Recess
Audrey Deng Genoese sailors have long been blamed for being the catalysts for the bubonic plague, for they were the ones who sailed their ships far and wide, unwittingly bringing their stowaways, diseased rats, to countries along the Atlantic coast. Turns out that these rats were the diseased vessels. The problem wasn’t the sailors themselves, but the stowaway rodents they carried in the 14th century. The malady spread quickly, but saw its near-complete end in the 18th century, long after the sailors were alive. During their lifetimes they had been hated; people blamed these sailors for the plague outbreak, and a little unfairly so. Many sailors died hating themselves for what they had inflicted upon humanity. After all, the world was supposed to end. I decided to use my time machine to bring back Pietro, a Genoese sailor, to show him that the bubonic plague didn’t end human civilization like they believed it would at the peak of the crisis. I took him to the best place to showcase contemporary human health and vitality: elementary school. ME: Well, here we are: my old elementary school. Look at this playground—these kids are all so healthy and full of vitality, don’t you 86
