The Spider Saga Part I

[You don't want a picture for this post. Trust me.]

My sister and I have a bunk bed. I'm on the top. As you might expect, I'm in a good position to execute eight-legged creatures who take up residence where the ceiling meets the wall.

I wasn't expecting any spiders until late spring or summer, when they all seem to come out at once.

But, I saw one today, remarkably close to my pillow. There are two choices one can make when faced with a spider:

a) Act like a mature, responsible adult who realizes that spiders are not little devils and deal with THE DARN THING in a timely fashion.

b)Sit around ruminating on the situation before calling the brother....then working oneself into fits when HE DOES NOT CATCH THE SPIDER AND INSTEAD LETS IT GO.

So today, I tried to do the first option. I really did. But then after slamming a wad of tissue onto the wall- the beast disappeared. It was nowhere to be found. Knowing that the appearance of the aforementioned creature later that night would probably scare the daylights out of my sister, and knowing that it would definitely scare the daylights out of me, I knew something had to be done.

I summoned Gabriel, ten-year-old snake and spider catcher extraordinaire. He rushed into the room with a wooden sword in hand.

We stripped my bed and tore the place apart (well, almost) looking for the AWOL spider. It was nowhere to be found. After a while we got bored and started discussing the situation. Gabriel and Sue offered up various theories about Hobo spiders and Black widow spiders. I clearly informed them the spider in question belonged to neither group. (Being the homeschoolers that we are, we're well acquainted with National Geographic documentaries detailing the lives of lunatics who spend their life befriending black widows and baboons. I always want to close my eyes when the spiders themselves appear on the screen, however.)

But back to the crisis.

Eventually we decided we had better things to do with our life. So we made my bed for the second time that day, and vacuumed the floor. Just when we were finishing we spotted the pitiful little spider hobbling across the floor. It was quickly dispatched. Apparently it had been waiting for us in a very obvious place the whole time. My life would make a great documentary.

Or not.