Carillon Magazine

Years later, I was playing hide and seek with friends and lay flat in a cornfield hoping to remain hidden as the others tried to find me when suddenly in front of my face a stream of spiders marched out the trampled corn. They walked within a few inches of my nose and at least ten strung out like beads on a string, weaving along but not wanting to give away my position I forced myself to lie there quite still as this caravan of spiders passed. I remember distinctly the sweat that flowed down my face as I fought to remain motionless watching this endless procession pass and the relief that they never strayed from their relentless march is etched in my memory.

 When I was just a teenager my mother sent me to the little bakery just round the corner to get a cake and I well remember the wonderful smell of fresh bread that always hung heavy in the air when you entered. As the lady wrapped my chosen cake I felt a small tickle on the back of my neck and reaching round found a spider had fallen from the ceiling to land down the back of my shirt collar. I trapped this monster between my fingers and pulled it out of my collar before dropping it in blind panic.

"It's only a little spider," the lady said, "we get dozens of them in here." I left and tried never to go back but if I did I always tightly buttoned up my shirt collar.

As I've grown older and had a family of my own I've tried to hide my fear of spiders hoping not to pass on my apprehension and any small intrusions into our house have been dealt with quickly. I believe its got easier over the years but I grit my teeth when I read that due to global warming the size and variety of insects swarming into this country may increase.   Suffering with arachnophobia? Me? No, I prefer to think of myself as just a wee bit cautious when dealing with my eight-legged enemy, that's all.

Issue 18 (cont)