100 Word Challenge: Poison

After weeks of back breaking work, I have finally reclaimed my back yard from the prickly vines, pine needles, over-grown grass and the accumulation of years of dead leaves. (I have a fairly large yard so it’s not like I walk out my back door a few feet and that’s it. It stretches back 60 feet or more, and it’s every bit as wide.)

In all that time, more than a month of carting out wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of vicious vines, not once did I suffer from anything other than sore muscles and a few minor scratches.

That was until the last day. The last bag of yard debris was hauled to the curb and the final load of limbs and creepers was dragged from the yard. THAT NIGHT the first signs of itch began. By the next morning my arms looked like what you imagined cooties were when you were a kid. (I’ll save you the horror of a pic of the scaly grossness.)

And THAT itch!

There is no way to get comfortable when your skin feels like it’s being eaten alive by fire ants.

From bicep to wrist I have slathered on pink, chalky calamine lotion and when that stops working, I turn to sticky white cortisone cream, and occasionally the clear, hydrocortisone gel – with aloe. In-between, I’m popping Benadryl like Tic Tacs.

Dr. Google tells me to expect the rash to last as long as three weeks. I do not like Dr. Google.

I got cocky. I know what poison ivy and poison oak look like. I just didn’t care. A little advice, gloves alone will not save you.

“There is a range of symptoms and treatments for poison ivy rash — people generally treat poison ivy with home remedies, and it heals after two or three weeks.” WebMD, Symptoms and Treatments for Poison Ivy Rash

This week’s word is:

Poison

What to do:

Using “poison” for inspiration, write 100 Words – 100 exactly – no more, no less. You can either use the word – or any form of the word – as one of your 100, or it can be implied. Include a link in your post back here, and add your story to the Mister Linky list. If you don’t have a blog, you can leave your submission in the comment section, or as a Facebook status post. Remember to keep spreading the love with supportive comments for your fellow Wordsters.