I have decided to gather a crew. It will consist of me and my lifelong companions from the city we love so much. Mathas, Sebastian, Arlo, Rafael, Bernard, Loren, Miguel, all great Christian men who live and die by the cross. They will form the backbone of many a voyage to the holy places of the world. We shall become as wise as scholars twice our age!
Today I called a meeting of the future Valencian Pilgrims' Band under the pretense that I had something dire to share in private. Such urgency was genuine but with a more excited character than I let on. Our council met under the tallest apple tree in the city, its aching branches showing their age with their barren forms. No more fruit adorned that noblest of trees. Rot has started to claim all new growths, preventing its legacy from continuing.
Rafael more than anyone else was ecstatic to see the world. He argued alongside me that our venture was worthwhile, not that the others needed much convincing. All of us were dying to stretch our legs and embark from Valencia. No matter how much we dreaded to leave our birthplace, we felt it necessary to venture forth at least once before we died.
YOU ARE READING
The Mad Pilgrim, or The Adventures of the Valencian Pilgrim's Band
Historical FictionAn unfortunately named historical document detailing the first exposure to a new breed of bubonic plague. New Chapters Daily until the 4th of September Word Count: 1,632
