Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kingdavid/2991939954

I woke up, looked at the bites on my arm, and swore softly.

The last time I had such a bite it had grown into a real bunkelach. The swelling went down after several weeks but, months later there was still a slight swelling and a red mark to celebrate the event. 

This time there were two bites.

 “Look, something bit me,” I said.

 “Try rubbing on aloe vera – there’s plenty in the garden,” said my wife.

What could I lose? 

I went downstairs to the communal garden of these blocks of flats.  She was right – there were lots of these bushes.  Maybe not exactly vera, but definitely of the aloe family. 

I broke off one of the long, thin, pulpy leaves framed by spikes (they break off easily), took it upstairs, peeled off the top skin, and rubbed the juice over the new bites.  A few hours later I did this again, and once more later that day.  Then I forgot about it.

Almost two weeks have gone by. The latest bites are two tiny pale pimples not long for this world, and the swelling was stopped almost before it started. 

And how about that first – untreated – bite of a few months ago: well, it’s a reasonably healthy-looking red dot covering a small bump, but it doesn’t bother me.