+ Sp|dEr : Dream 1 +

It happened long long ago. So long that i forgot when. Yet I'm only 22, so it shouldn't have been that long.

We used to live in a small village right outside a big patch of forest. It was then undeveloped, nothing like any sight one can see anywhere now. Everyone lived in wooden houses, though rundown, yet huge, with a floor above and an attic. Everyday was peaceful, until that fateful day that changed everything.

A group of us kids were playing in the open area outside our houses, my elder brother and I, and a couple of neighbour kids. The forest was our friend, because it provided tons of entertainment for our otherwise dull childhood. Yet we never managed to explore deep into it, probably the deep and unknown scared us. We would play by the fringe, that's all.

Yet that day, as we got all hyped and excited in our usual but never boring game: catching, we got nearer and nearer to the forest, and into it. Perhaps it was doomed to be that fateful day, because the sun set very early that day, and it took too long to rise again.

The group of us were still in the forest as dusk fell. It's only till later that we realised one of us was missing.

"Everyone! Let's get into pairs and split up to find him!" My brother ordered. All of us nodded, but i didn't pair with my brother, because to him I'm a little pest. He paired with another boy, and me with the little sis of that boy. With the other pairs, we split and started searching, screaming the missing kid's name.

My partner and I were going in this direction which we never went before. We just concentrated on parting the shrubs as we got deeper and deeper into the forest, suspecting that the missing kid would be hiding somewhere inside. Suddenly, we heard/felt something swept past before us somewhere. It was a sudden movement, then all was still. Both of us looked at each other, bewildered.

"AAHHH!!!" both of us jerked our head to our right where the scream came from, especially for me, my heart missed a beat, because that was my brother who screamed! We rushed blindly in that direction, getting cuts in our hands and legs, but we didn't bother.

"Bro! Bro!! Where are you!!" I searched frantically. Suddenly, my brother's visibly petrified face emerged from among the bushes, grabbing me and my friend and starting running in the direction where we came from. "Run! There's a huge spider!!"

I almost wanted to laugh at this. I forgot my brother was most scared of spiders, considering we grew up among them. "Where's my bro?" my friend panted.

"I don't know! That spider came and we split up!"
"What? I'm going back for him!" my friend turned back, but my brother was trying so hard to hold her back. "Don't get youself killed! He might have escaped! We must....."

"AAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" my friend shrieked and my brother froze.
I looked up.

"OH MY GOD!!! SPIDER!!! RRRUUUUNNNNN!!!!!!" Instinctively i grabbed the 2 of them and ran for my life! Never in my life had i ran so fast! Never in my life had i seen such a HUGE spider!! It was as tall as my dad! and we were very small! And it was chasing us! I knew I was DREAMiNg! I want to WAKE UP!!

"AAAHHHHhhhhh!!! RRRUUUNNNN!!!!" The 3 of us were yelling like crazy as we ran at top speed, releasing the nerves trapped tightened in our muscles and allowing us to run even faster, yet at the same time careful not to trip over anything, because we knew, somehow, that if there's just a slight stumble, that's the end of us.

I didn't know why, I was always the slowest in running, yet i ran the first now, followed closely by my friend, then my brother. Perhaps my brother was too scared stiffed in his legs, while I, on the contrary, the fright had given me even more power to run.

Run and think of nothing! I tried to hynoptise myself. RUN AND THINK OF NOTHING! THERE'S NO SPIDER BEHIND ME!!!

"AARRGGHH!! HHEELLLPPPPP!!!! NNNOOOO!!!" That's my brother again! I turned back, and saw my brother tied in his leg in that stupid spider's web! And he was being dragged by his leg back into the forest!!

"Bro!!" Both of us girls started to run after them, not knowing how, but we must save him! As we ran, we tried to look around for something to attack. It was dark, thoroughly dark! My brother was still screaming, but was somehow stuck in between 2 trees, and the retreat was stopped short.

This is it! I thought to myself as I grabbed a long strong stick out of nowhere, and my friend scooped up a whole bunch of pebbles. That's all we could do. Before the spider came back, we reached my brother. he was trying to break that thick web tangling his leg, but he got his hands stuck too! That web was too sticky! Grrr!

The bushes before us rustled again, very fast! And there was a force puling my brother. We knew it! With one swift swoop of my stick, I chopped free that disgusting web and freed my brother.
"Hurry up!" I screamed! But it was too late! Another web came flying and grabbed my brother around his waist! "ARGH!" he held onto a trunk and hugged it tight, all the while being pulled towards the spider while the spider came closer. I couldn't chop that web off again because he was too high!

Suddenly, everything was in slow motion! Me and my friend took the pebbles and threw them at where we thought the spider would be, but they didn't even seem to hinder it one bit! We had to change the strategy! My friend took a boulder rock out of no where and aimed at one leg, crippling it. The spider struggled in anger! Seeing this slight advantage and feeling a little bold, i took my stick and with all my might, whacked it on its head! But it only seemed to get more pissed, not injured though.

"HHAIYAK!!" Out of nowhere, a long stick/branch appeared and stabbed halfway right into the spider's body! The spider struggled and roared! I didn't know spiders ROARED?!?! and the web that tied my brother to it broke! Seeing this example, i took my stick and shove it up the belly of the stupid spider, sending almost half of it into it, though i was amazed that stick of mine didn't break!

"Come on!" Someone grabbed my hand and dragged me away! Turned out that it was my friend's brother who saved us, the one whom was paired with my brother in the search in the beginning. And it turned out that that spider was reared by a kid in the same village, except that this spider broke free from its METAL cage and escaped into the forest.

When we were finally certain we were safe from the spider, I finally woke up.