A short, short story written for creative writing club, without reviews.
It was a dark, dark time. A deadly disease was ravishing the city, killing many who came in contact with it. A purple rash was the first sign one had contracted this disease, but the symptoms would get worse from there. People would start to run high fevers and have awful sneezing fits. The rash would develop into raised purple bumps all over the body. With the buildup of mucus in the air passageways and the purple rash covering the face, many people would suffocate and die within a week of coming into contact with the virus. The people nicknamed the disease purple breath.
Luckily, a brave scientist discovered through dangerous research that the virus was only spread through droplets that expelled from the mouth when a person sneezed. This scientist began a public service campaign to inform all citizens to wear a mask to stop the spread of purple breath. Many people listened and worked hard to create masks for themselves and their loved ones. Soon, most people were wearing their masks, but the disease was still spreading and claiming victims.
The scientist began to worry. The city’s hospital couldn’t handle the amount of cases. One day the scientist was researching purple breath at the hospital when she noticed a visitor wasn’t wearing a mask. She approached him and asked him why he was not wearing a mask. When he started shouting about his personal freedom, she asked him to leave to protect other patients if he wouldn’t wear a mask. He stormed off fuming, and she wished she could force every citizen to wear a mask.
The scientist spent the rest of the day thinking about how she could make sure everyone wore a mask. By the time she got home she had an idea. She spent all night working on bringing her creation to life.
The morning light illuminated the scientist’s work bench as she put the finishing touches on her design. She put on her purple face mask to stop the disease and a purple mask to protect her identity and went out into the city.
She found the man from the day before at the hospital who refused to wear a mask. With a few quick flips, she slipped a mask over the man’s mouth and nose and tied the ear-loops in a large knot. With another flip, she had disappeared, leaving the man behind to shout in surprise that a bright purple mask had appeared on his face. He struggled to untie the mask, but the scientist knew her knots. He would need to find someone else to untie it for him.
The scientist went throughout the town, masking the few people who were brave - or stupid - to go outside without a mask.
She was not the hero the city deserved, but the hero the city needed - the Mask Vigilante.