Festival of the Dead

Chapter 5: Guinevere works through the night

Despite her having less than the recommended amount of sleep, Guinevere had promised herself that she would not rest until she found the source of the illness. She resolved to continue working.

After several more hours, Guinevere was exhausted. She did not sit in her chair for fear of falling asleep in it. In all her clumsiness, she bumped into the table and knocked several beakers on the floor. Luckily, they were sealed, so nothing spilled from them. She picked one up and examined it. It was white, and the label on the beaker said, "Mothballs and Hemlock"

An idea struck Guinevere. She couldn't believe that she hadn't realized it earlier. All the exhaustion left her body in an instant as she instantly ran to her cupboard and pulled out her small wire cage. Then she grabbed her purse and ran outside. She felt a burst of icy cold air but ignored it. She was on the verge of a major breakthrough. She ran to the nearby dumpster, which was basically a collection of bins from the nearby houses. It wasn't long before she heard scurrying and a mouse popped out from one of the bins. Guinevere removed two fabric gloves from her purse and put them on. She picked up the small rodent, who was no larger than six inches across. She carried him back to the lab.

When they were back in the lab, she put the small brown mouse in the wire cage. She grabbed a syringe from the messy pile of tools in the center of her wooden table and filled it with the white liquid from the beaker. She then removed the mouse from the wire cage and held it up to the light. "Sorry, mouse." She whispered. "But your life could possibly save hundreds of others." And with that, she stuck the needle into the mouse's fur.

The mouse let out a loud squeak that went on for about ten seconds. Its legs thrashed and it squirmed all around. Then it went still. Guinevere smiled. She was not fond of the idea of killing a poor mouse, but she had just discovered the solution to the biggest problem in the town. She had recognized the symptoms with that of the man who had died the previous day. They were exactly the same. So this is what's been killing the people, she thought. But how are people able to acquire this substance? She did not know neither did she care. All that mattered to her was that she gets the word out to the public as soon as possible.

If she had it her way, Guinevere would have gone right then to the Parliament, but seeing as it was five in the morning, the council was probably asleep. She would have to wait until morning. But she couldn't sleep now, knowing that she had just found the information to save the town.

After waiting two hours, Guinevere gathered the cage, the syringe, the beakers, and all of her other supplies and rushed to the council building. She presented her experiment and evidence and, to her excitement, the Parliament was pleased. They agreed with her, having seen the proof, and instantly drafted a new law banning mothballs and hemlock from being kept or distributed in labs, shops, factories, and everywhere else that may store the substance.

The Parliament did an inspection shortly afterward to make sure that no company was hiding the dangerous substance. The border patrol added moth balls and hemlock to their search list.

A week passed, then two weeks, then a month. Not one person had died mysteriously since the new act. Guinevere Knutson was awarded an honorary medal. She didn't need it, though. All she cared about was the satisfaction of saving the people of her town. She would rub it in to Euandros and Lucan though. She was right, after all.

The End

(You may now start from a different character or read the second ending for this story)