Elizabeth lived alone with her cat. Such a statement is not an uncommon oxymoron: if one lives with ones cat, one is not living alone.
Elizabeth had a phobia: spiders. It even had a name: arachnophobia. Arachnophobia is both common and debilitating. It should not be confused with fear of spider webs, although sometimes both phobias go hand in hand.
Suddenly there was a big black spider on Elizabeth’s carpet between her armchair and the drinks cabinet. She screamed. She felt dizzy and lightheaded. She felt nauseous. She sweated and trembled. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart was pounding. She had never seen such a big spider in the house. How did it get there? The entire house had only recently been sprayed.
Elizabeth phoned for an ambulance. She phoned her daughter. “There’s a spider! There’s a huge black spider crawling on the carpet between the armchair and the drinks cabinet!”
Elizabeth’s daughter was there within five minutes. The ambulance shunted Elizabeth away. The emergency was dealt with. The offending bit of black cat fur was picked up and disposed of.
Weave a Web 
Great story. Fluffy, spidery things can be dangerous. They can morph into the real thing if one isn’t careful.
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My reality morphs quite often.
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This was a close call for Elizabeth. She acted appropriately and I’m glad that disaster was averted. You never know when a spider will strike.
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I went to the Washington DC Insect Zoo at tarantula feeding time. It was fascinating but not at all like the tarantulas in horror movies. In fact they were quite nice.
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Most things aren’t like in the movies. It’s very disappointing.
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Exactly.
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Ha! Exactly.
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Ha, ha, I’ve spotted many a tuft of cat fur that has assumed the roll of a spider! Nearly all the cats that we have ever homed (and there have been a few) most have been quite wary of spiders. Mind you we’ve had a couple of days that have been scared witless by the appearance of a spider.
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This story was based on a real event – as the cat is losing her hair for the summer down here.
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Oops! Well, one can’t be too careful.
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Oh what a tangled web we weave.
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Wow. I missed that opportunity.
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Poor Elizabeth. Phobias can be so crippling, even when irrational.
Interesting, we are allowed to live alone with our thoughts, but not with our cat/dog/python.
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I hope you weren’t making fun of my reptilian pet…
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I was. Sorry.
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You’re a snake in the grass.
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All the better to elicit you ophidiophobia, my dear.
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I noticed one of my cats started growing another leg recently. Should I be concerned?
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I think it’s normal – as the saying goes: A cat has 9 legs.
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That makes sense.
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I’m deathly scared of snakes but for some reason, spiders never bothered me…phobias are tough though…my biggest one is heights.
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I have heights too – a little bit. I climbed up to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (when tourists were still allowed to) and on the way down the worn marble steps were slippery (at least they looked to be). And I thought I would slip and fall out a window. Since then I’ve never liked heights.
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Those were the days when tourists had to be tough.
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Yea that would do it! I don’t like getting on ladders.
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Great story. My cat sheds long, orange hair that usually looks like a dust bunny!
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You’ll have to be careful when vacuuming that you suck up the bunny and not the cat!
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Not to worry – he’s a big Maine coon!
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Spiders don’t bother me, but they might if i lived in your part of the world!
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We have just the one bad spider – the Katipo – that is small and lives on driftwood at the beach – but I’ve never seen one. I believe only one person has ever died from a bite – so not as nasty as a bee!
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It took me a while to process this one, but I’m slow. Once I did, I laughed my belittles off. Just sent this onto the kids. They will love it because they are quicker than me. Haha
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Glad you enjoyed it in the end!
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