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Just a Tick (8 ) : Ticks aren’t a big problem in the city, but with all the parks and forests, it’s not an impossibility. Most people probably won’t ever have to deal with them. But you do. These ticks are almost never larger than a pea, but they have a strange, white shell. Once they’ve fed once, their shell turns shiny and deep red, like a ruby, and stays that way–forever. It takes only about fifteen minutes for them to seemingly fossilize, and by then it’s incredibly difficult–and painful–to get them off of the skin. Pulling too hard or irresponsibly can cause them to detach incompletely and cause a slow bleed from the tiny, unhealing pinpricks it left behind. Victims often report feeling lightheaded and fatigued regardless of how little blood they actually lost. The ticks are almost impossible to destroy once they fossilize, but with great effort they can be crushed into dust. You could keep them as a weird memento, but…
She knew about the dangers of ticks. Lyme disease was a true concern. There were also a few other blood born illnesses that could be passed. Add on the general ickyness of it all and ticks were something Dawn did her best to protect against. Especially since she regularly acted as a dog walker, it was decent money and it allowed her to play with the puppies that were on her client list. Sadly school did put a dent in time but she still did her best to continue to walk the dogs on the weekends and during the breaks, in between her other odd jobs as well. And even that time was slowly winding down, as each day passed she was getting that much closer to her graduation date next year. As long as she was able to stay on her current trajectory that is.
But that was all things to focus on later, right now she needed to check over her current charges for any burrs, fleas, or ticks after their outing to the dog park. All four had been treated for the fleas and ticks but it was still best to check. Besides, they seemed to enjoy being brushed. And the treats at the end didn’t hurt either.
An hour later and the dogs had been thoroughly checked, deburred, and brushed out. Each one was quickly walked back to their owners and with that Dawn’s job was done for the day. Of course her day wasn’t over, she still had her next job to go to.
By the time the sun had set and Dawn stumbled home she was tired and lightheaded. Something she shrugged off by skipping lunch even as she chugged some water. She still needed to read two more chapters from her textbook before she could call it a night, but first she wanted a shower. It was in the shower that she found the unpleasant parasite that had apparently been enjoying her blood for who knew how long, likely all day if it happened at the dogpark. Unlike typical ticks this one was red, deep shiny red. Dawn knew she had been careful, long pants and tall socks, but obviously hadn’t been careful enough.
Concerned but calm she took the appropriate steps in removing it. She used a pair of fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the hard little shell as close to her skin as possible and pulled upward with steady, even pressure, ignoring the surprising pain that radiated out from the bite. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been bitten by a tick before but this was the first one that was not only this color and hardness but also hurt to remove. Once it was off of her she quickly flushed it down the toilet and began to clean the area with an antiseptic, along with the tweezers and her hands. She didn’t want anything to possibly become contaminated with that bloodsucker. It was bad enough she had gotten bit, Dawn didn’t want to have any issues further in the future. As it was she was going to have to keep a close eye on her leg for a while, just in case.
The petite woman stood and wobbled a bit when she got a head rush. Maybe it was from how long she had been sitting while taking care of the tick or lack of nutrients or sleep or really any number of issues. “Fine, fine….” She muttered to herself even while making her way over to her kitchenette. Obviously her body was telling her to rest so her books would have to wait until tomorrow. Food first and then sleep.
And worry about the bite tomorrow.
