July 28, 2019

Apparently, the scientists discovered a new disease.

It was all over the news yesterday, literally flooding CNN, NBC, (the news organization that shall not be named but rhymes with BOX), and whatever new organizations there are. There were only a couple of cases in New York and Washington, but the whole world freaked out about it. I think it's because the last couple of days were pretty quiet news-wise because the president hadn't done anything crazy or scandalous.

No one really knows much about it other than people who are sick with it have a high fever. It's like it popped out of nowhere and just suddenly appeared. No one from WHO and the CDC said anything about it to the news organizations other than their basic "We'll be figuring this out" statement. But even without any word from the disease monitoring agencies, the news was pretty interesting and it broke me out of my summer boredom.

Mom and Dad are in Portland for Nat's softball tournament. Dad called back to ask how my (boring) life was going. I told him that I was looking at school clubs for next year and lots of other academic stuff, but those were obvious lies. I think Dad knew that because he just started probing me about it, so I deflected the subject, masterfully if I could say, by asking about the new disease.

"Aren't you even worried at all?" I asked Dad.

"No," he said. "The government should have it under control soon. The softball tournament hasn't been canceled, so that's a sign that it's not going to be that bad."

"Okay," I said skeptically. Honestly, who knows at this point? Dad could be right. Maybe this'll blow over in a couple of days if scientists find out that it's another flu or chickenpox or some smalltime disease.

Summer can get really boring sometimes.

July 30, 2019

I guess it did blow over.

No new news on the mysterious disease. WHO hasn't said anything yet and the media has moved on to something dumb that the president tweeted. They seemed pretty desperate for just anything interesting to happen. This summer cycle has been very quiet: no mega-wildfires in my beautiful home state, no early hurricanes in Florida, no tornadoes because it isn't the right season, no earthquakes because earthquakes never happen, no anything happening.

I was so bored that I actually spent time watering the plants in the garden-- twice in fact. You know, I've never really realized this, but summer weather is really nice, especially if you're sitting in the shade, eating a popsicle.

Our garden is really pretty, in this sort-of unconventional, wild way, especially in the summer. The mint plants are blooming and some of the poppy plants that I scattered from old poppy seeds last year are also sprouting out of the ground. Thank goodness I stopped Dad from replacing the whole thing with plastic grass.

Mom and Dad didn't call today. They texted me, though, to tell me that Nat's team had won their game today. They're climbing their way up the loser's bracket because they lost their second game yesterday.

I'm so bored right now. Not bored enough to be happy when school starts, but just bored that there's nothing interesting on the news.

July 31, 2019

Another batch of cases popped up.

The scientists working with the government have identified it to be some sort of virus. It seems to cause high fevers and headaches, but no cough, unlike the flu or old cold viruses. They're also saying that the sickest patients are experiencing some "strange things" with their brain (Yes, that was their exact wording), but said that we shouldn't panic.

But I'm pretty sure that everyone is panicking. If I had friends, I'd ask them. But right now, I'm literally stuck at home. I can't even leave my house because I lost the house key (so anyone waltzing by will be able to rob my house), though I know it's somewhere in the house, and also because I don't know how to drive and my bike has been broken for years.

Dad texted me a new SAT practice worksheet, but I didn't open it. Honestly, there's nothing more boring than studying for the SAT. The math section is fine, the writing section is a literal breeze, but the reading section is utter torture. Who cares about mid-19th century literature or interpreting speeches from Abraham Lincoln that are in such archaic prose that they're barely readable.

There was also no softball today. There was a big heatwave where they were playing (apparently it was over 105 degrees today), so all the games are on pause. Mom texted to say that they might be over there for another week, depending on how long the heatwave lasts. I don't really mind. It's nice being home alone.

I got an email from school, telling me that it's going to be re-opening soon. I really don't want to go to school. Hopefully, this virus thing will cancel it.

August 2, 2019

More cases found.

The cases in New York have gone from six to twelve and a couple of cases have popped up in Washington and Oregon. None so far in California, which is good, I guess, but Mom and Dad and Nat are all in Oregon, so I hope that they're alright. Their tournament is still on hold as the temperatures peaked at 107 degrees this afternoon.

Scientists have found some new symptoms of the infection. The patients in the New York hospitals are experiencing a mild aversion to light and some muscle spasms on their hands. Right now, the scientists are pumping the patients with all kinds of antiviral drugs because they're pretty sure that the disease is a virus, but none of the patients seemed to get better.

I got curious today, so I decided to look up the epidemics of the past because of my weird morbid fascination. I wonder if this disease will get as bad as the Spanish Flu back in the 1918s. Apparently, it killed more people than WWI, which is just crazy.

The scientists still don't know how it spread or even where it came from. The president tweeted a non-statement about the disease, which I guess is better than misinformation. WHO has upgraded the disease into a Phase Two stage and has the disease on the watchlist. RIght now, they haven't named it anything, but hopefully, they'll figure it out.

Mom, Dad, and Nat called today because they were about as bored as I was. We didn't really walk much on the call. "Hi," Nat said, quickly flashing onto the camera before disappearing. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye to you," I responded.

Mom and Dad kinda talked with me. It was mostly them grilling me to work on my SATs and ACTs and a whole bunch of other things for next year because next year is supposed to be the hard year of high school. I tried asking them about the disease, but they didn't want to talk about it. "It'll all blow over in a few days," Dad said. "We're going to be fine."

I feel like that's what people say just before everything goes wrong.

August 4, 2019

Some of the New York patients disappeared.

Well, not disappeared, but they ran away and escaped the hospital. Some of the doctors and nurses got bitten by the infected people, and they're experiencing the same fever and headache like symptoms as the infected. The scientists are saying that the infection is spread by bite, kinda like rabies, so hopefully, it should be easy for them to just isolate everyone that is sick and treat them, and that'll get rid of the disease.

I got an email about how our school office has reopened. We've got junior photos coming up, and I really don't want to go. I hate taking photos. I absolutely hate them, especially photos for school IDs. It's just so awkward parading around a terrible picture of you everywhere, so maybe I should send a little prayer for the sun to send a solar flare to knock out all the electricity.

I feel like I should be doing more than just lying around and doing nothing. I mean, it's my junior year coming up. I should be the president of half of the clubs of the school and waste all my summer planning activities for next year, but instead, I'm just sitting around and reading books (which people say isn't a real extracurricular) and doing nothing to further my future. Can the world just end?

(Just kidding. Please don't end. I enjoy the internet and electricity too much. All praise the gods of internet and electricity)

August 5, 2019

A new twist in the virus situation.

Apparently, there was a nurse that was not bitten by the infected individuals, but was showing the symptoms of infection like the high fever and headaches. Everyone is panicking now. The news organizations literally have headlines blaring "New Disease May Be Airborne", and that pretty much has gotten a whole ton of people in panic. I mean, I would be panicking too if I lived in New York. I don't think any of the people who have gotten sick have survived, and if it's airborne, that means anyone can get it.

Also, there were more cases that popped up across the US, like Texas, New Jersey, and worst of all, California. No one even knows how the disease is popping up everywhere. Some people say it's a plot by the Chinese to overthrow the US government (which doesn't make any sense at all) or some people say that it's North Korea's secret weapon that they've been touting all summer (impossible).

The real crazies say that it's because America is not embracing it's Judeo-Christian "heritage" and is turning into, and I quote, "God-less, Atheist, Satan-Worshipping Communists" (which literally doesn't make any sense. How can you be an atheist and worship Satan? It just doesn't work).

Dad is getting worried now. I would be too. The whole Ebola thing that happened a couple of years back felt a bit overblown because everyone thought the whole world was going to get infected even though the disease barely left Africa. But now, everything feels a whole lot scarier because the disease isn't on some faraway continent. It's here in America.

"Are you guys going to come home soon?" I asked.

"No," Dad said. "The government has got it covered. I wouldn't worry."

I told Dad to stay safe and sound and hung up. Then, I started looking up apocalypse survival tips. Maybe I'm paranoid or I've been watching too many zombie and disease outbreak films, but I don't know. What if this disease actually causes the apocalypse? I just want to be extra safe about it.

Most of the stuff that was online was pretty useless. There was the generic stuff that everyone knows like to boil water (no, duh!), eat canned food (like we haven't seen it a million times in apocalypse films), and don't eat mushrooms, even if you're starving because 90% of mushrooms are toxic or something.

There were also a whole bunch of things that I would never do in my life that they recommended like buying a gun (never going to happen), practicing setting snares (I don't think that I would be able to kill an animal even though I eat meat. Yes, I know I am a big hypocrite), or reinforcing your windows with plywood (not sure how to use hammers and nails). I can't even imagine Mom and Dad coming home to find our house boarded up with plywood, their backyard filled with practice snares, and their son having a rifle or pistol in his hands. That would be pretty funny.

But on a more serious note, there was some helpful stuff like leaving clear water bottles in the sun can help purify them, and there were a bunch of crop planting charts that I am, more likely than not, going to forget by tomorrow morning. I probably should be writing these things down.

August 8, 2019

The missing hospital patient is still gone, but there's a whole lot of people streaming into the hospitals.

Casese in New York have tripled in the past few days. Tripled. That's crazy! WHO has upgraded its warning on this new disease, and the governor of New York is planning on declaring a state of emergency. It's only been about a week since the disease emerged, and the whole world feels like it's falling apart.

I'm starting to worry about food and water. My weird apocalypse addicted brain is telling me that I should be worrying about power going out and the water lines being cut. If the power goes off and water gets cut off, I'll be stuck at home, starving to death. I hope this is just my (very morbid) imagination running wild.

I tried texting Mom and Dad, but they weren't responding. I know that there are cases in Portland. What if they've gotten infected or something bad has happened to them? I hope they are not responding just because they've got a bad internet connection or have their phone on silent mode. Hopefully, they aren't ignoring me. I've had that happen to me sometimes from other people.

I just realized that Mom and Dad and Nat have all been gone for more than a week. I know this sounds stupid or wrong, but I feel, I don't know, almost better that they aren't here. It's like I feel less stressed or anxious or something like that. I don't know what's wrong with me. I guess this is what happens when you have no friends.