Break Free (Planet Lockdown) Let's take a journey to Planet Lockdown on The Ella Express... A week ago I went to a restaurant for the first time in 5 months! Normally before lockdown I would say to my friends, "I went out to a restaurant last night," and they would say sarcastically, "Wow, amazing". Now if I told them they would scream, "WOW, YOU ARE SOOOOO LUCKY!!". We were supposed to be going on a big holiday, leaving on my Dad's 50th birthday, 31st March 2020. We had Interrail tickets to travel across Europe for a month. We knew that this was going to be a birthday that he would definitely remember. When we had to cancel, a part of me felt less disappointed than I should because I was then able to do my Grade 2 Ballet exam, which had been programmed for the same day. It wasn't that I was not excited, it was just that I wanted to do both. But then that got cancelled too. Everything started to fall apart, especially as my Grandpa had just died. The Eiffel Tower, Spanish churros and ballet will have to wait, as will giving Grandpa a special send off when we scatter his ashes in his home country of India. Before lockdown we all had very busy lives carefully coordinated together to let me do all of my after-school activities. At the beginning of lockdown we tried making a set plan, but it didn't seem to work. Now EVERY morning I have to listen to my Dad saying, "What's the plan?". It's SOOOO annoying! Before lockdown I would go out to the shops about three times a week, but during lockdown I could only get food once per week by delivery. I couldn't walk down the aisles anymore, I couldn't go to school anymore, I couldn't see my friends anymore, I COULDN'T BREAK FREE ANYMORE! Noisy classroom vs quiet office. Live snappy teacher vs annoying Mum. Being in a shabby school vs boring home. Noisy disruptive classroom vs mouse-quiet desk. Playtime and running around with friends vs board (bored) games with Mum. Before this period I hadn't ever heard of the app Zoom. Now I use it all the time. I think that over lockdown people have learned how to use the internet more. I have learned loads of keyboard shortcuts, learned how to touch type and taught my Gran how to position her camera in a way that I can actually see her face rather than her ceiling (at least I tried!). Before lockdown I would spend half to one hour online, but now as a result of everything being online it could be up to four hours. Over lockdown I have started and completed some things that I have meant to do for a very long time. I have redecorated my old yellow nursery bedroom and made it pretty with a new colour scheme and different decorations. I have painted canvases that I was given as presents over the last year ready to put on my duck egg blue walls. Our messy tangled garden became more important to us as a family. We each wanted something different out of it; my Dad wanted to grow food, my Mum wanted some space to practise yoga and I just wanted a trampoline and a space to play. I would normally go to London (I live in Scotland) to see family during the holidays, but this year I couldn't go. I would normally do a dance course while my Mum would do some yoga, but we obviously couldn't do that. The dance school that I would normally go to went online and my Mum's favourite yoga classes went online too, so every Saturday morning I would do a dramatic dance class and she would do a Jivamukti Yoga class. Then my dance classes came to an end, so we looked up something else to do and we found Pineapple Performing Arts. Now Mum does her Jivamukti Yoga class on a Saturday and I do my dramatic dance class on a Sunday. It's like we go to London every weekend! You have now reached your final destination. Planet lockdown has brought highs and lows. Although I mostly liked spending time with my family, I want to go back to the normal life of school, friendship and dance. I am ready to break free!