Wife: Oh, good gracious! A tick!
(gets tweezers, removes tick, flushes it)
7 seconds later finishes
applying makeup, gets dressed and starts
writing before work in her favorite chair
***********
Husband: (hollers from shower)
Can you come here?
I need you to look at something!
Wife: (hollers back) I’m not falling for that again.
Husband: No, seriously.
I think I have a tick.
Wife: I’ll be there when you get out.
Husband: (parading into living room
towel wrapped around his waist,
still half-wet, hair every whichaway,
pointing just under his left nipple)
No wonder I’ve been itching since
we got home from camping!
Wife: Are you sure it’s a tick? It’s
embedded deep. It’s not a mole?
Husband: I don’t think so.
Do you have tweezers?
Wife: Yes, I’ll get them.
(brings them from makeup bag)
Husband: Here, you try! (hands tweezers back)
Wife: (rolling eyes)
Husband: Well, I can’t see that angle
Wife: There’s a mirror right
behind you (digging at embedded
tick, husband wincing)
Husband: Here, let me try
(takes tweezers)
Wait, do you have different
tweezers? These aren’t lining up right.
Wife: (goes and looks for another pair
brings them back 3 minutes later)
Husband: (still digging) I got part of it
Wife: The head is still in there.
Husband: I’ll dig that out later. I’m
going to be late for work…..
(dresses, kisses her, grabs coffee, leaves for work)
Wife returns to chair to finish writing
<writes: Ticks ~ Husband vs. Wife>
Common Threads 
SO much is shown through the comparison of wife-husband in this slice! So clever! I especially love how you ended it, back in your chair, wriitng!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d like this post better with NO ticks! NO TICKS! And my reaction could have added another layer to a tricky post! The volume might have gone up a lot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kim,
You gave us a cliffhanger! What happened to the tick head? Is it out or in? I’ll admit: I don’t miss ticks. We don’t have them i. this part of Idaho, And did you check Boo Radley and the other pups for ticks? Stanley and Snug want to know. BTW: This reminds me of conversations I’ve had w/ Ken, but it’s usually some kind of geezer pimple or ingrown hair he wants me to fix.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! Love the structure of your piece and how you’ve created this slice as a kind of play script.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The difference between the two reactions is funny! I’d be more like your husband, in this case. Ticks are on my shudder-to-think-about-them list. I haven’t had one yet (that I know of) and I cringe at the thought of trying to get one out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What an amusing yet relatable tick-removal ordeal between the husband and wife! Your efficiency in quickly and expertly removing the tick contrasts hilariously with your husband’s struggle and eventual resignation to just leave the remnants for later. I love how you calmly returned to your writing while your hubby rushed off to work, leaving the tick situation unresolved. We, too, have different ways of handling situations… maybe I should write those down more often.
This was truly an entertaining commentary!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe commentary isn’t the right word. Structure?!
LikeLike
Thank you, Stacey! The writing sweeps us away to places where we don’t worry about the little things.
LikeLike
OH GROSS! I just went through this same dance with my husband. (Though – no tick on me, thank goodness.) Ugh ugh ugh. What a fun way to approach the subject – through poetry!
Hope he gets the rest of that being out from under….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks,Maureen! Always a dance when it comes to the ticks.
LikeLike
Ugh! I suppose one positive thing about ticks, and the only positive thing, is that you got a slice out of them (and a beautifully structured one at that)! We have so many ticks in Maine and there are serious problems with Lyme disease. My husband just had it for the third time!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh no! I have heard dreadful things about
Lyme!
LikeLike
Thank you for reading! We have moved offices this week so I’ve been slowly reading from last week. I’m
Ready for summer!
LikeLike
Oh my Lord! Getting the head is only THE WHOLE POINT! This rollicking scene is written so well that I can see and hear the characters (i.e., y’all) to the point of flinching at the wince. I have had many a round with ticks in my life – if they bite me, I’ll keep the mark for about a year. I hope to heaven the head is out by now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fran, I have been known to keep the dead tick in a bag for months in case I turn up with Lyme disease and need to show the original tick. Thanks for reading!
LikeLike
Oh, Kim! Yikes! I can learn a lot about you and your hubby from this conversation. I’m not real familiar with ticks, but I’m scared of and grossed out by them, specially that he had the confidence to go on to work without removing the whole thing! Wow!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Denise! Lots of ticks here in Georgia in the woods……and I can’t stand them!
LikeLiked by 1 person