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The Dirty Rat

There once lived a dirty rat, he had dirty hands. He rarely washed his hands and if he did, he didn't properly wash them, nor did he even wash them for the suggested 20 seconds of duration.

What the rat did not understand was that all the medical journals stated that if he did not wash his hands, disease would spread. The rat, like most rats, ignored science and found it to be nothing but utter malarkey.

Then one day, after closing a business deal with a merchant rat, the two shook dirty rat hands and then it happened; disease spread by contact, the cause: dirty, filthy, unclean hands! Oh the horror! Why didn't he listen to the warning, why was proper handwashing not a law?!

The infected rat showed no signs of the plague, nor did he go to a doctor for an occasional check up because his work didn't offer rat medical insurance, so how was he to know.

The dirty rat continued to touch other rat hands, public objects, and food with his infected hands, thus, infecting more and more rats. These newly infected rats had poor handwashing hygiene as well and they touched other dirty rats, public objects, and food, consequently the disease spread like a California wildfire.

The plague was a terrifying disease, the symptoms included: fever, chills, abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. Furthermore, bleeding from the mouth, nose, rectum, or even under the skin was common. Lastly, blackening and death of tissue (gangrene) occurred primarily in the fingers, toes and nose.

This horrifying plague began to infect all of Europe, including the humans. No one could escape it. It became known as the Black Plague.

And it was all started thanks to one lazy and uneducated rat who chose to ignore all the warnings, all the information, who chose his own route, unknowing of the unintended consequences his individual actions would cause. One rat, one individual choice, that ended up affected millions of rats, animals and human beings.

One poor choice that had damaging consequences for the entire world.

"Each decision matters." - Cardi B

THE END