Ted the Tick

Tick: (noun) a small, blood-sucking mite. Normally it lives on blood from larger animals, like deer, but it may also attach itself to humans.

We were sitting on the dock off the Liverpool Bay watching the sunset.

Looks peaceful, beautiful and full of love huh.

Claire finds a small, harmless little speck on her leg.

She inspects the harmless little speck a little bit closer.

The harmless little speck... a tick.

DUN DUN DUUUNNNNNNNN

Side note: I HATE ticks. I was the girl at girls' camp who couldn't sleep at night because I was paranoid that every little freckle, bump or itch was actually a nasty little tick. And honestly when I saw the tick with his head nuzzled deep into Claire's lovely, long legs I was laughing a little. I'd never seen one before and what can I say, a bug upside down is a little bit funny.

Back to the story:

We're walking back (forget the sunset. we have a tick to kill) when we are stopped by an old American couple who are so excited to see some fellow Colonists. While we were talking to them I brushed a little tickle away from behind my knee, looked down and saw the fatal "HARMLESS SPECK!!!"

A tick! A tick! In My, STALEY CARTER's Leg. And not only that, I must have brushed the body aside and the head was stuck in there.

"well, nothing you can do. That head is in there for good." the old yankee man said.

Disgusting.

We get home and absolutely no help from the hotel front desk girl (a crabby little girl who didn't have any matches or rubbing alcohol to offer).

Operation Room: the hotel room

Doctor: megan and jess

Patients: Claire and Staley

Tools: tweezers and carmax

I'm go to show the doctors my tick and I couldn't find the speck. NO! It's gone deeper! The skin grew over the head! GET IT OUT!

"Staley, there's nothing there!"

"Jess, just get out the tweezers and start digging!"

Basically, I kinda went insane and I apologize for that, because Claire had a legit parasitic problem and there I was freaking out because of a tick that I couldn't even find.

Happy ending, Dr. Looney got the tick out Claire's leg while Jess and I serenaded her with Beatles songs and for me? Well, I didn't have a tick. I even checked again the next day. Nothing.

And we all lived happily ever after.

Except for the Tick which Looney flushed down the toilet.

Love, Staley

P.s.

"We should name him."

"Ted the Tick"

"No! He can't have the name Ted! He's sucking my blood! Lucifer. His name will be Lucifer."

"Nah. Ted."