Plague

fictionspawn Aak, ,

Pesta

Her name was Plague. Pesta. She hadn’t been around for quite a while. Well, a bit there, a bit here, but no. Not like before. After the Black Death she needed to rest for a while. But it had been fun. Oh, yes.

She was getting bored lately though. She grabbed her rake and broom and went out.

Humans had been fighting disease quite hard the last centuries. Medicine. How naive they were, thinking they could stop her. Sure, they could slow her down a bit, but she stopped when she wanted to. Though antibiotics had been holding her back for quite a while now, her days seemed to be back. Evolution wasn’t always a bad thing. Their immune system was a hard enemy, but medicine was her best ally in that aspect.

Fourteenth century Europe had been a blast. Scandinavia. Ah, what an easy target. People didn’t even wash. She remembered it like yesterday. The fear. The suffering. It had been wonderful. Decades of going around, emptying villages and farms. Letting some poor souls live here and there, just to make it all interesting. But things had changed. Not that she wasn’t going there, but it wasn’t really the best area to start. Africa. Africa was her continent these days. No medicine, and the rest of the planet didn’t seem to care.

She found a nice little village. This seems like a nice place to warm up. She took her broom and swiped the village clean. Moved on to the next one. Then another. Then she moved into town. In town she used her rake, letting some live. She spread better that way.

For fifty years she roamed the earth. This was even better than the middle ages. So easy to move around. The poor humans tried everything. Quarantines. Travel bans. All kinds of chemicals. They called her antibiotic resistant plague bacteria. How little did they know about the real world. About the Eternals.

One day Death sat down on a rock. He had been traveling around with her all the way. He always was.

You had your fun now, he said. I’m exhausted. We’ve wiped out than half the planet’s population. At least. Probably a lot more. Not that that’s a bad thing, but still, quite a take.

What about him? She said, looking over at Hunger.

I’ll speak to him, said Death. You’re the one who started it. He won’t stop until you do.

Whatever you say, cousin, she replied. I don’t know why War bailed out on us so soon, though.

I guess it’s just not time, said Death and glared at Fate. She was sitting on her throne. Her face showed nothing but total control. It never did.

Don’t worry, he said thoughtful. Time will come.

https://mythsandmicrobes.com/2016/09/29/pesta-the-personification-of-the-black-plague-in-norway/

http://sandman.wikia.com/wiki/The_Endless

Hate

 

Published by fictionspawn Aak

Norwegian trilingual writer and illustrator. Contact information in my Gallery.

42 Comments

    1. Just following their nature, I guess. Fate seems to be the one who decides in the end. The characters are inspired by the ones in the links, first of all the personalization of the black plague in Norwegian folklore Pesta, and secondly The Endless from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman universe. The four horsemen of the acopalypse were also on my mind. Thank you for reading!

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  3. Reminded me somewhat of Piers Anthony’s series “Incarnations of Immortality” series which began with the novel “On a Pale Horse.” If you haven’t read them, you might want to.

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  4. I went to the first link; from there on to additional links.
    I did find that all informative. [Didn’t know what to make of the other one.
    That’s not to be negative about it, I’m not a major fan of fiction (in written form).]

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    1. The other one is about a series of graphic novels, called Sandman by Neil Gaiman. I linked it because the idea of a “family” of personifications of phenomenas came from there. I’m happy you liked the first one:) The illustrator Theodor Kittelsen is very famous in Norway, a national treasure, really. He made a lot of drawings and paintings of Norwegian myths and folklore. Very much worth a google image search or three;) One of my biggest inspirations.

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        1. It is. I’m from Norway, and have always been intrigued by the Norse mythology. The Plague Hag is later of course, but also a very interesting character. As I said to Marlene before, take a look at the art and illustrations of Theodor Kittelsen if you don’t already know him. He made amongst other things a lot of illustrations to the folklore tales collection of Asbjørnsen and Moe. No copyrights either;)

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    1. Hehe, the superheroe gods of Marvel. The real ones were more powerful, though:) Can’t see the trailer right now, but I will see the movie. Ragnarok is an interesting event.

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  9. : ) Here is a little more. Very sad : (

    Important to know about rats and such:

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/healthtrending/this-family-is-suing-petco-for-their-sons-tragic-death/ar-BBzxaox
    *…… Two weeks [after taking home a pet rat], the 10-year-old boy began feeling sick, complaining of an upset stomach, fever, and chills, but a doctor diagnosed him with the flu and sent the boy home with instructions to rest and drink plenty of fluids. The next night, Aidan’s pain and fever grew worse. He grew pale and lethargic and couldn’t stand on his feet, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

    By the time his family called paramedics, who transported the boy to the emergency room, it was too late; Aidan sadly died early the next morning. The cause of death was ruled to be streptobacillus moniliformis infection-also known as rat bite fever. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later confirmed that Aidan’s rat was infected with the deadly bacteria, reported WSBTV. While there’s no evidence Aidan was bitten, the disease can also be transmitted just by handling a rodent that carries it, the CDC reports.

    …….*

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  12. Since I posted a link to a Marvel upcoming (in November) movie, this caught my eye today (but is from last week):
    ……

    Ardian has been heavily criticized on Indonesian social media, with many pointing out that his stance is contrary to the tolerant, pluralist message of the X-Men franchise. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the creators of X-Men, were both Jewish. Marc Guggenheim, the writer of “X-Men Gold #1,” is himself Jewish, and in the issue itself, the X-Men are led by Kitty Pryde, who is Jewish and a former love interest of Colossus. Colossus’s best friend and teammate Nightcrawler is also a Catholic priest.

    “What he has done in the recent X-Men book is very disrespectful and unprofessional,” tweeted fellow Indonesian Marvel comic artist Ario Anindito.

    ……

    Read more: http://forward.com/culture/368766/marvel-apologizes-for-comic-with-hidden-anti-semitic-content/ April 10th

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    1. Hehe, good to see an effort to kill some myths:) Most of it is old news for most Norwegians, though;) Still nice to have it on my blog for people who are interested to read. Thanks!

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  14. I was interested in the fact one of the Sandman issues/stories/series is the only graphic novel (if I’m remembering correctly the designation) to receive a certain literary award. Now I can’t find the page I saw that written on (onward from one of the opening links).

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