Dear diary,
More and more people are dying in mysterious ways. The doctors suspect it's the plague again. I hope it isn't.
I've already lost my Auntie Jemma to this terrible disease. Father took the news hard. I don't want him to go through that pain again if mother or one of my brothers die.
I can only hope and pray every day that the 'black death' doesn't affect any more of my family members or friends.
Poor Annie has lost her father in battle and now her mother is sick. Annie keeps saying it's just a cough, but my cousin had 'just a cough' and now he's buried under ground in a coffin.
Mother tells me not to worry about it, but it's one of things were it lurks in your mind. Never leaving. And never letting you forget about it. Just the thought of anyone else dying from the plague makes me sick to the bone. It caused so much pain last time.
If everything turns out to be alright then I'll let you know.
From, Elizabeth.
Dear diary,
Nothing's been going the way it's supposed to be. My whole world seems to be spiralling out of control and I can't seem to find my own two feet.
Annie's mother has been locked up in the house. As I walk past her house every day I sometimes see Annie looking out of the window. She always seem to be pale and she has this distant look in her eyes. It is as if she is in a world of her own. That's the problem with Annie. When things start to get hard Annie disappears into a world of her own.
It's agony walking down the streets of London now. Wherever you look you can see houses with big fat red crosses painted onto the door. Anywhere you look there are always reminders that the Black Death is now among us.
Mother has been worrying non-stop about the plague. I actually think she is considering about leaving London with father, myself and my four older brothers. Father says that we have to stay if we want money.
They've been arguing a lot lately. I don't blame them though. Imagine if you were constantly stressing about your five children (four of them teenagers) and your husband as well as making sure you didn't snag the devil itself or as others call it 'The Black Death'
I haven't told anyone yet, but lately I've been coughing constantly. Every time I move my bones ache. My throat burns when I speak. I've been struggling to breathe as well.
Don't worry I'm sure it's just a small bug that'll pass over.
To be honest, I don't know who I'm lying to. Me or my diary.
From, Elizabeth.
Dear diary,
Annie and her mother are gone. I am now locked up in the house. Nobody comes by the house now except for the doctors.
My mother took my brothers away to the country side where my mother's brother live. We occasionally get letters from them.
The doctors came by the other day. The thing is they didn't bring any sort of good news. In a couple of weeks I'll be another lifeless corpse being dumped in a hole with a heap of other lifeless empty bodies.
I don't actually think I have a couple of weeks though. I barely have enough strength to move or walk, but at least it will soon be over.
As I'm writing this I can't help but feel depressed. I thought my life wouldn't end like this. On a bed, at home. All alone with no friends and barley any family. I'm dying at the age of 13. I had at least hoped that I would have been able to live until my 14th birthday.
This is it now. I can actually feel death take me away slowly. My father is out. I'm surrounded by darkness. The only light in the room is the small flickering candle. One of these breathes will be the last. I can feel it...
Dear diary,
Looking onto the now empty bed, I take another large swig of ale. The doctors and some grave diggers took away Elizabeth's soulless body. I had already alerted Veronica and she will hopefully be coming home soon with the boys.
Tears prickled my eyes. I chocked on a sob. Taking another big gulp of the alcohol, I decided to let it all out. My sobs echoed throughout the house.
She was gone. Elizabeth. My daughter. My ONLY daughter. Gone! And she can never come back. I wasn't even here when she died. What kind of father doe that make me?
First the plague has taken my sister. And now my daughter.
The doctors say that since winter is almost upon us the plague should probably die down. Well, at least for now. They have no idea if it could come back. If only she held on a little longer. She could have made it!
Here I am now, signing out forever out of Elizabeth's diary.
From Joseph.
Rest In Peace Elizabeth.
