A most unwelcome surprise

This morning was my last in the China/Burma border town of Laiza, after spending just over three weeks there. My departure preparations were interrupted, however, by a most unwelcome surprise. About ten minutes after getting dressed I headed to the kitchen to prepare some noodles, our usual breakfast fare. But with bowl in one hand, and noodles in the other, they were never able to connect - I felt an odd pricking in my leg, and thinking something had perhaps caught in my jeans, attempted to brush it away, only to find the prick rapidly growing into a sharp pain. I abandoned the noodles and rapidly retreated to my room to disrobe, expecting to find an angry ant, or perhaps a spider. But before even reaching my door, I knew it was more serious, as the pain was growing to an intense throb, and my leg was not functioning properly. Tearing off my pants, I revealed a scorpion scurrying out of the leg, tail still curled menacingly over its head. Having identified the cause, only two thoughts remained in my mind - the pain, which by this point was quite intense, and finding out the potency of this particular scorpion's toxin. Knowing that scorpion toxin can be quite dangerous, and completely unfamiliar with the insect fauna in this part of the world, I was unsure how concerned to be. Fortunately, I was staying in a compound full of doctors, and didn't have far to travel to find one. I stumbled out of my room and immediately saw my trusted friend SASM. He was quite alarmed, and begged me to recall the color of the offender - brown ones cause intense pain, but no lasting damage, black ones, however, can be fatal. I assured him, and myself, that I was fairly certain it was brown, so far as I could recall. Our search, however, failed to turn up the beast rendering verification uncertain. Second, and then third, opinions were sought, until all involved were certain I would not die. I was given some leaves to rub on the sting, to be followed by garlic oil, and little blue pills to ease the pain, and everyone faded back into the routine of their. My day, however, was irrevocable interrupted.

Now, about 18 hours later, I am happy to report the pain subsided, in all cases except those of prolonged sitting (it having stung the very top crease of my leg), which is unfortunate as I am less than halfway into a two day five flight journey... Still, I'm just grateful the scorpion wasn't black..