Louselette the Conqueror

The story behind the tale…

Several months had passed, and nobody knew why my niece had so much itching on her head. Some believed it was dandruff because she did not rinse well after shampooing. However, the persistence of the symptoms rose suspicions about the true cause of her problem. The situation was discussed by the family, and a sister-in-law checked my niece’s head and discovered, without a doubt, that the girl had been invaded by a colony of lice.

As expected, everyone around started to feel like something was walking on their heads. Actually, no lice moved to anybody in the family; it was all in our minds, not over our heads.

The discovery of the little enemies was reason enough for deployment. Some were investigating, others were consulting how to eliminate them, and after that, a solution was implemented.  It was a crossed-fire of mechanical and chemical methods. The battle required patience, in the end, the head lice lost it, and there was no reoccurrence.

What was happening inspired me to write a story that would help to explain to my niece, what was going on over her head. This is how Piojetica was born. The story is told from the point of view of the female louse protagonist; I based what I wrote on my investigation about these parasites and integrated it into the narrative, combining that with what really happened. It didn’t have illustrations at the beginning; I added them later for the publication, as well as a brief section where I summarized real information about these tiny bloodsuckers.

In this tale you can identify these topics, among others: determination, goal seeking, taking every moment in life, accepting the lifecycle and the fact that whatever we have achieved can leave prints in others.

This book is recommendable for curious kids and adults.

It is currently available in Kindle format and paperback.

 

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