TILLY the SAD SAD SPIDER

This story was co-authored by Carol Roach. The story started out in my mind when I was trying to sleep. Rather than lose it, I decided to use the notebook on my iPhone to capture the first couple of paragraphs. Then I emailed that note to Carol and we went back and forth with it, until this story was born. Hope you enjoy it.

Tilly was a sad, sad spider. Nobody wanted to be friends with her because she has eight legs. For an arachnid, Tilly is exceptionally beautiful. Her body is black and orange and her adorable legs are orange, black and white stripes.

As pretty as she is, nobody likes her. She is a big spider with fuzzy hair all over her body. She lives in a closet in an old web. She has a web that she maintains very well, so she can catch her meals. She doesn't eat like other animals or humans do; she has to catch insects that get trapped in her web. Tilly is safe in the closet, because no one ever bothers her there. If she were to get out and explore, she would either get eaten by something, or stepped on by a human. An old lady that lives in the house saw Tilly once, and she screamed so loud that Tilly and the old lady nearly died of fright.

One day it rained and rained and rained. The old lady got scared because water was coming down and leaking through her roof. There was water everywhere. There was water in the bedroom, the living room, and the kitchen and bathroom. The little old lady, Mrs. M, didn't know what to do. The only place that didn't have water was in the closet where Tilly was.

Mrs. M thought to herself, "What should I do? Should I go hide in the closet with the spider?" Mrs. M. named the spider Tilly. She didn't like spiders, but she didn't want to hurt this particular spider. Even though spiders are normally ugly, the colors on this one are vibrant and pretty. She thought that maybe this spider was a girl spider, so she thought the name, Tilly, was a good one for it.

Mrs. M opened the closet door and sat on top of an old hope chest she had stored there nearly 50 years ago. Tilly saw Mrs. M enter the closet. She decided to stay as still as possible; she didn't want to startle Mrs. M, and she also didn't want to be driven from her home. Mrs. M sat quietly in the dark as she listened to the rain. As her eyes began to adjust to the darkness in the closet she began to look around. She looked up and saw Tilly looking down at her with her eight little eyes. Mrs. M Fainted. Even though she knew Tilly was there, she got so started that she fainted in a heap in the closet.

"Oh No!" cried Tilly, "What can I do? Mrs. M has fallen unconscious! She can't stay here all alone in the closet. I am too small and cannot help her! Oh dear! Oh dear! What can I do?"

Tilly thought for a moment and said, "I know! I can leave the closet and go get help!" But how?"

A plan began to develop in Tilly's little mind. "I know," Tilly thought to herself, I will get Brewster, Mrs. M's cat to chase me out of his cat door. It is pouring down rain; someone will see him and want to bring him home, and then they will rescue Mrs. M.

Tilly was scared, but she had to help Mrs. M. She climbed out of her hiding place in the closet and quickly ran to where Brewster was snoozing on the bed. There was water on the floor, so she ran very fast across the water. She didn't even sink. She climbed up the bed and gently approached the cat and touched him on the nose. Brewster twitched his nose, but didn't awaken. Tilly thought a second, and then jumped full force on Brewster's nose and jumped back quickly. Surprised, Brewster opened his eyes and saw Tilly staring him in the face. Tilly jumped again and landed on Brewster's head and hung on for dear life. Brewster was so startled that he jumped off the bed, and leaped through the water on the floor and ran out the cat door.

Old Mr. Barns was sitting on his porch watching the rain. Mr. Barns was sweet on Mrs. M. He saw Brewster out in the rain and knew that Mrs. M never lets Brewster outside where he might get lost. He approached the cat and picked him up. Just then Mr. Barns locked eyes with Tilly. There was a look in Tilly's eyes -- all eight of them that seemed to say, "come -- please help Mrs. M." Tilly rubbed Brewster's head with her front legs, and both Brewster and Mr. Barns seemed to know that Tilly was trying to tell them something. With cat and spider in tow, Mr. Barns took them home.

Mr. Barns knocked on Mrs. M's front door. There was no answer. Mrs. M didn't come to the door. Mr. Barns tried the door and it opened for him. He lowered Brewster to the floor and Tilly climbed down off the cat's head and ran to the closet and scurried under the closet door. Tilly ran to where Mrs. M was and stayed by her.

Mr. Barns saw the spider go under the closet door. He seemed to know that the spider wanted him to look in the closet. He opened it and saw Mrs. M unconscious in the closet. Mr. Barns was very thankful to the very smart spider. Mr. Barns called 911 and Mrs. M was taken to the hospital. Mr. Barns called roofers and paid for the cost of the repair himself. Mrs. M came home to her now dry home and found a box of chocolates and roses from Mr. Barnes garden. She also saw a very happy Tilly whose new home was now in the very sunny kitchen window.

Mr. Barns asked Mrs. M to marry him. Soon after, they got married. Brewster was the ring bearer, carrying their rings around his neck. Tilly sat proudly on his head. Everyone was surprised, but no one was afraid of Tilly, and no one called her ugly anymore. They knew that Tilly was the spider that saved Mrs. M's life. They all said how beautiful Mrs. Barns, Mr. Barns and Brewster were. But no one was as beautiful as Tilly. Tilly and her family, Mr. and Mrs. Barns and Brewster lived together in harmony. Tilly knew she was loved, and she was never sad again.

The End