Being an accounting of the recent and continuing pandemic and its various circumstances, from the perspective of an inhabitant of the regions lately called the Lost Quarter. Dates unknown.

Day Six Hundred Forty Five

The world is afire with talk of the Dead Lord Grippe Reborn as he yet again spreads his tentacles across the globe. It seemed we had only just begun to feel relief in these parts after our dreadful September and October and now he has returned again, in a new and even more frightening guise, able to move at will amongst us all. Even those of us with our inoculations are not immune from his touch, though we should still be largely protected from the most foul of his powers.

Already there are growing numbers of afflicted in these parts and in the wider Dominions. This is in stark contrast to earlier transformations by the Dread Lord where we had the opportunity to watch the encroaching wave as it crashed upon our shores. Those weeks and months of foreknowledge seemingly did little to prepare us for what was to come, so perhaps the fact we are learning what is new about the Grippe Reborn at the same time as everyone else may not turn out to be such a hindrance to our ability to act.

Not all is gloom. There are tantalizing glimpses that while the Dread Lord is able to better disguise himself and move among us, we may sill be well-protected. This wave may crash and recede without doing the same kind of damage as previous ones. Or it may land upon so many of us, finding all those susceptible to the Dread Lord’s power that our hospitals are again overwhelmed. Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, the winter solstice has just passed, so we are passing into brighter days. It makes my heart lighter just thinking of that. The past week I spent frantically going from pharmacy to pharmacy trying to procure tests to be able to tell if we are afflicted before visiting family for the holidays. Then it was on to securing booster doses for my love and I to better thwart the Dread Lord. Today I am achy and tired, feeling the aftereffects of my own dose, while my love will have to wait until next week.

 It really does feel as though this must end soon. Eventually everyone will have been afflicted or dosed or both in these parts and others. At that point even if the Dread Lord adopts new guises, which he certainly will, it should not be as devastating. We should not have to be on such guard all the time. We may even be able to resume our lives again. That is my hope as we approach the new year, though as we all know from bitter experience, the Dread Lord will have his own say in these matters.