An Arachnid’s Phobia

It was a beautiful sunny day. The birds were chirping as they built their nest. The bees were buzzing as they molded wax into honeycombs. The flowers were so vibrant in color, their beauty can be seen for miles. Their sweet smell filled the air. The temperature was pleasantly in the mid to lower 70’s. But it had been dropping quickly over the last hour. With a change in temperature comes a change in the wind.

High above the ground where the cottonwood tree was in full bloom, the puffy white balls of cotton almost make it where you can’t see the web of a sleeping spider. Tucked away under a leaf is the large ball of silk where the eggs of the next generation of spiders are stored. The change in the wind awoken the mother from her slumber.

Down from a single strand of her silky web she came out to check on her eggs. They were fine, unharmed by the gusts of wind that, unrealized by the mother spider, seemed to be building up. Now awakened, she felt that it was time to go and find some food. The web was a perfect net to catch anything that happened to fly pass or blow in the wind, but to help her unhatched offspring, she needed to go hunt.

Slowly she descended to the ground as the wind rocked her back and forth. It was not too alarming to her. She’s a spider, she was used to being blown by the wind. Spiders have the ability to deal with the wind. Often using it to their advantage. As the wind blew, she was able to grab hold of the trunk of the tree which she used to descend quicker.

She reached the ground, and the temperature began to drop even more. That’s when the rain began to fall. First just a single drop of which to a spider was like a bomb going off. She was able to take shelter in the hollow of the tree. It wasn’t something she had to look for. She knew it was there before she built her web. She knew she would need a place to hide from the rain. Her children were safe under the leaf. The rain, she knew, would not affect them.

But soon she noticed something she’s never seen before. As she peered out of the opening where she took shelter, she saw Ice falling from the sky. It terrified her. The ice was doing far more damage to the entire area than rain has ever done. She feared to see what damage was done to her web. As she left the hollow to check on her eggs, a strong gust of wind picked her up and blew her to a place she had never been. She was taken into the air high above the ground. She quickly spun a web to use as a parachute.

She landed in a planifolia tree in the next yard over. Although she did not know where she was, spiders have a built-in compass. She was able to find her way back with little effort. As she thought about the damage the ice was doing, as well as what the wind had done to her, she feared the worst. What had happened to her eggs? Were they safe? Were they destroyed? Were they blown to some distant land? She had to make the long journey home.

On the way, she had to dodge birds and larger insects. The rain had stopped but left puddles that to a spider looked like an ocean. Of all the dangers that she had to face, the fate of her eggs is what she feared most.

She reached the cottonwood where she built her web. She climbed the tree to find the web completely destroyed. That was the least of her problems. It appeared that her worst fears had come true. She searched the leaves of the tree, and her eggs were missing. If spiders had tear ducts, then there could be no amount of rain that would hide her tears.

She slowly descended from the tree, more angry than afraid, more hurt than angry. She was upset. She wanted to bite whoever she landed on. But as she lowered herself with a single silky strand, a gust of wind blew her on the roof of a nearby house. There, just at the edge of the gutter was a large ball containing hundreds of spider eggs. They were ok. She gathered her eggs and rebuilt her web inside the house, away from the weather.