{"id":11639,"date":"2020-07-26T22:29:42","date_gmt":"2020-07-26T21:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11639"},"modified":"2020-07-30T15:10:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T14:10:48","slug":"the-cause-of-the-pandemic-one-survivor-by-farah-al-rikabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11639","title":{"rendered":"The Cause of the Pandemic: One Survivor<\/em> by Farah Al-Rikabi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Year 8 Levenshulme<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bang! Smash! \u201cProfessor Christopher, we need to tell the citizens the truth!\u201d <\/i>a woman with a lab coat and blond curls told the man beside . \u201cHow can we risk our entire company being sacked, Don\u2019t you see! We will all be on our own with our families living in the streets! In addition to that, our reputation will be destroyed, Doctor Anna!\u201d <\/i>Professor Christopher had yelled back in frustration as he was stumbled, trying to keep the beast behind him still. There were flasks filled with chemical and strange juices oozing as they were thrown across the floor viciously by the creature. It was almost impossible for Professor to keep it silent as its roar echoed in the laboratory. \u201cIf you won\u2019t reveal the truth to the world, then you leave me no choice but to expose our company. Do you have any idea of what we have started?\u201d <\/i>Doctor Anna sighed. \u201cNo!\u201d<\/i> groaned Professor Christopher as the beast\u2019s size was almost swallowing him up. \u201cThere is no point of trying to stop this any longer. Our Prime Minister has relaxed the lockdown. Everyone has come out of quarantine. Adults, babies, children are now prime target to this beast. Look, it has blasted a hole right through the wall. We are an inch to being exposed. Nothing matters more than honesty!\u201d <\/i>Doctor Anna bellowed frantically trying to get a breath under all the pressure. \u201cWhy? Why does it have to be this way?\u201d <\/i>sobbed Professor Christopher as he almost tumbled headfirst into the table nearby trying with all his might to hold own the creature, \u201chow am I going to live!\u201d <\/i>Doctor Anna tried to speak to him above all the noise, \u201cI know that your personal disappointments in life has led you to this path, but too much is always a bad thing. All this power will only harm the world and it will most certainly not solve your problems\u201d. <\/i>People living nearby who had awoken with a shock due to the bang had gathered around, mouths wide open hearing the dreadful truth. News reporters had gathered around the destroyed remains of the building to reveal this story to the world and there was no taking any of it back now. <\/span><\/p>\n

Doctor Anna stepped forward whimpering slightly, \u201cCitizens of Greater Manchester, there is something\u2026something important\u2026I-I d-don\u2019t know where to start but here it is. One of the Professors at our company had been going through some difficult times in his personal life, so he\u2026grew darker. He wanted to find the thing that would bring him happiness but, as I said, he had grown darker, so he wanted that in exchange for human suffering\u2026all this pain has been turned into pleasure from a machine he invented himself and he doesn\u2019t want to let it go, but we have to do what\u2019s right. P-professor Christopher\u2026please come here\u2026\u201d <\/i>Professor Christopher looked as if he was going to start crying again but his expression changed into anger, \u201cyou\u2019re no friend of mine\u2026\u201d <\/i>As he stepped forward, the beast behind him was unleashed and the citizens were trying their best to escape, running for their lives. The beast was a dull, greying colour with bloodshot eyes and razor-sharp claws. Its teeth were made out of solid metal and the amount of legs it had was uncountable. It stood posed to attack and it spoke in a deep voice that shook the grounds, \u201chumans, don\u2019t fear pain because you too are, monsters. You see, you are me. I am you. We are one body\u2026every often, we clash\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I opened my eyes, regretting it when the painful truth finally hit me. I was alone. Ever since I was younger, I had always had a phobia of being left alone, and the phobia had come back to haunt me because the world was empty. It was almost as if everything had been sucked out of it and I was left there to rot. My lower lip slightly wobbled as I remembered all those joyful memories before\u2026before, this\u2026animal ruined my life\u2026It was the news that alerted the world about this horrifying plague that wiped out humanity. We all thought that this virus was harmless until it started picking off everyone one by one. At the beginning of the lockdown, which was a procedure taken to prevent the spread of this human killer, everyone scrambled for supplies and it was every man for himself. We were all informed that this virus that had parted the world came from Wuhan, China. Little did they know that the truth was unbelievable. A selfish Professor had made a monster out of his own misery to bring him pleasure out of other people\u2019s pain. It had attacked the Chinese and the plague spread around the world, until everyone was left tortured. The only thing left from the world that wasn\u2019t burnt out was a metal cylinder that had the words, \u201cgreed will always find its end, just like the rest of us\u201d <\/i>etched onto the front of it. I lay there, unwilling to even think about the past, or why I was the last survivor, I just wanted to relax and to forget everything. I felt a pleasurable feeling that travelled around my body, first from my back pocket where the metal cylinder was, that left a tingling sensation. My heart felt lighter than a feather and the emotion was too strong to put into words, it was\u2026pure happiness\u2026I gasped as I realised the truth. The only thing left from the world was the pleasure. This must have been the pleasure that the monster had worked for. I scrunched up my face in disgust as I realised all of this had come from the pain of others who suffered from the deadly coronavirus. The idea was sickening. \u201cDoctor Anna was always right. She always said that too much was always a bad thing. It has had the ability to take away the world. I will always fight for justice and never let greed overcome me\u2026but now I couldn\u2019t do any of that if I tried\u2026\u201d<\/i> The metal cylinder started vibrating rapidly, and I picked it up and just stared at it. The lid opened revealing warm, scarlet smoke that floated inside the cylinder. \u201cI only open for the pure. You may be wondering what this is, but I won\u2019t leave you waiting. After Professor Christopher gave up his habit of turning pain into pleasure, I changed this messenger machine into the final remainder that would be left for the survivor to succeed. Only the most loyal, smartest, most ambitious and the bravest person would survive. Use it well. Think carefully about what it says at the front. Good luck, from Doctor Anna\u201d. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I stuck the machine into the ground immediately and waited for the impulse. Crash! The monster awoken from its hiding and responded to its messenger machine. I was afraid and the fear spread all over me like a wildfire. But I knew something was more important. The beast approached me hungrily, slime oozing from its claws. I muttered to myself, trying to calm myself down, \u201cthe monster only wants the pleasure from me now. Lure it. Its greed will decide\u201d. <\/i>I breathed in and out deeply and sprinted straight towards the monster as it looked ready to devour me. I stabbed the messenger machine into the monster\u2019s core in the middle of its body. The monster, of course, as I predicted, desired more of the pleasure. It too had a lonely, dark soul like its master. I stood back and saw colossal hole that was pitch-black in the monster\u2019s stomach. I had a glimpse of an arm there. I went towards the monster and urged the lid of the cylinder to widen. I held a strong grip onto the monster as the black hole widened and earthquakes erupted in the air above me. This had to be it. Humanity had to be restored. I held on tighter until it stung my fingers and with a deafening crash, I was laying on the ground again. Although, this time it felt different, it was like the pure rebirth of earth. I felt joy beyond explanation as millions of hands clawed their way onto me and heaved me high up into the air. It was the restart. We didn\u2019t have to worry anymore. The monster that had swallowed up humanity had disappeared into thin air and we have succeeded due to its greed. We could all go back to how it was before the coronavirus even started. No more social distancing or having all of our plans thrown away from the year. No more stockpiling or washing your hands every ten minutes. This was it\u2026we won\u2026and we just had to look in the right direction. What really matters the most? No more pain. No more suffering\u2026and no more fights over toilet paper\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Year 8 Levenshulme Bang! Smash! \u201cProfessor Christopher, we need to tell the citizens the truth!\u201d a woman with a lab coat and blond curls told the man beside . \u201cHow can we risk our entire company being sacked, Don\u2019t you see! We will all be on our own with our families living in the streets! 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