Galit Dahan Carlibach | published on September 10, 2024

Of all the wolves, dogs, jackals, snakes, deer and nocturnal birds of prey in Wiepersdorf, one creature attracted our attention the most and aroused our immediate concern. It was a certain type of tick, and we would have been completely unaware had a Berlin woman with short hair not pointed this out to us.

‘Oh my goodness, what should we do now?’ asked Shachar.

‘There must be some way to get rid of this tick,’ I said. ‘And anyway, why would this tick attach itself to us of all people who have lived here for thousands of years?’

‘It's very difficult to notice a tick, and then a very bad infection can develop,’ the short-haired Berliner intervened in our conversation and immediately followed up with a reassuring message: ’But I know some people who live quite well with necrosis.’

‘Okay,’ Shachar told me very quietly in Hebrew in the dining room. ‘We'll sort this out right now. Where are you going?’

‘I'm making myself some tea with milk.’

‘You can't make tea with milk when we're threatened with extinction!’

Fortunately, the person responsible for our physical and mental well-being sensed that we were in great distress and said there was a solution. A very special German patent, a kind of ingenious device that could remove the tick in no time at all. Shachar beamed and I asked: ‘Where can you buy this device?’

‘Oh, in Jüterbog, the nearest town. I'll order a bus for you straight away.’ This was followed by a barrage of instructions and explanations: how to get to the pharmacy, which wonderful restaurant to eat in, where St Nicholas' Church is located and, of course, the supermarket. We were given a map of the city, a compass and warned not to miss the bus. After about a quarter of an hour's journey, the driver grumbled and pointed to the window.

We looked out and saw the main street of Kiryat Bialik.

‘Maybe he has a flat tyre?’ I asked.

‘No, no,’ said Shachar, ’we've arrived in Jüterbog, come on!’

We immediately realised that Kiryat Bialik is a metropolis like Moscow compared to Jüterbog. Within three minutes, we had visited all the main sights of the town - the supermarket, a clothing shop from the 1980s and a sausage stand. ‘I think it's time to go to the pharmacy,’ said Shachar, glancing at his watch. ‘I hope there's a queue there. What else are we going to do here until the bus comes at four?’

We were the only ones in the pharmacy. Two friendly ladies rushed up to us - with German politeness, of course. They didn't speak English either, but Shachar and I had developed sophisticated facial expressions and gestures in the meantime. We pointed, winked, moulded our lips, fluttered our eyelashes. Meanwhile, one of the pharmacists went to the back, and with my own ears I heard the word ‘police’.

‘Google Translate,’ Shachar whispered to me. ‘Quick, before they put us in William the Second's prison.’

We showed the pharmacist the mobile phone. ‘Yes, yes, tick.’ The second pharmacist decided not to call the police. They both started to open some drawers.

‘Oh, I hope we have enough room for the device,’ said Shachar, opening his 23-kilogram case wide.

The pharmacists came back and presented us with a closed fist.

‘What's that?’ we shouted at the same time.

‘I can't believe it,’ said Shachar.

‘There's probably a patent on it, you can't copy it,’ I warned. ‘How beautiful. A masterpiece of the Prussian Empire!’

‘Is there a problem?’ asked the pharmacist sadly, looking at her colleague.

‘No, no, everything's fine,’ I said with the last of my strength and looked at Shachar. ‘Well, now you're paying for this nonsense, I've got millions of them in my room.’

Shachar took out his wallet and paid, then put the tweezers in the huge case. The two pharmacists exchanged glances and waited for us to leave so that they could burst out laughing and gossip about us. In the meantime, all the residents of Jüterbog had been warned to stay indoors: ‘Beware: two strangers are travelling through our capital carrying a huge suitcase containing a sophisticated tick removal device.’

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Galit Dahan Carlibach was born and grew up in Sderot, Ashdod and Jerusalem. She has published eight books (including novels, novellas and fantasy for young readers). Her latest novel ‘Under The Sign Of Orphan’ is due to be published in German by Kein & Aber in 2025. Dahan Carlibach is a lecturer in writing courses at Bar Ilan University. She lives in Jerusalem and is the mother of two children.