18 February, 1873 -
Hello, dear reader. My name is Edward Growler, and I hope this writing finds you well. I am starting off here under the assumption that you are reading this for a good reason – it is likely that I have by now died, and know not what year it is or how much time has passed on our God’s Earth since my passing. And, I, myself, am writing this for a reason. I am duty-bound and morally obligated as any fine gentleman to inform all, who I can reach with my words, of my great mistakes, that they may never be repeated. I hope, my dear reader, that you care to listen and heed my dire warnings, that you may never suffer the horrors that I have brought upon myself and my family — this is the reason for which I write. The title may seem to you to be so fantastical as to be impossible, merely something which I have created with my imagination, but I assure you, dear reader, that is not the case at all. I do realize how it must seem, given the title, but the horrors we have witnessed and experienced... well, I wish it were all in jest, but I write this, seeking to inform and to warn as many living and thinking souls as I may, that you may learn from my hubris and my mistakes, and that you may not find yourself in such a situation that I have found myself in, having endangered and disrupted the lives of not only myself, but of my family, and all other good men and beings around us by all my arrogance.
It all began on a misty June day. You see, my dear reader, I was once upon a time, a most well-regarded man of science, of medicine, of knowledge, and much more. I had saved hundreds of lives in our growing English city of London, and had studied at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, obtaining an MD; I had even known and learned from James Blundell, who also studied at the same University, one of the most brilliant physicians of our time, who performed the first successful transfusion of human blood to a patient for treatment of a haemorrhage in 1818. I, of course, do not know for certain in which year you may be living, but I will inform you that these events of which I write transpired in the years of our Lord 1867 – 1873. I was a well-known physician, having built up for myself a good private practice in the city, and did fairly well for myself, indeed. I was born and grew up in Slough, west of London, but was lucky enough to be born into wealth and had a family which supported my education as a physician; I moved to London and started my practice in 1843. having graduated and obtained my MD in 1842, being 24 at the time. I was keen and hungry for knowledge all throughout my youth and into early adult-hood; in particular, medicine, and the sciences of various types, but most especially the natural sciences and those of the human body, interested me the most. How I remember, growing up, sitting outdoors in our great garden, reading and studying various books and manuscripts regarding the anatomy of the human, regarding the various discoveries and great progressions of the times; it brings such bittersweet nostalgia and fills my eyes with tears.
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How time flies indeed, my dear reader, but what a fool I was at the time as well. Little did I know what the search for knowledge may sometimes become and lead us into. Little did I know indeed – for which, again, I write, that I may warn all good men who come after me, to not pursue that which is never meant to be pursued and found, for certain forms of knowledge God has made difficult to find for a reason. Nevertheless, I at the time was young and foolhardy, wishing to do good, to help, and to understand the world around us. It is a natural yearning so many of us truly feel within, and for this d reason we study, do good works, help one another, and form societies and share knowledge and experience; that we may advance and grow all-together. And yet, knowledge must have its boundaries as all other existing things and beings do; what occurs when we venture beyond them is not meant for man. As foolish as I was, I dared to apply my workings and understandings to venture beyond, in hopes of discovering and advancing all of our lives, yet now I understand my error, my folly, and write so that I may warn, that such horrors may never be repeated on our Lord’s magnificent world again.