chosen one, as they called me. I was just the one who answered the phone. Id come back to the battle again, tired and scarred from my own bouts against this scourge.

"No. Im staying home. Get someone else to cover your 'essential worker' cashiering job tonight. You didnt even pay for our sick time, none of you managers were willing to step up when I got sick. Fight your own damn battles this time. Im going back to bed."

I would hear about the 'devastation' for weeks, how a manager who pushed every possible barrier to make me work alone overnight at a gas station had to cover a workers shift for the first time in years. Threats to my hours would soon follow. Yet I did not care.

They forced me to treat my job like my world, and I the hero who had to save it every day from COVID. The bad guys won. Im tired.

Let my world burn.