Inktober 2023

Spiders

I sat on the porch swing, enjoying the autumn breeze. The air was crisp and cool, but I didn't mind at all. I enjoyed having a rare moment of downtime. Sipping my pumpkin spice latte, I rocked back and forth on the swing.

I love fall, I thought. There's just something about the cooler weather and the leaves changing colors that intrigues me.

The screen door suddenly slid open and out ran my little sister Evie. Her face was pale, and her eyes were wide with terror.

"What's wrong, Evie?" I asked.

"There's a spider in my room! Come quick, Rose!" she pleaded.

I laughed softly. Evie had a mortal fear of spiders, even harmless ones like Daddy Longlegs. Yet again, so did I at ten years old.

I set down my coffee. "Okay, I'm coming. Let's get rid of that nasty old spider."

We headed to her room. Sure enough, a tiny spider was resting on her bed.

"It's there." Evie pointed shakily. "C-can you kill it, Rose? Please? Pretty, pretty please?"

"Gladly. Now stand back and let the master exterminator do her job."

I took off my sneaker and brought it down hard on the little pest. The spider was no more.

"There. It's dead now."

"Oh, thank you so much!" She wrapped me in a tight hug.

"You're welcome. Now, how about we head out to the porch and watch the sunset?"

And so we did. It was the perfect way to end the "eventful" day.