The Spider
by Hayden, 5th grade
A terrible thing happened to my sister, Jerri, in the fields one day. She was returning my dad's pocketknife to his truck. I was getting my bike so I could go with her. It was dark and gloomy and you couldn't see a thing. My bike was just ready and I was getting on it when I suddenly heard a yell like no other. It was a piercing yell like a bobcat caught in a foot trap. I raced to where I thought the yell had come from and slammed my brakes furiously. In the distance my sister was beating the ground with a stick. She stopped and the look she had in her eyes stopped me in my tracks.
I finally noticed what she was trying to hit. It was a huge dark brown tarantula that was covered with hair. The hairs on my back rose and goose bumps shot down my arms. It was the first time I had ever seen one before. I turned quickly, stumbled onto my bike and sped away.
I reached the house and darted into my dad's room. Nearly out of breath I told him about the tarantula. My dad grabbed his lighter and flashlight, slipped them into his pocket and we headed to where my sister was. When we finally arrived, Jerri was still trying to hit the tarantula. My dad opened his eyes wide in amazement of the size of the spider. My dad grabbed the stick and pulled the lighter from his pocket. He then lit the end of the stick. The spider stopped moving and in curiosity it gazed at the tiny flame. He lowered the stick and tapped the huge spider on the back. It slowly caught flame. It started running up and down and side-to-side. It was crazy! It looked like a moving fireball. Finally it died. We all laughed until we fell over.