The Spider That Came Back to Life

Charlotte couldn’t believe it. A huge, hairy spider lay at her feet! Yikes! She raised her foot to kick it away.

“Stop!” a boy called. It was her classmate Zack. “That’s a desert blond tarantula! It needs help!”

Charlotte looked at the spider. “It looks dead.”

“It’s not dead,” said Zack. “The legs aren’t curled inward.”

Charlotte sighed. Zack loved spiders just as much as she despised them. She and Zack lived in the Arizona desert. Spiders like tarantulas were common there. Too common. The thought of spiders sent shivers down her spine.

“What is it?” asked their teacher, Ms. Garza.

“A tarantula!” said Zack. “It’s hurt. Can we bring it inside?”

Ms. Garza said yes. Charlotte groaned as more kids came over.

“It’s so still,” said Lucy.

“It looks like this spider is paralyzed,” Zack said. “That means it can’t move.”

“It may have been stung by a wasp,” said Ms. Garza. “It would be a cool experiment to see how long it stays paralyzed. I have a container it can live in.”

“Not in the class!” said Charlotte. “It’s so scary!”

“You may have a fear of spiders,” Ms. Garza said. “Many people have that.”

She scooped up the spider. “But it’s possible to get over your fear. Until then, I’ll keep the spider far from your desk.”

Everyone was excited. Everyone except Charlotte.

“What should we name it?” Ms. Garza asked the next day.

Charlotte wished the spider were named Gone for Good, but she didn’t say that. Instead, she said, “Why does it need a name? It’s scary, and its body is all fuzzy.”

“Fuzzy would be a great name!” said Ms. Garza. The class agreed.

Day after day, Charlotte kept one eye on her work and one eye on Fuzzy. But the spider just lay there.

The class loved Fuzzy. But Charlotte wished Fuzzy would just disappear! Then one day, she got her wish.

Zack noticed it first. “Fuzzy is gone!” he cried out. “He must have started moving again and escaped!”

Everyone was upset. Everyone except Charlotte.

But life without Fuzzy wasn’t that great. At lunch, everyone was too sad to talk. At recess, everyone was too busy looking for Fuzzy to play. And when Ms. Garza told the class about the Halloween party, nobody clapped. Not even Charlotte.

When the class made missing spider posters, Charlotte joined them. “What should I write?” she asked.

“You could add facts about tarantulas,” Lucy said.

“Tarantulas are good for the world,” Zack said. “They eat bugs that hurt plants. And they rarely bite people.”

Even Charlotte had to admit that was cool. She hung her posters. But Fuzzy was nowhere.

“I wish Fuzzy could come to the Halloween party tomorrow,” Zack said.

“I wish the whole school would look for him,” Lucy said.

Charlotte got an idea.

The next day, Charlotte arrived at school dressed in brown. Four tubes were sticking out of her sides. Together with her arms and legs, Charlotte had eight fuzzy spider legs.

It was a Fuzzy costume!

“I thought I might motivate people to look for Fuzzy if I dressed up as him,” she said.

Soon the whole school was talking about her costume. Everyone searched. Then at lunch, a kid yelled, “I see him!”

Everyone raced over. It was Fuzzy! A girl ran up to grab the spider, but Charlotte jumped in front of her.

“Stay back,” she said. “You’ll scare him!”

“Charlotte, you saved Fuzzy!” said Ms. Garza, picking up the spider. “Looks like you’ve gotten over your fear. Now that he’s moving, it’s time for Fuzzy to go back to the desert.”

Charlotte was shocked. “But I’m finally not scared!”

Ms. Garza smiled. “So you can be the one to let him go.”

The class followed their teacher as she carried Fuzzy outside. Then Charlotte gently placed Fuzzy in the yard. She watched as he crawled away.

“Go eat bugs and take care of the world,” she said.

“I hope we can help another tarantula one day,” said Zack.

Everyone agreed. Especially Charlotte.