by Conny Manero

Created on: September 30, 2008

I have always been afraid of spiders. Whether they were big or small, they gave me the willies. Killing them was out of the question. I was afraid that if I took a swing at it, I would miss it. In that case the spider would get away and I would never find it again. Then there was the idea of stepping on or squashing a spider and hearing that disgusting crunching noise. It was much easier to yell at the top of my lungs and then my father or brother would come along and do the nasty deed.

But even though I think of spiders as horrors, I am also strangely fascinated by them at the same time. So when Ray, a friend of ours, asked if I wanted to hear a funny story about a tarantula, I was all ears. Somehow the words "funny" and "tarantula" did not belong in the same sentence.

It happened a long time ago, Ray recalled, when he was still in school in Barberton (South Africa). He was on his way home, on a particularly hot day in December, walking a dusty road, flanked by fields of corn.

At one point, he got the distinct impression that he was being followed; but, when he looked over his shoulder there was nobody there. He walked a few meters more and looked back again, but no, he was all alone. Or so he thought.

After yet another couple of meters he turned around again, but this time he looked down and saw that an enormous tarantula was about three meters away from him. Ray took off like an Olympic sprinter, despite the heat and the poor condition of the road.

When he looked behind him, hopeful to be as far away from the spider as possible, he noticed to his surprise that the eight legged monster was following him, sprinting with all its might. Ray recalled running even harder, panting, and praying for help. Being a very religious boy, (he later became a minister), he fully expected help.

When no help came and Ray's heart, lungs and legs could no longer keep up the tempo, he knew had to slow down. But he did not want to slow down. He had to get away from that brown haired spider that was still following him!

Eventually, he had no choice. The temperature must have been a scalding 110 degrees, and his body was giving out. Expecting that the tarantula would be upon him within seconds, when he looked back, he noticed that the tarantula had slowed down too. Weird he thought, and he slowed down his pace even more and the tarantula did the same. Finally, Ray came to a dead stop and so did the spider.

Ray stood there, looking at the beast, completely puzzled. When he had rested a bit,

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