published in the Toucan Times:
close encounter
late one evening, i was sitting at my kitchen table, calmly working away on my computer when i felt what i thought was my cat brushing up against my toe. looking down, i nearly hit the roof when i saw the five inch brown body with the up curved tail. my heart was beating wildly as i leapt for the broom to try to beat the life out of the despised scropion. once rid of the dreaded beast, i was shaking and so wide-awake that i had to force myself to finally fo to bed at midnight. i have been told that when scorpions start to visit you, to burn paper or grass clippings near your house so that the smoke enters. apparently, scorpions don’t like the smoke. however, if you do get stung, drink sugared water and seek further assistance.
Looking back:
*I didn’t get stung that time, and I had many other close encounters. Scorpions hid in my paper towel rolls, and the worst was when, lying in bed, a little creepy one crawled over my leg. EEK! I did, however, get stung by a scorpion, when I was in Dangriga. A scorpion fell out of the thatch roof, hit Aaron’s leg, bounced on to the top of my foot and stung me. I was shocked, “it bit me” i kept saying. I was given a plate of rice and beans and told to calm down. I did not end up going dancing that night as planned.
