Plague

The school where I work is under seige from not one but two horrible plagues. Those who don't have the vomit-diarrhea version snuffle and hack from the chest-lung-sinus congestion version. One-third of the grades 9-12 student population is missing today, and the nurse's office is backlogged with more, waiting to be sent home. Lethargic kids wait in the lobby for pick-ups. Sicker ones, buckets at the ready, are in the deans' offices, praying for a parent's prompt arrival.

The faculty isn't faring as badly as the kids, though some have a gray complexion and aren't eating much. All of us are going through Purell Hand Sanitizer like crazy.

It's made me think of a really good book I read some years back, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. While I don't think we're heading into anything as deadly as The Plague, it was an outstanding story, and I'm glad I read it. You might like it, too.