October 1315, The Year Of Our Lord~
We continue to be hounded by the effects of this Great Pestilence: all around people are becoming sick and dying within a few days; it is terrifying! I am scared to leave, but I know I must because if I don't, I might fall prey to its insidious work next ...
Over 2 million people have died, and many more than that are sick and/or are in the process of dying. Every day we hear reports of yet more sickness/disease, more death. We are getting afraid to leave our homes, for the very air now reeks with the smell of death and burning bodies ...
November 5, 1315, The Year Of Our Lord~
Alas, my own family has been struck down with this terrifying illness. My fair lady has become chilled and bedridden with fever, coughing, and blood-tinged sputum; she also has pus-filled "bulboes" that adorn her armpits, neck, and groin like leeches; we might as well write our own obituaries because death must be very near; we are in danger of getting this ourselves ...
December 25, 1315, The Year Of Our Lord~
I am by myself. I am the only one who's survived the Great Pestilence. My wife, my babies, my cousins, my aunt, uncles: all gone, all dead. I am beside myself with grief; there shall be no Christmas celebrations for me or for many others; the sting of death/disease is too great ...
April 1316~
More death, more sickness. More people than ever before are dying in front of my eyes. Will anything stop this terribly swift plague?? I fear for my very being; I pray to God to keep me well, but for how long -- that is anyone's guess.
July 1316~
Have escaped the cruel realities of this disease that continues to run unabated in our community; the village has become something of a deserted ghost town, what with the ever mounting death toll and the constant fires burning bright to rid the town of disease and dead bodies ... doctors are overworked and overtaxed; even they are falling victim to the disease ...
September 1316~
Still here, by God's sovereignty. Don't know how I have escaped getting sick with the Pestilence when I have seen so much death around me; guess God must have some purpose for me ... still terrifying, nevertheless, to see friends, family, even acuaintances falling victim to the Great Plague; o, woe is me; will the suff'ring ever end????
January 1317~
Have taken over John's diary. He finally succumbed to the pestilance that's eluded him for the past year; guess it was his time to go. Name's Roderick; I'm thirty-two. I have lost my wife and son to the plague; my daughter and I still remain, but for how long is anyone's guess; the plague still comes in waves. It comes, then subsides, then returns even stronger than before ... our lives have been taken over by this killer plague; when will the inhumanity ever cease??
March 1317~
More reports of death, disease, destruction. People are going mad at each new report; everyone is terrified of stepping outside, for fear that they might fall prey to this plague next ...
Fires continue to burn, getting rid of the putrid stench of death; when we go outside, we wear masks to cover our mouths and noses; we don't want to breathe the plague into our lungs, for fear we might get it next ... the very sight of rats or mice running about is enough to send everyone into a full-scale panic ... even the animals are dying of this plague; nobody is safe ...
December 1317~
I suddenly feel ancient. My family has been wiped out by this sickness; my beloved Mogg has died; she died last night on Christmas Day. She was only seven. I shall never hear her lilting voice or her bubbly laughter; she was my world, my everything! When will this ever end?? I fear I shall come down with it next ... just three days ago, Moggie was laughing, singing; then the bulboes and fever appeared, and just two days later, she succumbed to the sickness that's taken so many of our people! I am about to go mad with grief!
May 1318~
Is there anything anyone can do to stop this pestilence in its tracks???
July 1318~
People continue to riot and steal from the dead. Food is becoming scarce, and shelters are full of people, looking for a way to escape the devastation the Great Mortality has wreaked upon our area ... rats continue to run rampant; they are the cause of this horror!! How are we going to get rid of the rats that have taken over our lives????
November 1318~
Besides the bulboes that appear on people, we also see people coughing up bright red blood as they gasp for every breath, as well as people who literally turn purple; this must be a new sort of plague that's hitting people. Oh, we've suffered enough; how much crueler do people have to suffer or die as a result of disease???? When is this ever going to subside?? We need a miracle, but I think the Lord above is too busy to listen to the cries of a desperate people ...
January 1319~
We thought the Great Pestilence was ebbing; we couldn't have been more wrong. A new wave of illness has appeared; more people than ever are sickening and dying even as I write these words!
March 10, 1319~
My beloved Dildo, my brother, has died of the Great Pestilence; found him in his bed this morning, dead as a doornail. I had my neighbor take his body downtown to the village square and set ablaze; it was one of the most painful things I have ever had to witness ... when he burned up, I felt a part of me burn up too, right along with him ...
March 13, 1319 (three days later)~
I am to join Dildo. I have developed the troubling symptoms that he had prior to his passing: large, egg-shaped lumps in my armpits, groin, and neck that are hot and very painful to the touch, fever, chills, malaise, severe headache, nausea/vomiting, painful joints. Oh, woe is me, oh, woe is me!!!!
I am not long for this world; oh, God, please have mercy upon me!!!!
August 15, 1319~
I am just a little boy. I don't want to think of death or dying, yet that is all I do. I have lost my father, mother, and six sisters to a terrifying plague that kills in just three days. I am afraid I might get it next. Seems everyone I know is sick or dying ...
August 18, 1319~
I now live in an orphanage. I don't like it; I want my family!! Why did they have to get sick? I just don't understand, and I am scared, very scared! What if I get the plague?? What is going to happen to me? I'm not ready to die yet!!
September 1319~
Still alive; God must have something planned for me or else I would have been dead long ago. Maybe it is to write about this plague for people of the future to read later on ...
December 16, 1319~
It's nearly Christmas. The orphanage people have tried to make it look festive, but I am not feeling very festive. Seems I have come down with the shaking chills, and I have a fever as well as a bad headache. I hope I'm not coming down with what killed my family; I am just a little eight-year-old boy!! I am too young to think about death or becoming sick with this plague!!
February 1320~
Seems the plague has lessened its grip upon us once again. God is indeed good!
April 1320~
So far, no sickness has hit my area, but areas around me are not as fortunate. Every day I hear reports of people falling ill or people dying. Again, bodies litter the streets, and the very air abounds with the awful stench of death and disease. Thought the plague was over, but guess I am wrong ...
August 1320~
Yet another wave of plague has subsided. Don't know how I avoided getting sick, but by God's sovereign grace, I have escaped its evil clutches. Seems like months have gone by where I haven't heard of yet more people sickening and dying. Even the doctors can't seem to stop it; they think they can, but even they are powerless as to stop it. Once in a while, they seem to, but again, the plague seems to come in waves, hitting people harder than ever before ...
November 1320~
Now that the plague has seemingly stopped, I can return to my business of taking care of the fair damsels and knights that frequent my hostel. I shall take care of them to the very best of my abilities and pray to God that the plague doesn't return. I have had more than enough with death or disease to last me the rest of my days!!
*to be continued.*
