Wednesday, August 30, 2017

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Post 1591. Wednesday August 30




The speckled monster it was called. Pock marked skin, bloodshot eyes and foul smelling breath. Folk died here, scores of folk who realised too late they'd passed close to the speckled monster.

They say it went away, but some believe it still lurks up there, disguised as creeping ivy waiting to strike again.  Others say it moved on and found new ways to cause misery and destruction by inhabiting the minds of those who would do us harm.

Beware the speckled monster.




* In 1796 Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccine referred to the virus as ‘the speckled monster which grasped every opportunity to colonise the world’



Thank you, Rochelle, for once again hosting Friday Fictioneers and Roger Bulltot for the photograph.


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47 comments:

  1. Dear Keith,

    With the halting of administering the vaccine in the States I wonder if the Speckled Monster isn't lurking around the corner. Well done.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. You never know! Thanks for hosting Rochelle.

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    2. This may interest you ....

      http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/07/six-vials-smallpox-discovered-us-lab

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    3. Thank you so much for that. It's incredible that those vials of the virus got forgotten. Fascinating.

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  2. A sinister tale and a nice bit of history there too. Nicely done Keith.

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  3. Very nicely done. I've seen a picture of a smallpox sufferer, and 'speckled monster' fits the bill very appropriately.

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    1. I'm not sure I want to see that picture! Cheers Sandra.

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  4. Oh that speckled monster... they say it's gone forever... but I wonder. So many diseases still lurking in the shadows.

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    1. They say what goes around comes around...who knows?

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  5. Nice piece of history. Thanks.

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  6. Nice historical reference Keith. Nicely twisted the prompt photo there too. Great stuff

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  7. We can only hope the disease has been eradicated... but who knows what lurks beneath... Nicely done!

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  8. this story made me shiver. scary stuff.

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  9. Let us hope that the once dreaded disease doesn't raises its ugly hear er its ugly mark.
    A bit of background history of the vaccine. A good post, Keith.

    https://ideasolsi65.blogspot.in/2017/08/helpless.html

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    1. Hopefully not , but if it were to we would be better able to control it today I imagine. Thanks KLalpana

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  10. The speckled monster sure sounds scary. Loved your take on the prompt

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  11. I wasn't familiar with the term, Speckled Monster. Thanks for sharing that bit of history. Well done, Keith. - Russell

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    1. Careful it doesn't creep into your garden Russell!

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  12. Nice bit of history, I hadn't heard that term before. Lurking just round the corner to strike again... urk!

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  13. Brilliant take.

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  14. Most cool. That comment at the end describing the "real" spectacled monster pulled it all together. Very nicely done!

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  15. Thank you for that bit of information. I loved how you have taken that into the story.

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    1. It was something I heard many years ago and it stuck in my mind. I hoped it might come in useful one day!

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  16. Wonderfully written – a beautiful blend of history, metaphor, and atmosphere.

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    1. Thanks Joshua, I'm so pleased it worked for you.

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  17. Gosh! That made my stomach churn :(

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  18. Very good use of the prompt.

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  19. This is really haunting. From the monster disease to the monster minds, and finding protection from each is very difficult.

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  20. Actually, that's a pretty accurate way of looking at any microbial. They never know when to quit.

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