Talking to Spiders
Written by Cara Dancer & Illustrated by Driss Chauoi
Morning sunbeams danced through sheer lavender curtains as I dug furiously in the timothy hay that was both snack and bedding. Tears dampened the amber strands as they flew from my crate.
An unfamiliar voice interrupted the mayhem. “Why are you crying?”
Startled, I tumbled backwards. My best friend Sofia, a ten-year-old girl, should be at school. The house ought to be empty. Motionless, I scanned my surroundings. “Who said that? Where are you?”
“It’s me, Sabio, here above your food dish.”
Squinting, I connected the voice with a slender eight-legged body dangling inside her crate. “I’ve seen you before but you never speak.”
“True, but I always listen. When I heard you sobbing, I knew it was time.”
“I’ve cried before and you never spoke. Why now?”
Sabio hesitated. “I sensed a deep grief that requires more than a tantrum to satisfy.”
Agitated, I challenged him. “You’re a spider. What do you know about grief?”
Sabio lowered himself to the food dish. “Most spiders live as phantoms, unknown to the rest of the world. Yet, when seen, it is often our fate of to be trampled. It is a matter of survival that keeps us hidden. Until recently you and your friend were always planning adventures, reading, dancing, laughing. Not now.”
Abby burst into tears. “Yes, my friend is always angry. After school, she yells at her family. Then she runs in here and yells at me. Even worse—no cuddles. I feel like a rabbit, no longer a friend and I don’t understand why.”
Sabio’s eight eyes focused on my own. “The answers aren’t buried in your hay. We need to dig into your friend’s anger. Once we root out the cause, we can try to restore her happiness.”
Still doubting this eight-legged Freud, I suggested we chat somewhere cozy. Rattling the crate door, I suggested we meet under the bed. “First, can you help me get out of this locked crate?”
“Hold out your paw.” I extended my front foot and watched Sabio weave silk threads between paw and latch. Finally, “Okay, I want you to pull, slowly, very slowly.”
The latch lifted as I tugged the silky rope. The crate door clanked open. I couldn’t believe it. “Wow, this is great.” Shaking off the webbing, I scurried under the bed.
Sabio swung from crate to bedpost. “Tell me everything.”
“Last month, my friend came home with a nasty scratch on her arm. When I asked what happened, she said she fell into a rosebush. Then she said a strange thing. ‘Don’t tell Mama.’”
Sabio crossed two of his legs. “Why is that strange?”
Clearing my throat, I explained “You know that my friend and I can talk to each other. The rest of her family only hears bunny noises. Why would she say ‘Don’t tell Mama,’ when she knows I can’t talk to her mother?”
Sabio nodded thoughtfully.
“And last week, I heard her arguing with her mother about a jacket. Afterward, she ran in here, slammed the door, burst into tears and buried herself under the bedcovers. When I hopped on the bed to snuggle, she pushed me away.”
“How distressing for both of you.”
“Yes, I thought I was her best friend but now I’m just a caged rabbit whose bond with a special friend is broken. I don’t know how to fix it.”
Sabio hesitated, then whispered. “We need help.”
The afternoon ticked away while we remained hidden under the bed. When family voices interrupted our thoughts, I hurried into my crate. “Oh no, what about the door? We don’t have time for another rope trick.”
Sabio returned to the top of the crate. “Maybe she won’t notice.”
I shuddered when the bedroom door slammed shut. Sofia dropped her backpack and pounced onto the bed. I could hear sob and sobbed in her favorite pillow.
Abby crept onto Sofia’s bed. She tugged at a strand of brown hair. No response. Next, she nudged Sofia’s arm. With a big sniff, Sofia pulled Abby close. “My sweet Bun-Bun. I’ve been mean to you. I’m sorry. I’m a mess and I don’t know what to do.”
Gently nudging my friend’s cheek, I offered support. “I can help.”
Through glassy eyes, Sofia offered a sad smile, “You’re just a rabbit. What can you do?”
In a stern voice, Abby disagreed. “I am not just a rabbit. I am your friend. Don’t we have lots of adventures? I’m not good at math but I look great in my pirate outfit.”
Sofia laughed. “Stop. Those things are true but this is different. You don’t understand.”
In a cross voice, Abby poked at her friend. “Help me understand. Your happiness switch is broken. I want to fix it.”
“I thought I had real friends, school friends. Now I don’t know what to think.” Abby watched as Sofia buried her head again. “You can’t help. Please go back to your crate.”
Sofia’s nighttime routine included refilling Abby’s water bottle. Without a word, Sofia crawled into bed. Teary-eyed, Abby mouthed goodnight to her unhappy friend. She dozed fitfully until Sabio tickled her nose.
“Wake up. My friends arranged for us to meet a pixie named Elida. She specializes in helping distressed creatures. She will be here at midnight.”
The pair dozed as hours passed. A faint tapping signaled Elida’s arrival. Abby stared at the hummingbird-sized fairy dancing across Sofia’s scattered schoolbooks.
She watched as Elida turned to Sabio. “Thank you for reaching out to me. There are many cases like Sofia’s. If we’re going to help, we must work quickly.” Waving her tiny wand, she swept shimmering green fairy dust over girl, rabbit and spider.
Elida settled next to Sofia’s ear. “May we come into your dream?”
Abby and Sabio waited beside Elida. Finally, a troubled voice answered. “It’s dark in here.”
“I know.” As she spoke, a green glow surrounded Elida. “I travel with my own light. Join us. Your bunny and her spider pal are here. They are worried about you.”
A surprised voice responded, “I didn’t know my bunny had a spider pal. Spiders are scary.”
Elida quicky responded. “Yes, like spiders, many things are scary; some deserve our fright, some deserve our understanding.”
From the darkness, “Why are you in my dreams?”
Elida offered a simple answer. “To listen.”
And there was a simple but testy reply. “Listen to what? My snoring?”
Abby chuckled but Elida persisted. “No dear, I’m here to listen to your sadness. You have isolated yourself. Your family, your bunny—they don’t understand why you are unhappy. That’s spider-scary for them.”
Sobbing from the darkness, “You don’t understand. Spider-scary is easy. You just stomp on them. I feel trapped and don’t know how to explain—not even to myself.”
Before the pixie could stop him, Sabio broke in. “Hold on, I’m a spider. How do you think I feel? Stomping is easy unless you’re the spider.”
Elida pointed her wand at Sabio. “Shouting doesn’t help.” Elida turned to the darkness. “Let’s try to understand … together. Tell me what’s going on.”
Abby heard shuffling in the shadows. The voice sounded closer. “I thought I had a best friend at school. She encouraged me to share secrets, clothes, food. Sharing—isn’t that what friends do?”
Elida agreed. “Sharing is a part of friendship. So, what changed?”
After school, I told her I got an ‘A’ on our math test. She called me a nerd, then pushed me into a thorny bush. Instead of helping me, she skipped away. My arms were scratched but I’m okay. She said it was an accident.
Another day she said she wanted a pair of shoes for her birthday. She knew I didn’t get a big allowance. When I suggested another gift, she told everyone I was poor. She said, ‘If you don’t have money then give me something you already have—like your new jacket.’ I didn’t want her friends to laugh at me, so I gave it to her.”
The distraught voice continued. “She also took cookies from my lunchbox. Of course, I didn’t stop her. She was hungry. But the next day, she ate my whole sandwich. I wanted to be a good friend, but I was hungry, too.”
Sabio interrupted Sofia. “Wait, wait. That’s not right. “Hiding in the dark can’t change the truth. Shoving, demanding, taking—that’s not sharing.”
Elida rapped her tiny wand. “You’re a pushy little bug, aren’t you?”
Elida shushed a giggle from Abby. Sabio is right. Friendship is more than sharing. It’s about kindness and acceptance. It’s time for you to come out of the shadows.”
After a grand swoosh of Elida’s wand, Abby and Sabio were standing off-stage. From behind heavy crimson curtains, they peered at an audience full of spiders.
Elida and a rabbit-sized Sofia stood center-stage. A large yellow and black spider dangled over the podium. “Welcome to the Biannual Garden Spider Conference. Tonight’s topic is Recognizing Friend from Foe. Please welcome our friend Elida, and our guest speaker, Sofia.
Elida fluttered over the microphone. “Friendship isn’t always easy. Your enemies come in many forms. Sometimes it’s a robin and sometimes it’s the smell of cinnamon.” An ooh rippled through the audience.
“Sofia, a human, is struggling with her ability to recognize friends. Please keep an open mind and help me welcome her.” Abby heard several grumbles above the faint applause.
As Sofia shuffled forward, she pleaded with Elida. “I can’t speak to a bunch of spiders.”
Elida drew Sofia to the microphone. “You have a voice, and you have a story that needs to be told. These creatures rely on their ability to tell the difference between friend and foe. For some it’s easy, but for many it’s difficult. Your struggle with friendship issues may help them.”
“Spiders are scary. No, no, I can’t do it.”
“Remember, this is a dream. With one swoosh, I can swap your parents for the spiders.”
Sofia shook her head. “Please, not my parents. I’ll talk to the spiders.”
Abby remained offstage, close to Sofia, while Sabio made his way to an empty seat.
Elida reassured Sofia. “Don’t be afraid. Speak about your feelings.”
Staring at Elida and loud enough to be overheard by the audience, “All I feel is afraid.”
A jeer came from behind Sabio. “How do you think I feel? You and I hide in the dark. You’re afraid of friendship. I’m afraid of big feet.” Surprising everyone, Sofia walked to the edge of the stage. Abby thought she looked taller. Sofia bent toward the taunting spider, “We’re both afraid. hiding in the darkness . . .” Sofia nodded toward Sabio, “Thankfully someone reminded me that hiding doesn’t change the truth.”
Sofia explained. “Fear can protect you and warn you of danger. Or it can trap you. It can keep you from seeing and doing the right thing. It can suck the happiness right out of you.”
Sabio jumped to the back of his chair. “Wait, wait. Are you talking about darkness or friendship? Darkness isn’t always a bad thing. I live most of my life in the dark.”
“Sabio, you’re right.” Sofia nodded. “That kind of dark protects you. But for me, even in the sunshine, I felt dark inside where my feelings got all muddled. I’ve been so confused about my friendships that my world became a sad, angry and lonely place.”
On hearing this, Abby reached out to her friend. Before she was shushed away by Elida, Abby mumbled, “You’re not alone.”
Sofia smiled and turned to Elida. “My bunny is right. I’m not alone. I have her and I have a great family. The hard part is admitting I made a friendship mistake.”
Suddenly a small spider skittered toward Sofia waving several bright orange legs. “What mistake are you talking about? In our world, a mistake can mean life or death. We don’t get many second chances. Sounds like you do.”
Sofia stood motionless, her mouth open without words. The audience froze. Sofia’s body was changing. Her arms and legs were longer, her body bigger. With both hands over her heart, she bowed toward the audience. In a soft voice, she apologized. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think . . ..”
Waving its legs, the spider interrupted again. Abby chuckled to herself; this feisty little critter isn’t giving up. The spider continued, “You didn’t think. It’s easier not to think, not to care, easier to stomp without considering the consequences. I don’t want to be mush on your shoe!”
With applause from the audience, Sofia bowed again and retreated from the stage.
In a harsh voice, Sofia confronted Elida. “When you brought me to speak at this conference, you said I could help them discover friend from foe. I didn’t do that. These spiders are a scary bunch, and they know about fear.” She paused. “I didn’t help them; they helped me.”
Sabio climbed on Abby’s back as they listened to Sofia. “I was afraid of losing a friend I never had. She stomped on me without thinking of the consequences to me. And I let her do it. I didn’t stand up for myself.” She gently stroked Abby’s ears, “The more I hid the confusion and hurt inside me, the darker it got and the smaller I felt. Hiding those feelings didn’t make them go away.”
Everyone watched as the spider audience faded in the soft glow of dawn. Elida turned to Sofia. “When you wake, you may remember talking to spiders. And you will recognize your real friends, those who love you.”
It was Sabio’s turn, “Don’t be spider mush on someone else’s shoe.”
With a swoosh of fairy dust, Abby heard Elida whisper, “Time to wake up, friends.”
Feeling the warmth of the morning sun, Abby stretched and watched as her silent friend, Sabio, added a silvery strand to his web. When Sofia’s alarm sounded, Abby bounded onto the bed. After a toothy yawn, Sofia pulled Abby close, “Good morning, Bun-un.”
“Good morning, Sleepyhead. No school today. What’s the plan?”
Abby moaned when Sofia held up three fingers. “I hope one is an adventure.”
Sofia held up her thumb. “Number one: Yesterday Mama asked me to clean my messy closet. I want to surprise her.”
Abby frowned. “I like your mother but that doesn’t sound like adventure.”
“Two, I’ve decided to find new friends.”
“Maybe we can find them in the closet.” Abby touched Sofia’s nose. “What’s number three?”
“I need to tell Mama how I lost my jacket. She might be angry but I need to tell her the truth. Will you come with me?”
“Of course, Sofia. What are friends for?”