Arachnophobia

definition: the fear of spiders

Sadly, I have this phobia. How bad? Well, bad enough to make me throw my computer halfway across my bed when I typed "Arachnophobia" into Google (to check the spelling, of course) and a picture of a spider crawling on a guys head popped up. In the words of Ron Weasley, "I don't like spiders".

The unfortunate part is that my friends know that too. And my friends, being who they are, have a tendancy to torment me for that fear... thanks guys :) One prime example? Last Christmas...

December (I dunno... let's just say a few days before Christmas)





Me (left) recieving the gift. Evil Friend (right) giving gift
--Before the gift was opened--

  We were all sitting at lunch, exchanging gifts right before the break:



And then came the time to open the gift. I didn't really know what to expect---I felt kinda special because I had two gifts while everyone else only had one. Oh how wrong I was...






Me: Opening Present and Realizing...





Me: (left) screaming my head off   Spider: (top right) flying
down the hallway
Evil Friend: (bottom right) laughing hysterically

Before I continue, let me say that it was not a real spider---it was a huge black gummy spider, but it had the same effect. I put on quite a spectacal right there in the hallway. Me screaming, running away as my friends threw the spider at me. One friend, lets just call her "Ursula" even put the spider down the back of my shirt. ...That brought on a lot more screams, even putting me close to tears. The spider was put in and out of the trashcan multiple times, stuck to lockers, put in my backpack...

But as traumatic as that lunch period was, it eventually ended, and I thought everything to do with the spider was over... but again I thought wrong. I went to get my coat from the locker room at the end of the day, but I wasn't stupid. I was suspicious of my friends. I knew they wouldn't let their "fun" die down that fast. I carefully inspected my coat, eventually finding it in the pocket. At first I jumped, but I didn't want to let them win. So, I grabbed my coat by its hood and started shaking it around until the spider fell out. Eventually, it did.

Once again, I thought the spider fiasco was over. Then, a few weeks later, after Christmas break, I started getting suspicious again. Had my friends really let the whole spider thing go? It didn't seem right. Once again, I went to my locker to get my coat. As I was putting the coat on, I felt an odd lump in the lining of the coat. I took the coat off immeadiately and went back to class. When I got there I asked another friend to look and see what was there.... sure enough it was the spider.

Finally, after ten minutes of them throwing around the spider and making fun of me, it was throw away for good (at least I think---knock on wood). But you know what they say, what goes around, comes back around, and I'm already plotting for next Christmas.

**To the friend who gave me this horrid gift, I do know it was a joke, and I appreciate it, after all, it is the thought that counts (even if it was an evil thought). But look out for next year.

XOXO
Amanda