Instead of doing a Horror story with my story Spiders. Which will be included in my Tales From Apt. 301 collection. I wanted to see how well I would do at a Children's Story. Give the collection a good mix of Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction, and a Children's Story. With some spooky elements. Anyway my first attempt at it. I hope you all like it. Pretty clever ending I think. *Wink*.
Spiders By P.C. Snider
Curtis, and Ava Rogers are brother and sister. They were at the playground in school one day when Curtis had found out that his sister Ava was scared of spiders. Not just the big spiders either, little ones too.
It didn’t matter what size or type of spider. Daddy long-legs, Black Widows, Trapdoor spiders, you get the idea.
They were climbing around the Monkey Bars. Ava had placed her hand on the next bar ahead of her and as she did a spider ran across her fingers. She screamed and fell to the ground shaking the spider off her hand as fast as she could.
“Oh my God! I hate spiders!” She screamed.
I can have fun with this. Curtis thought.
Curtis decided to start collecting a bunch of different spiders. He will use them to scare his sister at random times, and places.
After searching the playground before recess was over he was able to collect a good five spiders for starters. He had placed them in his backpack for safe keeping.
Five spiders equals five pranks. He thought.
#
While in his English class Curtis started to day dream about the ways he was going to prank his sister. During bed time? During bus rides to school, or back home? During meal times? The options seemed endless.
As the school day ended he had decided to use the first spider on the bus ride home. He sat right behind his sister. He would use the biggest one first to get it out of the way.
Ava had sat down, and just started to relax for the long ride home. Curtis reached into his backpack and brought out the largest spider in his collection. He was grinning ear, to ear.
Curtis had never been afraid of spiders. He had no issues with them whatsoever.
He places the spider right on the back of Ava’s neck. At first she didn’t seem to notice anything but as soon as the spider started to make its way down her right arm she let out a scream so loud the whole bus of people had stopped talking, and glanced in her direction. She flung the spider off almost in an instant.
Curtis laughed, even as she gave him a cold, dark stare.
“I gotcha! I gotcha good!” He exclaimed.
Ava just continued the glare the whole ride home. As everyone else went back to their own conversations.
She was already beginning to think of a way to get her brother back for what he had done. There were already two spiders today including the first one that had gotten her on the Monkey Bars.
Once at home, her parents had already started making dinner for the evening.
“How was school?” Her Mom had asked.
“It was horrible.” Ava said.
“Horrible... Why?”
“I got scared twice by spiders!”
“Aw. I’m so sorry honey, I know how much you hate those things.”
“Right!”
“What’s for dinner?”
“Your favorite. Breakfast for dinner. Eggs, bacon or sausage, toast.”
“Well that’s good at least.” Ava scoffed.
“Can I go back to my room to do some reading? Before dinner?”
“Sure of course you can.”
“Thanks Mom.”
“Have fun.”
Ava headed toward her bedroom. Wondering what her brother had been up to in the meantime, during the conversation with her Mother.
#
As she had reached her bedroom, Ava hesitantly started browsing through her mini library of books. She reached for her favorite Alice In Wonderland. Just as she had brought the book out, right behind it was another spider.
She screamed another scream.
“This is the worst day of my life.” She said as she swatted the spider to the ground.
That’s number three. Now she thought.
She sat on her rocking chair to do some reading. As she started getting into her book, yet another spider crawled across her left arm.
She screams again.
Curtis this time came through the door, she had forgotten to lock it. “I gotcha again!” He laughs so hard he is literally rolling over the floor holding his sides.
“That’s four times in one day! The first one I didn’t even have to plan!” He laughs.
“I’m gonna get you back!” She says to him. “You will see!”
She ran to tell her parents what he has been up to.
Curtis meanwhile just keeps laughing. “Go ahead!” He says.
#
Ava tells both her parents about Curtis and the spiders. They didn’t really have much help or advice except that she had learned from her Mom that Curtis happens to be afraid of snakes.
“Snakes?”
“Yep! Snakes...” Her Mom gave her a wink.
#
Ava decided to visit her Uncle Bob’s place on the weekend; he had a lot of snakes as pets. “Which one do you think I could borrow, if any, to scare my brother?” She asked. “He got me way too many times with Spiders this week, and I need to teach him a lesson.”
“I’d go with the big one. The Ball Python. Named Slither.” Her uncle said.
“Can I borrow just for Monday?” She pleaded.
“Yes of course you can.” He gave her a wink, just as her Mother had given her.
“Thank you! Thank you!” She gave him a big bear hug. As she placed the Snake in her backpack making sure it was still safe, and not in danger.
#
Sunday night, she was able to sneak Slither into her brother’s backpack with no problem. Oh he’s gonna scream on the bus tomorrow morning just like I did. She thought.
#
Monday morning, Curtis picked up his backpack to get onto the bus, he had noticed almost immediately it was heavier than it was the night before. He struggled getting onto the school bus. He glanced over to Ava, she was grinning ear to ear. She sat in the seat across from him so she could get a good look at his reaction when he opened his backpack.
Curtis immediately decided to open his backpack to see why it was so heavy getting onto the bus. He glances in, doesn’t see anything, he decides to reach in, as he does, he feels something slithering and slimy.
He pulls out The Ball Python. He lets out a scream, and faints.
Right before he passed out, he could swear he heard his sister laughing.
Copyright 10/12/2025
~P.C. Snider
