Mankind was always curious about the mystery of death. Where, a deepest thought would lead to one big question ....,” What about life after death?
But now, a unique phenomenon was happening. For some people, they didn’t give a damn about it anymore.... No more such questions, as if all big secrets had lost their mysteries. Because, they were hypnotized by the process. It was a reality in sight, as an unspoken truth: Now, they were horrified facing the gate of death! Those pale faces implied they were definitely aware walking on its pathway. And in a mixed feeling between horror and shame to admit ... they were indeed afraid to die! They still wanted to survive in this beautiful world, and simply wished to smell the scent of jasmine on next sunny morning.
It was pretty obvious. These days people were forced to understand two paradoxical things. Between the deadly terrible plague and the beauty of life in the world we lived in. Now, both were fused into a strange composition. It could be described in one mystical sentence to uncover its mystery: The plague that showed the brutality of its existence by eliminating thousands lives every day, was a real terror that now changed its face and disguised itself in the beautiful nature on earth.
If we were willing to contemplate.... We could see and praised: What a wonderful world! We saw the green foliage of shady trees dancing, swaying and blown by the gentle summer breeze that sneaked in between.. Delivering the cool air we breathed deeply. Well, it had to be admitted that the current nature condition was in the best times! Pollution decreased dramatically, the sun looked very friendly and shined with its sunny light in the bluest sky... Nature was really smiling sweetly at us!
But, some people might say,“ Don’t be fooled by a false appearance!”
As an undeniable fact, it’s a sickening irony of life! It was a deceitful beauty. How come?! Nowadays, a gentle breeze that actually brought coolness and freshness, virtually made people sweat and felt uncomfortable in the panic! The beauty of calmness that was very deadly! In the tranquility of nature was supposed to be soothing, at the same time pain took its place. It was the daily sight that was so quiet, cold, and cruel all at once: People who were seriously ill laid silent in helplessness, the passing ambulances were the expressions of despair.....
***
Ike Coontz was no longer young, trembled every day in his home. He became increasingly shrunken guts. In his eyes he only saw the cruelty of nature that was insulting his toughness. Well, it’s like an ordeal that challenged his ability to survive. But he chose his own way, felt entitled to be scared. He had good reason for that ...
Several years ago, nature tested his small family with a devastating earthquake. It was the first time Coontz felt a misfortune ruined his life, and witnessed his wife’s suffering. Aida, the fragile woman was covered in debris. Luckily, God saved her life, but the accident left his wife maim as she was missing her left hand.
For months Coontz was caring for his wife and their children in a miserable life in a very poor shelter. Those bad days really ruined everything: both physically and mentally, and even financially! But at that moment, he still had a glimmer of hope that gave him strength to survive and started moving on. His wife who was depressed due to disability missing her left hand..., finally accepted reality and forgot all kinds of pain. And that’s the point when Ike Coontz who lost his job began to enthusiastically pursue a new job: As a bricklayer.
Indeed, the small town suffered severe infrastructure damages. Many office buildings, factories and houses collapsed. Therefore, the construction worker was very much needed at that time, since then he had been working as a bricklayer to be his main occupation to earn a living.
****
But now, this catastrophic plague completely destroyed his life. The situation really hit him hard. A fact could not be denied that the virus physically hurt people. But, lockdown as a way to deal with the outbreak, actually hurt his pride. A new generation of pariah had been born, people whose no guts and at the same time had been dumped from the social class by reason of losing their jobs.
This misfortune felt perfect for him. The traumatic stories of the previous earthquake still imprinted deeply in his mind ... and all the terror and horror stories of the past suddenly attacked and flashed back in his eyes one after another. As a result, he remained cannot accept the God’s trials that had repeatedly suffered his life.
He kept on asking desperately ...., “Why do disasters always come to my life?”
But his complaint was ambushed by the wind ..., which now it was like a new enemy sent the bad air rushed into his lungs and every part of his body. Coontz gasped, his breath became so heavy, his asthma relapsed.
His wife soon arrived, swiftly she took the inhaler and pushed it under his nose. Ike Coontz immediately caught it and took a deep breath. A few moments later his breathing began to gradually recover....
“Ike, just keep yourself in a good condition.... Come on, you have to relax. Don’t think too much. If you are sick, we all suffer, too.“
Coontz nodded.
“But, why don’t you eat as well?” his wife said while glancing at the table beside the bed. It seemed that lunch was not touched by Coontz at all.
She took a spoonful of cold porridge and forced a little to put it into Coontz’s mouth while saying, “Ike, if there is no nutritional intake at all, your immune system will decrease and the virus will easily beat you!”
Coontz was left with no option but swallowing it, though he did reluctantly. Even, he almost choked on it.
“Honey, please..... In these difficult times we must be strong. Don’t let fear overwhelm us. You don’t want to eat, you just stay all day in this room. You curse and blame everything .... All these negative thoughts will turn back to you, hurting you mercilessly. We must stay peaceful and think about all in positive ways if we want to survive. “
“Everything was in vain, Aida .... I lost my only job .... I have no income at all, we have no money. You see..., there are no jobs out there. And I am quite afraid to leave the house. This contagious disease is like a ghost who is ready to take our lives invisibly. I’m so scared ... I’m absolutely useless and worth nothing to you and our kids.”
“Don’t mention it! Our family is okay. And... just remember ..., they are no longer our little kids anymore, they’re adults now. They can take care of themselves ... Even, they always help and support us, so we can still survive to this day ......”
“I know .... But, they are also in trouble ..., need money to survive ... We’re all penniless .....”
His wife was silent for a few moments. Her right hand deftly fed him. For several times, she seemed hard to move and inconvenienced, especially if she had to do several things at once. However, she still looked tough with one hand, and it never made her complained.
Coontz watched her with the sense of pity, his wife was just a weak woman who was far more fragile than him. But, it seemed that his wife didn’t care about all those things.
Even, his wife said firmly, “It doesn’t matter! ... We face this life no matter what. There must be a way ... We won’t starve. Furthermore ..., you know ... our kind neighbor, the Wagner family ... Almost every day they help us with foodstuffs ... Hopefully their lives will always be full of blessings ...”
Coontz choked. He hurriedly reached for the glass and drank water to relieve his throat. He knew exactly, his neighbor was very generous and always sent foodstuffs to his family. But Coontz felt very pressured by it. That’s so embarrassing! His helplessness made ‘people’ - in fact, not just the Wagner family - contributed a lot and supported his family’s daily needs. Coontz found himself so tortured, he felt like a useless beggar ..., but somehow he and his family had no choice but accepting it.
****
There were times, Coontz was getting bored staying in his room everyday. He shambled as he got a few stolen moments to take care of flowers in the garden in front of his house quietly and cut weeds. The fragrance of jasmine and red rose always made him felt so peaceful and alive. Weeds and shrubs began to grow faster and tried to dominate everything in the small garden. They grew up wildly, unwanted, and were very hard to eliminate. Even if they were pruned now, within a week they would grow even more aggressively.
Sometimes when he was busy tending his garden, he suddenly heard footsteps. Coontz was always cautious and began to be disturbed. Because he was paranoid about people, recently. He would immediately jump into the house when he heard people footsteps, before they passed through in front of his house. The greatest fear to be physically close to other people had made him completely unwilling to interact with the world outside of him.
But one time, the footsteps felt so close to him. He was so panic. Nevertheless, he still managed to hide behind the door. Those were the steps of his wife and his kind neighbor, Mrs. Wagner. Apparently they brought several large bags of food supplies, so many might be able to stock for a month.
Mrs. Wagner was an old lady with glasses and gray hair. She was an extraordinary person, very kind, generous and had a tender voice. There was a smile on her lips as she spoke, it showed her sincere hospitality.
“Thank you, Mrs. Wagner .... If only we had money, we would have bought it. We don’t want to bother you...,” his wife said softly.
“It’s okay my dear... Right now, you definitely really need it. Many people are losing their jobs now ... And I really understand their difficulties ..., the important thing is that I’m very happy to help you ... A little try relieving people hardship, that’s more than enough ...”
Coontz's eyes filled with tears. His mind was racing. He recognized Mrs. Wagner as the best woman ever. The generous character that was rarely found in today's society which was always selfish and never cared about others bad luck. But on the other hand, it was like a hard blow that hit his pride. He really felt like a lousy and a useless loser....
****
But, the hard weeks continued. The situation was getting worse as the upheaval had occurred. Beginning with riots which led shops looted. The situation subsided after the national guard troops were deployed into town.
However, another chaos broke out ... Medical personnel were getting nervous and complained about the lack of Personal Protective Equipment. This was a very dangerous situation because they were at forefront of the battle against the plague. Even, some of them had threatened to resign because they felt unsafe to work.
While another turmoil on the streets heated up. Several groups held demonstrations to oppose the lockdown. They really could not stand the restrictions that threatened their jobs and income. They even carried guns, as if they were ready to commit violence to achieve their goals.
But beyond all those uproars, many things were not realized by people.... The virus seemed to have manipulated people and made their minds distracted, chaotic and lost their vigilance. The progress of the infectious disease threat was increasingly actual and unstoppable, like the fierce ghost troops who tried to conquer the enemy effectively and quietly.
The plague looked as though it had legs and walked silently with certain steps approaching every part of the town without much recognized by people, wiped them out and quietly left the latest victims without regard to the riot and bustle out there. And those people fell one by one, they were so weak, helpless and dropping like flies.
Ike Coontz increasingly depressed, as he kept abreast of news about the progress of the outbreak on television everyday. The death toll was terrorizing him more and more... He even felt the plague was getting closer to the area of his residence.
And what he had worried about finally came true ... It was recorded that there were more than 500 families in the settlement, unfortunately 10 persons from 7 families began to be infected by virus. And it was like a bolt from the blue, one of the tragedy was the Wagner family.
Apparently Mrs. Wagner was infected from her son, who recently returned from N city to their home due to losing his job. According to the latest television news, N city was a red zone area. A district that was most severely affected in the whole country. Actually, traffic in out of the area was prohibited and violated the lockdown protocol. But many people who were stubborn had managed to escape from the strict security officers guard.
It’s just that the impact of this reckless behavior had unwittingly contributed spread the pandemic to wider area... The son of Mrs. Wagner was referred to the regional hospital. Local government began to close and isolate the settlement. And Mrs. Wagner was quarantined in her own home, because though exposed she only showed mild symptoms.
But, even so ... this incident had hit many people. It was not just insecurity because their environment had been exposed to dangerous infectious disease. However, Mrs. Wagner’s case was an exception! The gray hair lady was known as a special woman who had helped many people in the neighborhood.
Then ... nastily, some very odd and sickening things happened in the settlement. It was more like a moral and social tragedy that made the terrible lousy and mixed feelings. A tragedy came up from the upside down of goodness values in society. People were beginning to be unable to distinguish among the kindness, sincerity, suspicion, tendentious accusations, covert crime, unreasonable conspiracy theories and all things that ended up by attacking and accusing the Wagner family of causing all their misfortune. It was the most tragic accusation!
And the expressions of these panic and desperate people were really hurtful ... People started to throw away stuff and food supplies from the Wagner family’s donation. Now, they argued that those items were very dangerous because they were considered as the virus spreader. Some did it secretly. But some others expressed it vulgarly by burning it on the streets....
Coontz was one of those people whose minds were bound in such distractions. Everything was sourced from his paranoia which was getting worse. He had not eaten for two days, the suspicions in his mind made him assumed that all the food in his house were stuff from the Wagner family, and therefore everything had been contaminated by virus.
He began to be dishonest as if he had eaten all of it. But in fact he threw it away behind his wife back ... And he started to worry at lunchtime ... When his wife’s footsteps sounded, he was so frightened as if he was approached by the executioner who delivered poisoned food for his last lunch.
Particularly just right now, the footsteps sounded more rowdy than usual. His wife was not alone! And for him those footsteps were like the marching of enemy troops approaching.
Ike Coontz suddenly turned pale. His body shivered with a feeling of extreme cold. He grabbed a thick blanket to reduce the cold, and weakly crawled to the farthest corner on his bed. He sat curled up like an ancient Greek statue and took cover behind a thick blanket that protected all parts of his body. His body increasingly shivered violently. Now his breath began to feel heavy. He was breathless, had difficulty breathing and his chest was as painful as being pierced by a dagger. His eyesight began to blur, dim and then dark at all. His body was freezing cold.
In the other room, his wife looked excited and a little cheerful ... She walked with his eldest son to the bedroom. Even so glad, as she had already greeted her husband before reaching the room, “Honey ... Our son is coming!”
“ I’m coming, dad,” his son replied.
His wife immediately responded again just as giving a good news, “He has bought a special lunch for you, a special menu from your favorite restaurant in town...”
So, they arrived in the room ... And ... the sound of things breaking and slamming could be heard. Apparently they dropped everything. Their mouths opened... They were shocked at the unusual sight!
Thus, they were shaken by a cold white marble statue in the corner of the room. In fact ..., it was not The Dying Gaul, a masterpiece of an ancient art of sculpture! Ike Coontz died. His death added to the long list of people who died as victims of the plague that fiercely attacked the whole earth.
But people tended to misjudge! That was the common misunderstanding about deaths during the pandemic. He just died for another reason. It was not because of a dangerous vicious virus or a torturous hunger! No, it wasn’t at all...! An acute heart attack had stopped his heartbeat, such as a termination of earth rotation and the sudden darkness of the universe. Something that people might never think about ... Here’s the truth: It was the extreme shame and fear which had claimed his life!
***********
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