I was in Japan, a country with all kinds of critters and
bugs that I’d never seen or heard of before. When I opened my sliding door to
put my mop on the back porch, something flew in over my head. I didn’t really
get a good look at it but I knew it was big!
As I looked around the room for whatever it was, I saw a
spider on the wall in the corner above the couch. It was as big as my hand and
its legs were as long as my fingers. I stopped frozen in my tracks and held my
breath. I knew it could fly and it could fly right at me again.I moved slowly and quietly to the hall door and stood at the foot of the stairs. I called up to my son, Aaron. I had always had a problem getting his attention while he was in his room. He was in his rebellious years of not paying any attention to “mom” or answering me when I called. For some reason my voice must have been different than my usual scream.
“Aaron,” I called as calmly as I could muster, “come here
please.” He came down to the landing immediately and looked at me questioningly. “Honey,” I said again softly, “there is a big spider down here
and I think I need you to take care of it for me.”
My demeanor must have sent an alarm to his senses for he
took me seriously and went back upstairs. He returned quickly with one of his
school books.
I thought, “You can’t kill a spider with a book.” Of course I was
thinking of using a fly swatter but that flimsily little thing would have felt
like a nice breeze fanning this spider.
I stood in the hall and peeked into the living room after
Aaron. As he entered, he saw his first glimpse of the dreaded arachnid. Yes,
the book would do the job but how would he be able to reach it? I watched from
afar while he made his way along the wall and to the couch. He stepped up on
one end and walked down the cushions until he was right below this flying
mammoth. Thank goodness he had reached his growth spurt for he was tall enough
now to stretch up and slam the book against the wall.
S-P-L-A-T! The deed was done…hallelujah!
