I returned to the Normans' house after spending the weekend in Charleston and Boone, then a full day of work. It was an especially late night, and I didn't get back to Charlotte until 1 a.m. I go to open the screen door at 8824 Rally Drive when a spider THE SIZE OF A GOLF BALL lunges at me.
I can't handle it. I'm on the phone with Brad at the time. He keeps reminding me of my yellow belly, and how I need to deal with the spider. Keep in mind, this spider is a lunger, I'm in sandals and I am carrying no squooshing device but my purse, and why would I do that to such a cute bag?
My only option was to find another way to get into the Norman home. Garage? Too easy; the spider probably had backups waiting in the deep recesses of the door just waiting to attack my hand as I went to raise the door. What could I do?
With Brad on my cell phone in one hand and the motion sensor light going crazy in the driveway, I made my way around to the back of the house. OK Jess, the screen door handle on the back door can't have a spider hiding behind it...
I test the lock. VICTORY! I'm in!
Thursday Night
What are the chances, I tell myself, that this monstrous sentry spider will be at the door again tonight? I start to regret the kindness of the Normans in leaving the porch light on for me. After all, the light attracts bugs and that must be why the spider is torturing me so after a long night at work.
It is there again.
"Don't let it get the best of you," I tell myself. Deep breath in, deep breath out. I stomp on the porch to attempt to scare it away just long enough to unlock the door and get inside to safety.
STOMP! (I was wearing Keds that night -- anticipating a showdown, I didn't want my toes to be vulnerable). It jumped TOWARD me!
That's IT! This spider clearly is sitting at the front door every night to scare the beegees out of me. I turn around to go in through the emergency route when another smaller spider starts descending from a tree just feet from me.
AAGH!
What did I hear, besides the irrational fear eating at the back of my mind that the cat that was left out at night was really a rabid raccoon coming to eat my knees? A man across the street calling his dog. Glenn Small! My hero!
I power walk to his house and beg him to save me. Equipped with a ball Tate must have left in the driveway, Glenn marches straight over to the spider, tells me it is a force to be reckoned with, then quickly squooshes it.
My eternal gratitude goes out to Glenn Small, killer of large spiders and savior of arachnophobes on Rally Drive.
Now, one part of the story I omitted: I knew I was going to hear it from Brad when he called. I let the spider get the best of me TWO nights in a row. Maybe he didn't realize the magnitude of this beast. I just happened to have my digital camera with me so I pulled it out and took a quick shot of the behemoth. See below... And notice the especially creepy extra eyes that seem to glow in the flash's light.
1 comment:
That thing would have eaten you alive for sure. Good move about getting the neighbor. I probably would have just slept outside ... away from the front door. ;-)
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