This morning, Sam killed a spider on my behalf. I felt bad about it, since spiders are generally such helpful creatures. This particular one may be responsible for the disappearance of a mosquito that fed on me last week. Unfortunately, it also may be responsible for a welt I’ve had for five days. It would be worth it if it gave me mutant powers, but that doesn’t seem to be so. Unless surreptitiously scratching my left breast qualifies as a mutant power.
The itching started last Friday, causing me to go to the bathroom to check if a splinter had made its way into my bra. Nope. For two days, I searched for an apparent breach in the skin, to no avail. Searching the red area, I finally found a tiny site releasing puss. I tried antifungal ointment, antibacterial ointment. Once it was decided, by the lack of rash, that it was not antifungal, I moved to the hydrocortisone ointment. I’ve acclimated to the gentle itching, as there’s only so many times you can scratch your breast in public.
Speaking of breasts, I’m reminded of an incident about ten years ago, when I was living in New York. At Baha’i Children’s classes, a boy who had recently been introduced to the Faith and its prayers, wanted to say a prayer. Because he couldn’t read that well, another teacher was whispering parts of the prayer to him and then he was saying it aloud:
O God! Rear this little babe in the bosom of Thy love, and give it milk from the breast of Thy Providence. Cultivate this fresh plant in the rose garden of Thy love and aid it to grow through the showers of Thy bounty. Make it a child of the kingdom, and lead it to Thy heavenly realm. Thou art powerful and kind, and Thou art the Bestower, the Generous, the Lord of surpassing bounty.
- `Abdu'l-Bahá
We got through bosom okay. I guess because he didn’t know what it meant. Then we got to breast.
Teacher: (whispering) Breast
Boy: (whispering) What?
Teacher: (whispering) Breast
Boy: (whispering) What?
Teacher: (whispering) Breast
Boy: (shouting) I can’t say that!
Needless to say, the prayerful atmosphere transformed into a giggling one.
Posted by Shokufeh at June 9, 2004 12:53 PM...maybe a visit to the doctor's is advised for possible antibiotic treatment? I don't mant to be ugly, but the spider may have been looking for a victim for certain purposes.
Posted by: mademoiselle a. at June 10, 2004 02:24 AMi guess men and lesbians aren't the only ones attracted to boobs.
Posted by: meisa at June 10, 2004 08:29 AMAnissa, do you think it deposited eggs in me?!
That would be so gross and scary. But a really good story later.
You are your mother's daughter, Meisa - using the word "boobs."
Posted by: shokufeh at June 10, 2004 03:54 PMI was avoiding to give it a name...not to scare you overly, but since you're living in a tropical part of the world, you should be careful. How did the spot "develop"?
Posted by: mademoiselle a. at June 11, 2004 05:52 AMspeaking of funny prayer stories -- i heard one about a fourth grade boy who got to a line that said "and mirror forth My beauty," of course referring to God's beauty. but i guess the boy didn't like thinking about his own appearance in those terms so, while everyone's eyes were reverently closed, he reads the line and says "at least that's what the book says," loudly closes it shut and slides it across the table. it falls of the opposite side and on to the floor which causes the boy to loudly whisper "shoot! shoot!" yeah, the sunday school teachers had to muster all the will power possible to keep from laughing at that one.
Posted by: kari at June 13, 2004 08:08 AM