Antarctica

His eyes looked awfully cloudy. He seemed to stare into nothing. Suddenly, his gaze focussed and he said with a rough voice: “I want to see it”, he sounded determined.

     I glanced sideways and caught a glimpse of the shocked look on Skitty’s face. Her eyes were brimming with silent tears. She gave me a quick nod and I strode out of our home with Cricky close behind me.

     The monster was rampaging just outside our town. It hadn’t caught sight of our town and its inhabitants yet, but it was a matter of minutes before it would find out about us. Its huge hairy legs had dashed through our carefully kept gardens. It had managed to knock down our most cherished possession, our small swimming pool which was the pride of our town. Tourists from all around came to our town to experience the wonderful feeling of diving into our breathtaking pool. That was gone now, we could say goodbye to the vast flood of tourist and the extra income that came with it.

     A plan started to form in my head. A plan both dangerous and exhilarating, but it could save the town from this monster. Last time when a similar creature had attacked the city my mum and dad had died because of it, I had to stop it. A stubborn look spread across my face. I had to!

     Cricky caught the look on my face and gasped, “You’re not going to...”

     “Yes, I am”, I said, “It’s the only way to prevent that thing from killing. I don’t want to sit down and wait for it to orphan more youngsters. It’s just not right. And besides, I’ve got nothing to lose!”

     Cricky swallowed, “But, it’s huge! What are you going to do to kill it? It will kill you as soon as it spots you. You know how quick these creatures are. You saw how quickly that thing destroyed your parents...” He stopped when he saw the hurt look in my eyes.

     “I’m still going to try”, I said stubbornly, “Even if it kills me, I’m not going to sit back and wait for it to kill more people I love”. A lump had formed in the back of my throat. I stopped speaking and tried to swallow. “I have got a plan”, I managed to choke out.

I put a stone, rope, net and needle in a small cloth and knotted the ends around a stick. I slung it over my shoulder. My knapsack was ready. I tried to summon all the courage I had in me. I inhaled the fresh air and left my home behind me with a firm tread.

     Word had spread through town about my determination to slay the monster. I could feel anxious eyes following me when I walked away from town. Some neighbours came out of their homes to give me words of encouragement or a quick nod of understanding. It didn’t make me feel any better. Although they tried to speak words of comfort, their eyes betrayed them. They gave me mournful looks, as if I was walking to my grave. I couldn’t blame them. Nobody in history had managed to slay a ferocious beast like this. Would I be the first?

I felt a lot better when I reached the town boundaries. Nobody around me. Free from the anxious and mournful stares. I looked for the monster, but it must’ve strolled off further away from town. I climbed into a nearby blade of grass. My heart stopped when I got near the top. The monster was right in front of me. I was lucky, it was standing with its huge and hairy hind legs towards me. 

Then it turned.

    
From close by it looked even more terrifying. Thick black hair sprouted from every inch of its body and legs. From its jaw two huge pincers clicked in a petrifying way. Eight milky white eyes seemed to look right through me. Its eyes seemed to stare to something behind me. I resisted the urge to turn my head. It could be a trick to catch me off guard. The monster’s pincers twitched nervously as if it didn’t know what to do. I was flabbergasted, I had never seen a monster behave like this. I picked up my courage and withdrew the needle from my knapsack. When the needle caught the light the monster’s eyes twitched, it seemed like it tried to focus on what had flickered in the sunlight. Then it hit me; the monster couldn’t see properly! This was the perfect opportunity, I had an advantage. Just when I was ready to strike, the monster opened its mouth. In a hardly audible whisper it said: “Please, don’t hurt me”

     Was this a trick? Did it try to confuse me so it could kill me when I lowered my needle? Then I saw something even more confusing. A tear had fromed in one of it’s huge milky eyes. I felt uncomfortable. The whole world seemed to have turned upside down. Despite a warning voice in the back of my head, I lowered the needle. A look of utmost gratitude spread across the monster’s face.

     “What’s wrong with you?”, I asked.

     The monster looked nervously from left to right as if to check if anybody was listening. “I am banned”, it said quietly.

     “Banned from what?”, I asked confused.

     “Banned from the spider’s community of course”, it said bitterly.

     “But why?”, I asked. It started to shift its eyes again and stepped closer towards me. Again, I rejected my instincts to take a step back.

     “Because I am not normal”, it said in a low voice, “I am not a proper spider. I –, I –“, Its head was now an inch from my face, “I don’t eat meat”, it finished its sentence. And with that remark it broke down in tears.

     I didn’t know what to do. How do you comfort a spider? “I think you are still a proper spider, even if you don’t eat meat”, I tried.

     The wailing stopped, and a grin spread across its ugly face. “You do?”