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(created 2013-02-19 08:41):
It's late one evening, and you are out playing around the village with your friends when you hear your mother call out, "Time to come inside!". You reluctantly say goodbye to your friends, and sulk over to your wood plank and thatch roof hut. As you enter the small, one room house, a sickly smell tickles your nose. The smell of people on the verge of death. Your father is a plague doctor, but is no-where to be seen around the patients.
"Mother?" You squeak. "Where's father?"
"Oh, he's out to fetching vinegar for the ill." She replied as she cooked up a pot of stew.You nod solemnly, and walk over to your "bed" made of hay on the floor. You sit for about 30 seconds before a cry is heard, ringing through the village. And in less than 30 seconds, everyone was out side.
And in less than 30 seconds, everyone got the news.
In a royal carriage, driven by a royal courier, lay a heap of musty white cloth and a sickly man. That man, is your father. A fancy looking man approached your mother.
"We're terribly sorry," The man started with a gruff voice. "But your spouse has contracted the black death."
* * * 15 years later... * * *
"Ring around the rosie! Pockets full of posy! Ashes, ashes, they all fall down!"
You listen as your children dance around the town square, joyfully reciting the chant for nearly the 100th time. From the inside of your home, you gently smile as your children sing. They'll never know the real meaning of the song, and you doesn't plan on telling them. "Ring around the rosie!", the red rash that started around the plague victim's extremities. "Pockets full of posy!", the fragrant flowers that masked the scent of of the dying. "Ashes, ashes, they all fall down!", the burned pile of bodies, burning down, all falling down. You'll never forget the plague that swept Europe from the years of 1347 to 1350, on the Christian calendar. The awful, awful Black Death.
* * *
Hello, everyone! This is my entry for the Medieval contest! It is of a plague victim, obviously. If you couldn't already tell, I whipped up that story in about 15 minutes. I hope you all enjoy!
Black Death Facts:
-Black mold would grow around the extremities, such as the nose, lips, fingers, and toes.
-1 in every 3 people died of the Black Death.
-75 million died due to this disease.
References (Warning! These pictures are graphic, so view at your own risk!)
Picture 1
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