IanG

If you broke it up into paragraphs it would be easier to follow. Some sentences, such as the final one, could be broken down into shorter ones. That said, formatting can be lost when publishing a story online. It happened to the latest one I published here, but I've edited and corrected that now.

The opening is good. Perhaps you could spend a little more time building suspense. The man could hear birdsong at the start but then it stops and he wonders why. Alternatively he could think that normally there are sheep where he's walking, but today there are none. He might find a dead sheep but assume a fox or a stray dog of flesh and blood killed it.

I hope this proves helpful.

I think Holmes would be assessing the potential spy in more detail. What about this for an inner monalogue.
I did not stare back as I wanted him to think I had not noticed him. Instead I looked out across the street several times, but never for long and always pretending something or someone else had caught my attention. How I hoped that he would move and give something about himself away. If he moved with the ease of a younger man that would indicate a disguise. Perhaps some other clue would emerge. To my frustration he did nothing that might give anything away.

Interesting account of how people view animals in different ways. We often impose our prejudices on many species, but we're not always right and it won't change the creatures in question. Both rats and snakes do what they must to survive in what can be harsh environments.

You're drawing readers in by describing their sadness but not yet explaining the reason for it. With 'Anyway Back' there should be a lower case 'b' in 'back,' but more practice should fix issues like that.

If Cal tries to stand up to his mother but she won't stop objecting, that would be more plausible than if he gives in immediately. It creates a bit more tension too.

Credit where its due, you've improved the story since you put an earlier version of it online.

If we all got upset every time something bad happened in the world, we would loose our sanity. You're not a bad person if you can't tackle every issue. Dealing with the present lockdown is a new experience even for adults. Is it any wonder a lot of people find it hard to handle. Don't break the law, this lockdown won't last forever, it can't or economies all over the world will crumble. Surely no government run by sentinent adults will allow that.

I hope things improve for you soon.

If social media had existed back then, Jesus and the Apostles probably would've used it. So too would Socrates, the Buddha and Confucius had it been available to them. People wrote propaganda and biased accounts long before the first computer or the first smartphone.