keep the fires burning

I am nobody but I work for somebody. My job is fire starter--keeper of the flames. It's a shitty job, but somehow it keeps me alive and keeps all of my wealthy clients alive. We are in a terrible predicament. Hampstead, England has been hit quite hard and my services are in demand. I am getting wealthy from this disaster but fear if one of my clients dies, someone in his or her family will throw me into one of my own fires. That is because no one values life these days. Once powerful, England is on its knees. Nothing but chaos around me and yet, I find solace in the flickering flames I so lovingly tend. Tomorrow will be the same as today. But today, I have help. Old Roger who used to be a shoemaker will help me gather the bodies in my wheelbarrow and throw them in one of my many raging fires.

Time to go to work. There is nothing but darkness unless one can get close enough to one of my fires. You see, the smoke has turned the sky black. The whole world is black. I have a pretty good idea what caused these horrible things to happen. It has something to do with the rats. Rats are everywhere--not cute little mice but gnarly, snarling giant creatures that have invaded this land. Usually, I see about ten each day when I make my rounds to tend the fires. And each time I see one, I try to kill it with a stone. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, but when I do that little son of a bitch goes right into the fire and straight to hell.

Right now me and Old Roger find three bodies lying in the road. One man is clinging to his Bible and the other two men look as if they dropped dead in their tracks. Me and Old Roger throw the bodies onto my wheelbarrow and push them down the road towards the fire burning in the distance. I have to stop a minute at the Delany house. Heard yesterday they were not doing well. I told Old Roger to hold up as we came upon the Delany's house. Mr. Delany opened the door for me and by the look on his face, I knew his situation was dire. He said nothing but motioned for me to follow him to the sandy cellar. He handed me a taper as we clumsily went down the stairs. As I got deeper into the cellar an overpowering stench filled the air. I reached for my handkerchief covered my nose and tried not to vomit. All of the Delanys except Mr. Delany were wrapped in quilts,

"My whole family died last night,"

Each word he spoke tugged at my heartstrings. We unwrapped his young daughter, Delilah. I immediately stepped back because I had never seen such horror. Rats were all over her-eating her black and red inflamed body. Her eyes were gone. A side of her neck was gone. Big boils covered her body and were filled with pus. I had seen many dead bodies out on the road, but nothing like this. I stared. While I was staring at Delila, Mr. Delany sneezed one time. Then he sneezed again. " James," he said. Can you load my family in your wheelbarrow and take them to the flames.?" I turned to tell him I could. He sneezed one more time. He, too, was gone.

I went outside to find Old Roger. I needed help with this ungodly situation. The sky was total darkness and I had difficulty finding the wheelbarrow. My little taper was not doing much good. I could not find Old Roger. I went back inside the Delany house and tried to drag Delilah out of the house. I couldn't do it. Scratched my head trying to figure out what to do with this family. Mrs, Delany. Mr. Delany. Daughter, Delila. Son, Finn, and baby girl, Liza. I looked around the cellar for something I could use to build a fire. Seemed to be the most logical way to take care of the Delanys plus I would have another fire going. There was a trunk down there, so I opened it hoping it was filled with clothes. Hurrah! Dresses, pants, coats. I grabbed the clothes and with the taper I was holding, I touched the pile of clothes. It took a minute, but the fire kept building on itself. Good. I hurriedly climbed the stairs and felt something biting my leg. I looked down and a monster rat was latched onto my ankle, eating away. I screamed and kicked at the rat until I was rid of it. I lost my taper---my only source of light. I ran out of that hellhole crying because I knew in a few hours or in a few minutes. I would be dead. Old Roger would now have to be Firestarter, Keeper of the Flames, but I could not find him anywhere. In a panic, I ran down the road in pitch blackness calling his name. I tripped over something. I ran back to the Delany house. Grabbed a piece of board that was burning to use for light and headed back to the place where I tripped. Oh, God. It was Old Roger. The rats.

Helplessness is a horrible thing for a person to endure and I was helpless to do anything. So, I sat beside Old Roger and wept for a bit. Got to get up. Work to do. If I let the vicar's fire go out, I will be hanged. Somehow the fires managed to protect the holy and the righteous.

So, I got going pushing the wheelbarrow with the three unknown and Old Roger piled high. I pushed it a mile down to the vicar's fire and called out to him. Thankfully he answered back. He was all right. One by one I laid the bodies in the fire. The black smoke billowed towards heaven and I...

The Black Plague began in Europe in 1347. In all, it killed 38 million people. Today, Bubonic Plague is easy to treat. Even in the 21st century, a few cases of plague occur, but can be treated with common antibiotics. It was not the rats that killed. It was the fleas that infested the fur of the rats. Once infected, a victim died quickly. Those who sat by fires survived for the most part. The isolation along with the high temperatures protected many ancestors of those who claim European heritage today.