Océane's Blog Post

Here is my blog post for today! It is written in the perspective of a mosquito who visits Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic. He even runs into Dolly Todd and her first husband!

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Today has been a particularly windy day, and my small wings and body are being tossed about into the streets of Philadelphia. I am absolutely famished, and can’t wait to tuck into another meal. Although I can eat pretty much all warm bodied creatures, I have a particular affinity for human blood. I hope Philadelphians taste good- I come from a long and proud line of suburban mosquitoes, and have never actually travelled to the city before. From where I come from, most of my meals consist of rodents, shrews, and the occasional dog, so I have decided to move to a place more concentrated by my favorite two-legged, hairless dish. 

But as I’m trying to spot someone to prey on, I realize there isn’t any food on the streets. All my friends back home told me there would be swarms of humans walking, running, and playing in the cobblestone roads of Philly. They described bustling markets filled with shoppers, and parks crowded with civilians. Instead, heavy doors constructed from ancient wood are shut and locked. Curtains and shutters are closed and drawn, backyards abandoned. Are humans in Philadelphia allergic to light? I ask myself as I buzz around the deserted streets. There seems to be an aura surrounding the city, one that is grey and dreary. I decide to examine further, my stomach grumbling in frustration. All of a sudden, I hear a cry of distress coming from a nearby house. Excited at the only sound of life I have heard from my visit so far, I glide to the windowsill of a house made of chestnut wood and coated in pale paint. I peer through the window, and I see a person lying on a bed. He looks gaunt and pale, his eyes glazed and sharp with fear. 

What’s going on? I hop and buzz around anxiously, feet tapping on the windowsill. I spot a crack in the wall, and swiftly fly through it. My wings flutter as I land on a desk propped up against the wall. And that’s when I see it. Much to my dismay, lying right there on the desk, is a newspaper. It reads, in terrifying, bold, black print:  “Mosquitoes plague the city of Philadelphia with deadly yellow fever!” (You may be wondering how it’s possible I can read. I would like to let you know that just because I grew up in a small town doesn’t mean I didn’t get a proper education.) Immediately, my heart quickens its pace, and panic grabs a hold of me. I know now that my kind, my very own species, are in danger of being brutally killed and repelled by these humans. Right on cue, a large and noticeably stressed woman opens the door to the room me and the sick human are occupying, in her hand a bowl of steaming hot soup. I can even see a single tear from her eye begin to creep down her face, but she immediately wipes it away. I know now that I must hide immediately in order to not be at the mercy of her enormous, gargantuan hands. She won’t just be looking to kill me- she will be looking for revenge. I attempt to swiftly fly behind a bottle of blue ink placed to the left of the desk, but the extremely loud buzzing of my wings gives me away. So much for my incognito getaway.

“You little-” For a moment, the woman makes eye contact with me, her bright blue eyes piercing right through my delicate exoskeleton. In a split second, her hands and arms were flying in a frenzy, attempting to smash me against the wall, knock me into the bed frame, crush me into the cold hardwood floors. I dodge her murder attempts with great precision, gracefully dancing through the air like a ballerina with wings. My quickest and safest pathway of escape will be the hole that I came in through. I try to fly towards it, but her hand manages to slap me midair, and I get thrown off course. I truly hope I didn’t break anything. The large human cries in annoyance as I avoid her next few attacks and rush through the crack in the wall. Tired and relieved, I crash onto the windowsill for a power nap. I can’t help but feel sorry for the sick human and the psycho lady. Their whole livelihoods could be robbed from an innocent mosquito that happened to carry a deadly strain of disease. As I drift off to sleep, I can only think of one thing- how excited I am to leave the city, and how grateful I will be to settle for some easier hunting grounds.