A Horrible Epidemic

She broke open the fortune cookie she got from the Chinese Restaurant and to her surprise, there was a map on a tiny slip of paper. On the back, there were the words - “Whoever breaks open this fortune cookie has the responsibility of saving the world.” Agatha, the girl who got this cookie, was taken aback. She only read the backside and her mum called her for dinner. Agatha left the cookie on her bed and ran off. She was pondering over what she had just read. “Save the world, but how?” Agatha thought to herself. Then, she went and read the front. The map of Wuhan in China was on the front. It said, “WUHAN, MAINLAND CHINA, HUBEI PROVINCE” on top and “VIRUS, VIRUS” at the bottom. “What baloney!” Agatha thought. One look at the fortune cookie and she decided that the whole thing was false. So, she decided not to tell anyone about this stupid fortune cookie, in fear of spreading panic about a silly virus, which she was pretty sure didn’t exist.

But somehow, Agatha just couldn’t stop thinking about that fortune cookie. She felt that someone was trying to tell her something, to let her know, that there was a danger lurking around, one that only she could fix with her tact and skill.

Two months later….

Flash news – Coronavirus, aka COVID-19 takes over the world. WBF predicts fall in the world economy. Over 20,000 cases predicted in two days. Epicentre – China, Wuhan, Hubei Province. In a matter of seconds, Agatha remembered her fortune cookie. She decided to spill the beans about it to her parents. On hearing this, her parents wanted to see it. Agatha showed them the cookie and her father immediately said, “Agatha – see this! We must do something to save the world! The fortune cookie says that the virus leaked from a vaccine developing lab in Hubei, which buys all sorts of viruses and diseases from around the world, in an effort to develop antibodies and vaccines from them, although the WHO advised them against it. “We need to get there!” Agatha stared at her dad as he ran along to book tickets. As her mum went after him, she just halted to talk to Agatha. “Dear, it’s good you told us now, otherwise flights to Wuhan would have been blocked by then,” her mum said. “Mom, wait – the part about the vaccine developing lab, it was magical, it wasn’t there when I first saw it,” Agatha told her. “Dear, there has to be some external force guiding us – because beating some sort of worldwide virus – is definitely superhuman”, her mum replied.

Two days later, they landed in Wuhan. It was sort of hard to enter the lab, so they disguised themselves as security guards and crept in. There, set in in the centre of the lab desk, lay a large stone with the words:
“Touch the infected, and he shall be healed”
written on it. They took the stone and ran out from the back door. Then they out up a street notice in the busiest street of Wuhan. It read:
“All those suffering from Coronavirus, or experiencing any sort of symptoms, please report to the Parisian Royal Hotel, you shall be healed (Room 1007, 10th floor) - signed, Marita Selva (Agatha Selva’s mom).

Some people questioned how a person with zero medical experience could treat a global disease. Others felt that they should probably take a chance with the supernatural treatment.

Agatha and her family lived in the Parisian Royal Hotel and throngs flocked the hotel to be cured. “Well, you can definitely see the reach of this virus,” her dad said. “It’s good it has only spread till India, otherwise we would have had to travel all over the world. People from India and near China can easily come here,” Mum said. Agatha, mum, and dad took turns to touch people with the lifesaving stone and soon a crowd of happy cured people ran out. Nobody was infected anymore.

Agatha and her family returned to Dubai next day. “Ha! Looking forward to a relaxing weekend after all this travel, I’m too tired. I’m calling my PA Lianne to cancel my business trip. We did something that was mission accomplished! WHO declared it a PHEIC!” Dad said. “Well, I can’t help it, but we won the WHO Super Savior award, so we have to go to Geneva, Switzerland for the award ceremony,” Mum said. Agatha smiled, it was her adventure because of a fortune cookie she thought was false!