The Villager & The Coronavirus Bear
Quarantine Story Time
Written Originally March 25
Hello!
If you’ve watched my other videos, you know that I’m a writer currently working to become a full-time, independent, self-employed career author – but I’m not there yet. Since we’re all at home together, I thought I’d read you guys a little story. I live in Texas, in an area that has just been directed to shelter in place. This is a conservative southern state that is also rich with folklore and tall tales, parables of how we should live our lives. That’s the kind of story I want to present to you today – a fable of sorts, called the Villager and the Coronavirus Bear.
The Villager & The Coronavirus Bear
One cold spring day, you decide to visit your grandmother. There is a thick stretch of woods between the village where you live and where your grandmother lives. But these are familiar woods and while no woods are ever completely safe, since it is a wild place, you know your way through them, and understand the dangers therein. You start to walk through the woods with your trusty staff in hand. The name of your staff is Employment.
Now, you’ve heard of a particular bear that roams the woods. The Coronavirus Bear. Known for being stealthy and vicious, the Coronavirus Bear has made a name for itself in far-off villages for decimating populations. Many injured, many dead. Entire villages have been forced to stay inside while the Bear roams without, waiting. It’s indiscriminate, knows no boundaries drawn by man and respects the authority of neither king nor corporation.
You think that Bear is still in some far-off village. But when you hear the rustling, it’s not long before you spot it. There, in your very own wood. You scramble to get away. You didn’t realize how fast it is. You think maybe you’ll run back to your village, but you don’t want to lead it there. You’ve heard stories of how it will go from house to house attacking everyone in sight. No, the safest the village can be is if everyone stays inside, doors locked up tight. So you run. You know you can’t go to your grandmother’s. The Bear will surely kill her. So you run.
You evade the Bear as best you can. You avoid the places people go, so as not to draw the Bear to them. You keep to yourself. You play it safe. Because you know every minute that out there in the wood, the Bear is stalking you.
In the back of your mind, a part of you wonders about your house in the village. While you’re trying to survive out in the woods, you can’t gather supplies. You can’t grow crops. You’ll have nothing to pay the landlord when rent comes due. You think perhaps that the landlord will have mercy on you and the other villagers – but the castle the landlord lives in isn’t paid for, either. It’s owned by the bank. The bankers know about the Bear in the woods, and about the villagers sheltering in their homes, but they remain silent. They are favored by the King, you see, who could cancel all debt until the Bear moves on, but the King does not. The King says that the Bear will move on quickly. That perhaps everyone shouldn’t shelter as long. Who else, he says, will work the markets that fill his pockets? The bankers nod and agree. The king always bails the banks out and he wants to make sure they continue to be paid as well, so the banks continue to demand payment from the landlord. Who will continue to demand payment from you.
It is a good thing that you have your trusty staff of Employment. It has helped you survive your time in the wood. With it, you may have enough to pay down your debts when the Bear passes, as it surely must. One day, you awaken and nearby, a group of people have gathered for a picnic. They have heard of the Bear and think that it is a myth. But you know that the Bear is no myth and no sooner than you go to shout at the party to disperse does the Bear come thundering through the trees!
It rips through the party, follows them back to their homes, to their loved ones and attacks them all. Then the Coronavirus Bear comes back for you. You hold it off with your staff of Employment! First, you can keep it at bay with the long end of the staff, but it pushes and growls and it’s much stronger than you are. Soon, you are holding the staff long-ways, with both hands, barring the bear from mauling you! You are face to face with it, growling, snapping, sapping you of your energy –
And the staff breaks. You are now unemployed. You stand frozen with fear. The Bear is still as well, as if stunned just for a moment. There is no hate in its eyes. Only hunger. You know then the terror of an impartial force set against you. What about the landlord at home, waiting for you? What of your other debts? What about the people who depend on you making it out the wood, whole and well? As you stare down the teeth of the Bear, who towers over you, a hulking mass of uncaring nature, what do you do?
It so happens that there are two knights who roam the woods. They have seen and heard your struggle and appear! They cannot act directly against the Bear, for as we all know, only the Mages of the Sciences are learned in the magic that would drive back and kill these kinds of beasts. They are at work across the Kingdom and the world, but your fight is here. These Knights, however, share the round-table with the King, who is the leader of the wealthiest Kingdom in the history of the world. They know your plight. They each announce that they are there to help.
Here! Shouts the Red knight! Take this stick to defend yourself! It is much like the one you had!
You reach for it.
Wait! Cries the Green Knight, who knocks the stick back, out of your reach. The Bear, meanwhile, circles you, every circle a little narrower, a little closer.
While you are dithering, he could have had his help! The Red Knight fumes and extends the stick to you again.
I was not dithering, the Green Knight says as he produces a shield. He offers it to you. The Red Knight has agreed to build castles for the Earls of this land if he can get you to accept his offer of the stick. The Earls of the Airlines, of Pharmaceuticals, of the Banks and anyone else he deems fit. Castles for them, and one stick for you. These woods belong to your village, don’t they? The Green Knight asks, shaking his head. Where do you think The red Knight got that stick? It’s yours already.
If you take that Shield, the Red Knight rebuts, the Green Knight will force the costs of the Earls’ castle to be paid instead to the villagers that work for them! He will make the Earl promise to make sure the villagers keep their staffs of Employment. You’ve already lost yours – why should they be protected?
Villagers like me? You ask.
Temporarily, the Red Knight says. You may one day, er um, be an Earl yourself. Imagine how annoying it is to be obligated to provide for those who just work for you?
You take the Shield. The name of this Shield is Worker’s Rights, the Green Knight tells you. The Red Knight’s stick is one protection, one time. With this, you will be able to defend yourself not only against the Coronavirus Bear for the duration of its attacks, but against any other creature that comes down your path. Including, if need be, the Earls of this land who have so much disdain for their villagers.
Preposterous! The Red Knight cries and tosses the stick aside. He produces a sword.
Take this! He says triumphantly. Yes! You shout as you shield yourself from the charge of the Bear. I need something to fight the Bear! Perfect!
You reach for it, but the Red Knight pulls back a little.
What are you doing? You yell, eyeing the Bear’s distance from you. Give me the sword!
This sword is made by a fine craftsman, the Red Knight tells you. It’s not something to be given away. What can you pay for it?
Pay?! You shout. What do you mean, pay? I had a staff, Employment is what I was using before! But I don’t have Employment any more!
That’s a shame, really. You never simply have this sword. You make payments to the Earls of Healthcare and Gilead and they in turn, decide when and how and who, including you, can use the sword. So again, what do you have to pay for it?
Nothing! I’m literally dying here! Please! You beg as the Bear throws itself against your shield. You are tired. You are angry. You are hurt. But you are not alone.
Take this, the Green Knight says gently, and hands you an axe. The Red Knight screeches – he can’t have that!
It’s the same ax that you and I carry, the Green Knight says to the Red. It’s the same ax that every other kingdom gives to every villager to protect themselves with.
They have Staffs of Employment! The Red Knight screeches. That’s how we know they can pay for the Swords!
They will need a tool after this fight! The Green Knight bellows. The Red Knight rolls his eyes. You are always yelling and complaining about something. The Green Knight says – louder than before - Not every villager will always have their staff! This axe is not just to fight the Coronavirus Bear. It’s to fight everything from the gremlins of common colds to the Wraith of Cancer. They won’t need to wield it every day, but when the time comes it will be there.
But how much will it cost? The Red Knight asks slyly. From beyond, the Blue Knight chimes in, Yes I think it’s something to consider. How can we afford to give an axe to all the villagers? We should focus on this now and one day, down the line, you know, make a push for it. In moderation.
The Green Knight looks all in the eye. You. The Bear. The Red Knight. The Blue Knight. Quietly, he says,
I do not care how much it costs.
He gives you the ax. You tighten your grip on the handle and adjust your shield. It feels natural, and as familiar as the woods themselves.
There is no end to this story, because we’re still in the woods. But when we emerge on the other side – will we have the Axe of Medicare for All and the Shield of Worker’s Rights to show for our battle with the Coronavirus Bear? Or will we return to a world that has more castles in it for the Earls, but is littered with unemployment and debt for the rest of us?
A lot of us are entering into this fight already struggling with debt, with mental and physical health issues, underinsured, or not insured. We were already in a state of crisis. The shield and the ax are out there. This isn’t going to be the last fight we fight. It’s time we figured out what kind of world we’re willing to go back to, and how prepared we are going to be when we arrive in it.
Stay informed, stay prepared, and stay involved.
If we make enough noise together, at the same time, we’ll be more than loud and clear. Our voice will be deafening.