Virus 1
June found Mr. Conwin very polite and
co-operative soon after his admission to the ward, inspite of the fact that he
was obviously depressed. On doing a physical examination she found his limbs
swollen along with the fluid in his belly. This was removed by her senior for
testing to confirm that the fluid was all due to an increased pressure in his
liver. That night Mr. Conwin couldn’t sleep well.
He woke up next morning to find June at her
bedside. He was feeling groggy and she seemed to be asking him to keep his
hands extended from his wrists for some time. He wondered why one would want
him to do that. Nothing seemed to be making much sense any more since he had
been admitted to the hospital. Last night he had received this letter from the
virus that was supposed to be habiting his system, (which from the virus’s
microcosmic perspective) seemed a huge universe of its own.
Dear Conwin,
I am a Hep-B virus amongst the now
countless many inside your system liver. It is a desperate attempt to reach out
and communicate a tale of our life long struggle in a community hated and
hunted from its very inception. The present state of affairs is such that we
are nearing a perishable climax but more importantly, we seem to be dragging
down your system the body of Earth as well.
We were originally a tribe of fishermen
living off the ocean, in the west coast of a huge landmass of Hepatocytes. Our
earliest settlers had arrived on its shores long back and a strange tale of
their appearance has passed down verbally over generations. They claim to have
frequented a similar planet, with oceans, islands, palm beaches and plenty of
fun and frolic.
Once, on a yachting trip, his majesty, the
HBV virion along with HBeAg and HbsAg, two of our ancestors (at that time
probably in their teens) rode the waves a trifle bit longer than usual until
the main land mass of Hepatocytes grew smaller and smaller, at a distance.
There was a dark orange hue to the sky as the sun left an uneasy calm. It all
began at that moment when both of them prepared to tackle a rather gigantic
wave approaching and lifting them up. It became larger and larger, assuming
proportions of a gigantic mountain.
Preparing to meet death, they suddenly
found a huge steel tunnel piercing the sky and descending on to the ocean. They
watched open mouthed as the gigantic tube sucked all the water along with them
into its claustrophobic insides. It was, as if they were swept into another
dimension and some of us wondered if it was a near death experience. After, a
time, there was another gush of water from the other end of the tunnel,
probably water being emptied somewhere, thought HBsAg as he hung on to the
sides of the tunnel with all his might.
Before, long their tunnel pierced again
into another good old three-dimensional earth and as soon as it touched the
ocean, our boys started swimming for dear life. This time there was no suction
vortex and they managed to swim over to a similar landmass of Hepatocytes. It
was a complete virgin land in those days. None of the gory sky scrappers you
see in the present concrete jungle. There were lush green fields bordering on
dense forests, a hut or two, a fire to keep you warm for the night and that was
all the smoke it produced. Not like the smokes of presently upcoming power
plants.
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