Spiders

Spiders, with their eight legs and eight eyes, scare the crap out of me. Actually, I'm not so sure if it's so much of a fear than a great deal of hatred. I cannot stand the sight of spiders. The scariest ones are the jumping spiders. Their movements are very erratic and twitchy, and I can never predict where they will jump. I have had many bad experiences with jumping spiders and do not wish to ever go through these ordeals again.

For instance, there was that one time when I was doing my homework in the kitchen like any good little girl, and I suddenly felt a strange crawling sensation up my right arm. A little afraid of what I’d find, I hastily took a glance before confirming that my worst fear was crouching on my right arm. I stood up very calmly, and in a dignified manner, I started to do “The Dance.”

I am pretty sure that everybody who has had the misfortune of being mistaken as a resting area for a bug has done “The Dance” before. It is where you leap out of your seat (unless you are already standing up), wiggle your arms and legs, and start rubbing up on any object close to you. Some people have been known to even dance a little Irish jig while at it. Many people have also been known to sing along to the dance, in a low tone “Ugh” or a high-pitched “Eek!”

I shrieked two times while doing “The Dance.” I also slammed my right side of my body onto the counter four times, hoping to eliminate the tiny black-and-white burden clinging on to my arm. Unfortunately, the spider was very persistent and determined, and for whatever reason it had, it refused to get off my arm. This was horrible for me, because I was getting the goose bumps that usually accompanied any freaking-out activity.

My brother, Kevin, ever-so-helpful, rushed at me with a magazine, and with a cheery, “I’ll help!” he smacked the spider on my arm. It was dead in one hit, but Kevin, who seemed to be getting happier by the moment, decided to repeatedly whack it over and over again. That was the worst moment of my life.

Then there was that other time I had just taken a refreshing shower and was on top of my bed, reading a good book. Another jumping spider, perhaps related to the spider my brother killed, took a great leap onto my book. I yelped and flung myself back. The book, which I had hastily thrown across the bed, was now cozily snuggled into my pillow. So was the spider. I refused to sleep in my bed that night.

So now it is clear exactly why I hate spiders. I have reflected back and noted that perhaps it is prejudice, seeing as it is only jumping spiders that I have a grudge against, but I still declare war on any spiders I find in my room. Usually, I win the fight with the added advantage of my size and my weapons (magazines, newspapers, etc). But sometimes they win, and I surrender by escaping the area they occupy and leaving it alone. I hope that someday we can remain neutral. Either that or I’ll find a way to let them free without hurting them.

Right now, as I type on this computer, I can see a spider on my bedroom ceiling, lowering itself down. It is now clinging onto the sides of the wall, and it is slowly making its way down. It is also currently scaring me, because I have never seen a spider like this.

This spider is a very light yellow-green color, with a huge splotch of brown on its back. In fact, I probably would’ve mistaken it for phlegm had it not been drifting down in such a tranquil manner. And right now it is only getting closer…

I scoot my laptop back, hoping to avoid it. In reply, it plops on top of my head. Not my arm, not my legs, but my head. I take a suspenseful pause before reacting.

My response is a loud “Ehhhh-WAHHH!” I do “The Dance” like how I did last time, except I bob my head with an unknown rhythm as well as shaking my arms and legs around. In my desperate search for a weapon, I grab my water bottle and bang it on top of my head over and over again. To my horror, I see that the spider is not dead but actually climbing on top of the water bottle!

But I’ve decided that I have had enough of picking fights with spiders. Though extremely wary and cautious of this extraordinary creature on my water bottle, I navigate my way to the backyard and let it free without any more violence.

It was actually a really nice feeling. Facing the spider made me feel something tug at my chest. It wasn’t until later on that I discovered my fear of jumping spiders was replaced by a deeper, darker, more obsessive fear of green-and-brown spiders.

Author's Note: This was actually supposed to be an essay assignment for school; the prompt was "Your Worst Fear." As it turned out, my essay was selected as one of the top five best ones, and I got a 100.

My worst fear is actually to become mentally unstable in the head, but I thought that would be a little too complicated to write about, so I wrote about something anybody could relate to easily: spiders. I actually did have a phase in my life where I MUST kill every spider I see, but that's over now. Thank goodness.

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