Previous Life:

Edward's story

Chapter 1

I squinted my eyes as the sun poured threw the sheer piece of glass. It was already mid-day. Time then seemed to go by so fast, from what I remember. It was the year 1918 and I had just turned 17, in my fathers eyes I was now considered a man. Both my parents had high hopes for me to become something of myself, a man with responsibilities, hopes and dreams. I carried myself very well I thought, but then again I was young and naïve.

"Edward, get up and go help your father at the mill!" I heard my mother call.

"Yes, mam." I mumbled. My father worked at the Pendleton Woolen Mills, working late nights to put food on the table. My mother stayed at home, keeping an eye on the house work and managing the fields. We lived in a little house off the corner of Homesdale, it wasn't anything special, but it was home. I slowly pushed the sheets back and forced myself out of bed. I could already hear the busy streets outside, and the impatient drivers honking their horns. It wasn't exactly peaceful here. I threw on my boots and headed downstairs, ready for a hard days work.

"Morning." I said kissing my mother on the cheek.

"Did you get a good nights worth of sleep?" She asked, handing me a plate of eggs.

"enough."

"Good, because you're going to need it today." she answered back, smiling.

I sighed as I quickly finished up breakfast. My feet hit cobblestone, as I began my daily walk to the mill. People were bustling everywhere as usual, anxious to make it to work and not be a minute late. I hated mornings, and I hated crowds. "Hey Ed!" I heard over my shoulder. I turned around, it was Tom. Tom was my closest friend, we grew up together. He worked in the mill as well, working hand in hand alongside his father. Our fathers met through the company, and introduced us. Sooner or later we were spending every minute together, mostly investing our time in playing tricks on his older sister, Anna. She was a year older than I, and beautiful. Tom would mock me every time I would gawk or stare.

"Have you read the famous news line?" Tom asked, with eager eyes.

"What news line?"

"The one about the Great pandemic. They say it's spreading faster than anything they've ever dealt with. Look!" Tom handed me today's paper. I slowed my pace as I read the title:

MANY ARE DEAD; MANY FEAR

The Public Health reports issued their first pandemic report from Alabama. It was stated to spread throughout all the states, and fast. Some called it the Great Pandemic, but soon it would come to be known as the Spanish Influenza. It was a plague, it was death.

When it finally came to my 12:00 lunch break, I stood outside against the wall smoking my usual camel light. I watched the crowd carefully, listened to the bustling of moving feet against the pavement. I searched for a happy face, a content soul. Nothing. Everyone seemed to fall into a depression, it was like they saw no glistening light at the end of the tunnel; just a dark endless pit. The Great War was still going on, and people seemed to still preoccupy their thoughts with when the war would finally cease. I was thirteen when the war first started, just a boy. I remember it very clearly the morning when my mother told me in the kitchen that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. That's when everything seemed to go into an uproar, and many innocent people lost their lives.

"The Flu! The Flu!" an old woman bellowed. I turned my head in her direction. She was dressed in old tattered clothes, and looked as if she hadn't washed in weeks. She was holding up today's newspaper and pointing with her index finger to the headline.

"It's deadly, and it's coming!" she carried on. She repeated this several times, marching up and down the same block. Women grabbed their children and walked faster when she got too close. Men just shook their heads at her and mumbled "Old hag" when she walked by.

I listened as two woman rushed by. "Did you hear, about that dreadful pandemic?"

"yes! Isn't that awful? I hope it doesn't reach Chicago." the other one answered.

I ignored as I took another drag, and headed back to my shift. It was late when my father and I had finally headed back home. My mother would already have dinner prepared and waiting for us on the table.

"Father, have you heard about the pandemic?" I asked. "Ah, yes I have. Seems pretty serious now, don't you think? It's supposedly spreading fast."

"Do you think it would hit Chicago?" I asked him. I remember to this day being worried, and the panic in my voice when I asked that question.

"Nah, my boy. I don't think it's going to come anywhere near Chicago, no worries." my father reassured. He was being kind by lying, for he knew in his heart that it would soon spread faster than anything he'd seen before.