Little Billy

         One day the world will be perfect. That's what we tell ourselves. We grow up dealing with problem after problem, each getting progressively more complex as time passes. Yet we still wake up in the morning. We carry on with our lives in the hopes that the lives of our children will excees our own.
         Despite our best efforts, each child faces their own concoction of endless problems. Each generation experiences the effects of the previous generation.
         Once upon a time there was an orange. From the outside it looked perfect. The peel had, to all apearances, protected the gooey juicy fruit within from the world around it. As everyone tore through peel it was quickly revealed that the fruit itself had rotted away. The peel was just a deception.
         Despite realizing that something was wrong with the fruit, some people gleefully ate the rotten pieces. They smiled so proudly, proclaiming that they would not be affected by what ever pathogen had corrupted the fruit. Despite their enthusiasm, the pathogen held them as well. Within a days time, those who ate it started to become very sick. Yet still they went along as if nothing had changed. Their fevers were highly infectious though, and within a short period of time the majority of the population has come down with this mysterious illness.
         At first it looked like it might just be a really bad cold. Then the deaths started to role in. Even though it started with food, the disease itself appeared to be spreading through the air. More and more people were catching it everyday. With every newly affected individual there seemed to be 10 times as many deaths. People became scared and sufdenly hyper aware of how dangerous everyday actions, like eating at a restaurant, could be.
         Luckily there was a savior. An organization that wanted to help reduce the amount of casualties and hopefully stop the spread of the disease entirely. Having deduced that this was an airborne pathogen, this organization strongly recommended that everyone wear masks to reduce the spread of the virus. It worked. While there still were cases, the amount of people who were reporting having the virus dropped immensely.
         With time this organization even pushed a vaccine through to the public. Than two more and even a booster shot was approved. People started to go back to everyday life. They thought that the virus was gone simply because they had gotten the vaccine, or because other people got the vaccine. However, the cases started to rise again. Since the community never reached heard immunity, (about eighty percent of the population being vaccinated) the virus mutated. A new variant came out that was highly infectious and just as deadly. With no one wearing their masks and at over thirty percent of the population beint unvaccinated, the virus started to gain power again as it still does today, with an ever rising death tole.

         Well this is a ficticious story based around real events, the fact is that wearing masks helps to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus. With some of Covids symptoms being mirrored in flu symptoms it is more important than ever to be taking steps to reduce the likelihood of getting either illness. Getting vaccinated helps a lot, but for kids under 12 years old that is not an option. By having a bunch of kids together who are not vaccinated there is an increased risk of children getting one or both of these illness. Both illness can lead to death. For the health and safety of both yourself and those around you, wearing a mask is essential. Even if vaccinated there is still a chance that you can be affected with the virus.