The Good Virus



Woof... Wooof... Barked Virus as he and Joel crashed opened the iron gate. Virus continued to bark incessantly to attract Joel's attention. It could feel his humiliation and disgust. 

" I won't go for a game of basketball with those rascals!!! " Fumed Joel as he carassed Virus with one hand while using other to demonstrate his agitation. 

" Why on earth do you call your friends rascals?" A shocked Mrs. Virus retortes. " Holy Me!! They have been your best basketball pals."

" They were. Its a thing of the past. DON'T YOU GO DEFYING THEM NOW..... Feel like SMASHING THEIR FACES with my baseball!!! " Fumes Joel and leaves the dinning room. 

Mrs. Virus smiles, knowing its not the best time to talk to her son. After all, a drop of water in hot oil could cause immense spluttering. She lets her boiling son settle over video games and bakes apple blueberry muffins for him. Smart woman that she is the soft muffins will definitely help the hard nut to crack. 

" Joieee... Joiee..  would you mind sparing a minute darling? " Requesting works wonders over commanding,  is her secret to successful parenting. The aroma of cinnamon added to the muffins has already made its way to Joel's olfactory lobes. To top it up, Mrs. Virus's affectionate cooing makes him walk down the teak wood staircase of the old Virus Mansion. 

" Yo Mommy... You are a baker par excellence. You never fail to get that supremacy in all your bakes. LOVE YOU MOMMY... YOU ARE THE BEST.. "Joel waffles in his mother's glory. 

" Oh son... You too are an out of the world progeny. "

" NO I AIN'T.... STOP CALLING ME OUT OF THE WORLD!!! " 

Mrs. Virus is scared by this sudden outbrust. But she maintains her calm composure with a serene smile for she knows the epicentre has been touched and now there will be pouring of the lava. 

" I'm not from another world." Sobs Joel. 

" I'm just from this world of California. On the West Coast, enjoying my beaches and animals in delight. Not from any East Asian country which enjoys its squid and octopus in dinner. I'm very much from this Trump Land. Don't call me OUT OF THE WORLD!!!"

Joel cries inconsolably.

Mrs. Virus being a professor of psychology at University of Southern California, is well aware of this IDENTITY Vs CONFUSION state in teenagers. She understands that such issues need to be tackled patiently and sensitively. 

She pulls her troubled teenager in her arms and listens to his suppressed anguish. 


*********


VIRUS... The mother son duo are googling this word on the internet. It is this scare of pandemic that has been the cause of her son's sorrow. The US media is buzzing with reports of innumerable deaths occuring in Wuhan, China. This virus called the Covid-19 strain of the Corona family is believed to spreading rapidly. Scientist of the world are believing it to be an animal infection transmitted due eating habbits of Chinese. But the exact cause or method of spread is not known. 

" Mommy, but why do they tease me if my surname happens to be Virus?" the cause of morning outbrust is being revealed in the evening. One of the vital lessons of parenting,  Mrs. Virus has learnt over the years- PATIENCE has to be applied here. 

" Sweety. Before we reason out why they are calling you so, let's understand the characters of a Virus. " Again the texts of psychology, guide her to calmly, cooly explain the stuff than just force it as a dictum. 

" A Virus, my dear son was the last discovered sub-group of micro-organisms. Its discovery was a delayed milestone as it shows no signs of life outside a host body. It has no machinery of its own and adapts to the machinery of the host cell. So notorious is its behaviour, that it can infect the smallest bacteria called Bacteriophage. There is no way scientist can kill it as it continuously mutates to survive." Mrs. Virus secretly reads out the article from wikipedia displayed on her tab from beneath the table. Joel has been attentively listening to this piece of real information. 

" Viruses can't be killed. Can't be conquered. They adapt to everything and can survive in hostile conditions for long. So don't you think its great to be a Virus? " Though formally looking like a question, Mrs. Virus has consciously traced the message on Joel's sub-conscious. 

" Wow!!! Mommy so we aren't bad. Infact we are really good. " Dances Joel. 

Wooof... Wooffss.. Virus his German Sheperd barks joyous as the humiliation is taken off. After all it carries the family name. 

" I have an idea Mommy. Can we change our surname to Algae or Protozoa? We still remain in the same family only there is a name change. " Joel doesn't wait for an answer. He rushes to share his new found knowledge with his friends. After all he seeks peer acceptance. 

Mrs. Virus fondly looks at her bundle of joy jumping away gleefully to the baseball court. Deep down, she is worried about the thing that she has just read on the internet about Virus Death scares which might put the entire world in a lockdown. The anxiety  over the pandemic fears her more than the baseball fights. But again she knows she has to keep smiling when Joel comes as always. 

The photo of her darling husband Dr. Jack Virus who had succumbed to the SARS infection while treating an infected patient, assures her. 

" My sacrifice won't go waste darling. There will be many Men In White who will come forward to heal beyond boundaries. " She feels a bout of regular illusion as she hears him. 

A tear gentlely tricks down. " Not all Viruses are bad after all"  

She closes the Wikipedia window and returns to her work with that eternal smile.

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