Cornelius gets an Itch

Cornelius gets an Itch

Corny was so excited, he was going on vacation with his family and his best friend Seth was going along too. Seth and Corny had been friends since they were little kids. Seth was about the same height as Corny, but he was thin and wiry with straight black hair, olive black colored eyes and a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of his nose. Corny’s parents had rented a cabin in Hoppersville for a week. There was a General Store just down the road from the cabin, other than that they were pretty much surrounded by woods. Corny and Seth knew this was going to be the best week as the car turned into the driveway at the cabin.

Corny and Seth hurried to bring in their things so they could go explore. They both wanted to go to the store, so Corny’s mom gave them a list and some extra money to pick up a few things for dinner. The boys ran most of the way to the store and were breathless as they greeted the owner Mr. Pickens. He took the list Corny gave him and the boys looked around and decided to get a popsicle, orange for Corny and cherry for Seth. They enjoyed their treats with orange and red on both their lips, hands and shirts. They went to the bathroom to wash up. Corny handed over the money and they each grabbed a bag and were on their way. As Corny was turning into the drive he tripped on a rock and the eggs he was carrying went flying and Seth saw the eggs go flying and tried to catch them and caught them in midair and then landed on them. Corny fell also and cut his knee.

RED ALERT!! RED ALERT!!

“Hey what’s happening up there?”Dermi, short for Dermis which is the second layer of skin, cried. Everything alright up there? Cried Subcutaneous, the third layer of skin. Oh boy! The kid cut his knee and it’s bleeding said Epi, short for Epidermis the first layer of skin. The mom has it under control, she just put some alcohol on it and it stings.” You okay? Asked Dermi, Yeah, I’ll feel a lot better as soon as she puts on a band aid. You can go off red alert for now. The troops have been called in and the healing process has begun. Lieutenant Leucocyte reporting sir. A Leucocyte is a white blood cell which helps heal wounds and the clotting process. Lieutenant, we have bleeding on the right knee get your troops there ASAP!! “Aye, Aye, troops forward to right knee!!”

The next day Corny and Seth woke up early. Corny’s mom had packed their backpacks with lunch, sunscreen and even a first aid kit. They grabbed their packs waved good-bye as they went off to find an adventure.
The morning dew was all but gone as the sun shone down brightly on the two adventurers as they entered the woods the shade of the trees made it cooler and darker. They walked along and Seth got out his camera as Corny painted up ahead and there in the clearing they saw a mother deer and her baby. Seth managed to snap two pictures before the deer took off. “Wow, did you see that Seth said, Yeah, Cool Corny exclaimed. Let’s see what else we can find, come on.”
They walked on and soon came to the end of the woods and the beginning of a huge field full of long, long grass. At the other side they spotted a large rock that looked like a mountain from where they stood. Both boys took off their shirts and stuck it in their back pockets and proceeded to run and crawl in the long grass oblivious to the shiny leaves that would soon be their doom.

They had fun scaring and chase each other as they made their way to the big rock and when they finally got to the rock it was just about lunchtime so they decided to eat on the top. Corny’s mom had packed some PB and J’s, a thermos of milk,chips and some cookies. After they ate they laid back on their backpacks with traces of lunch on their chin and cheeks. They tried to figure out what they saw in the clouds. Seth saw a cloud that looked like their teacher Old Mr. Fitzpatrick, all stooped over with a big nose. They laughed until their sides hurt. After a while they gave up on the game and closed their eyes for just a minute. After a few minutes bugs mostly ants crawled all over them and helped themselves to a feast as the boys napped. Corny slapped at something and so did Seth as they opened their eyes there were so many ants climbing on them they couldn’t get rid of them. They looked around and saw a lake and they quickly scrambled down the rock and ran to the water and jumped in. They were soon bug free and having a great time in the water. After awhile they went back up on the rock and dried off and decided they’d had enough adventure for one day and headed back to the cabin.

It wasn’t until the next day both Corny and Seth woke up scratching. It seems that during their adventure yesterday they both had come in contact with Poison Ivy.


RED ALERT!! RED ALERT!!

“What’s happening Epi, why the red alert?” Dermi asked. “Hey, I’m trying to sleep what’s all the noise?” Subcutaneous wanted to know. “Guys we’re on Red Alert. It seems that our human has been in contact with a foreign enemy and we’re being invaded!” Foreign enemy?Dermi asked. “Well, there’s a whole lot of itching and scratching. I’m getting red and blotchy! Oh, man stop scratching you’re just making it worse. It seems we have a case of Contact Dermatitis or rather Poison Ivy.

Corny and Seth stood there trying not to scratch as Corny’s mom put Calamine lotion on both of them as fast as she could. She could see some visible relief, but keeping them from scratching was going to be a challenge. They had rashes on their legs, arms chest, back and face.

Epi let out a huge sigh, Oh, that feels better”. “Did the mom put on some lotion?” “Yeah, we can go off red alert for now.” “Okay, we’re off red alert, no sweat said Sebaceous Sam the sweat gland.


The next day after breakfast and a good dose of calamine lotion, the boys headed out the back of the cabin towards the stream. They hopped on a few rocks to cross the trickling stream and saw a lot of cool things. There were lily pads with frogs and toads and fish and tadpoles in the water. They followed the stream up stream and saw the lake they had been in yesterday. Just ahead of them was a tree that was just begging to be climbed and that’s exactly what they did. Higher and higher they went and finally sat on a branch way, way up and had an impromptu sword fight with two branches.

There was a buzzing sound and the sound was getting louder. Seth was staring at something and pointing as Corny turned around to see and what he saw was a busy swarm of bees in a huge bee hive as the buzzing got louder and a couple of bees were too close for comfort. Without thinking they both threw their sticks as they made their way down. The sticks landed directly on the hive and soon the boys were running as fast as they could from the angry bees. They went towards the lake and jumped in with all their clothes on. After awhile they got out of the water and made their way back to the cabin and ran inside. They had escaped the bees but had not escaped being bitten. They both had a few stings and boy did they hurt.

RED ALERT!! RED ALERT!!

“Again, what is it this time? Dermi wanted to know. “Ow! Ow! Ow! Epi howled. “What happened Dermi wanted to know? “BEES!!! Epi shouted.” “Oh no not bees, Yow!! You must be hurting” Subcutaneous Exclaimed. “Well, the mom is putting some stuff on the stings and it does feel a little better. I think we can go off Red Alert for now.” Epi said, “What’s next with this one?”

Corny and Seth were dotted with white lotion on top of the pink calamine lotion and they thought they looked pretty funny.
The next day Corny’s dad took them fishing. This seemed safe enough. Corny and Seth sat on the dock with baited fishing poles dangling in the water. The sun danced on the water and soon the boys were tired of waiting and asked to swim out to the raft. Corny’s dad soon joined them and the three of them were swimming and jumping off and on the raft in the hot afternoon sun, fishing was soon forgotten. Since no one had caught any fish they had hamburgers, hotdogs and of course corn on the cob for dinner that night.
As Seth and Corny were getting ready for bed, they saw that they were a glowing red and so was Corny’s dad like a beacon. Corny’s mom noticed the unopened bottle of sunscreen.


RED ALERT!! RED ALERT!!

This time Epi let out a long slow Owwwww!!!” Dermi and Subcutaneous grimaced in sympathy. “What happened now?” “The Kid got a sunburn! Epi groaned. “Oh no is there anything we can do?” “I just want to suffer in peace! I can’t wait until this vacation is over. The mom just put some Aloe on it. This is going to be a long night.”
Corny, Seth and Corny’s dad didn’t get much sleep that night and slept late the next day. It was raining outside which was probably for the best maybe nothing would happen to them if they stayed in for a day. The boys played board games and watched movies on TV. Corny’s dad started a fire in the place. They pretended they were camping out and toasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Both boys caught their marshmallows on fire and after putting them out some of it dripped onto their hands and they both cried out in pain.

RED ALERT!! FED ALERT!!

“Now what’s happening?” asked Dermi. “Hot Marshmallow, burn, Owww!! Cried Epi.” “That’s not good said Dermi.”
“The water feels good and so does the cream. What else could happen?”

The rain subsided and Corny and Seth went out for a walk and talked about everything that happened that week. Seth had brought his camera and wanted to get some more pictures. They ended up at the General Store and this time bought some chips and soda and sat on the steps to enjoy their snack. Mr. Pickens joined them on the stoop.”Did you boys have a good vacation this week?” Oh yeah it was great they agreed.” Why are you pink and white. Mr. Pickens asked.” “We sort of got Poison Ivy and got some bee stings and a sunburn. Corny said.” “I guess you did have a good time and you have something to show for it. Mr. Pickens laughed. “Will you take our picture? Seth asked handing his camera over to him. “Say cheese, he said as he pushed the button. The boys left and started back to the cabin. They waved goodbye and started to run up the dirt road and this time as he came upon that same rock he tripped on the first day, Corny had intended on jumping over it but instead he again tripped on it and skinned his left knee. He got up and made his way to the cabin and limped in the open door. His mother who had watched the whole scene through the kitchen window just shook her head and said, “Are you alright?”

RED ALERT!! RED ALERT!!

“Here we go again it’s Deja Vu!” Epi said. What now, asked Dermi?” The kid just fell and skinned his knee but his mom has it under control.” Epi called out. Well, at least they go home tomorrow, don’t they? “I can’t wait.said Epi. Go off red alert.

The next day was bright and sunny and the car was just about packed as Corny scratched his arm and peeled some of his sunburn. His poison ivy didn’t itch as much and the bee stings were just about gone. He had bandages on both knees. Well in spite of all of these things he had a great time and couldn’t wait to come back next year.