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Big. Huge. Massive. Enormous. Gigantic. I should have remembered that those words aren’t interchangeable. There’s a strict rank to them when you’re a kid. When she said it was ‘ginormous’ I should have believed her, I mean, you don’t amalgamate enormous and gigantic if the subject doesn’t truly deserve it. Not when you’re five. But when it’s almost 4am the brain often fails to function, and the primary objective is to get back to the warmth of the bed as soon as possible.
It was the thump that woke me. The age of the house, with it’s classic wooden floorboards were a feature that attracted me to the place, but by Christ they could be noisy. At first I thought she had fallen out of bed, and sure enough, “Mummy!” was called out seconds later in a high-pitched squeal, making me sure this was the case.
It wasn’t.
With Sue out of action thanks to a girl’s night out, it was my turn to be the hero. I stumbled out of bed, and headed out of the room. I knocked into the dressing table on the way, despite its presence in our room for a decade, I still hadn’t gotten used to it being there. There was a crash as cans of hairspray and deodorant fell to the floor. I picked them up as best I could and dropped them back on the side before moving on to Kara’s room. I pushed the door open, the nightlight illuminating Kara’s face as she sat upright in her bed, her duvet pulled up to her chin.
“A spider!” she cried, shivering.
“It’s okay darling, where was it?” I said, stifling a yawn.
“It went under the bed. Be careful!” said Kara, hugging her teddy bear tightly.
“Did you get out of bed?” I asked, remembering the earlier thump. Kara shook her head.
I got down on my knees and peered at the floor beneath the bed where a large book of fairy tales lay open, spine up, with it’s pages bent against the floor.
“Did you throw your story book at it?”
“No Daddy, it tried to steal it!”
“Spiders can’t pick up story books.”
“But it was ginormous! It dragged it along with its legs!”
“Were you having a bad dream?” I asked.
“No Daddy, the spider woke me up. Can I get in your bed?”
“Go on then, hop in with Mummy.” I was pretty sure she wouldn’t wake her.
“No Daddy, carry me. The spider might get me.”
I sighed before giving her a smile, and she stood up on the bed. She looked nervously down at the floor as I approached, then jumped into my arms, her knees pushing into my gut, winding me. Teddy fell from her arms to the floor.
“You’re getting heavy,” I said as I carried her to bed, dropping her carefully beside Sue.
“Teddy!” she said as I was about to climb into bed myself.
“Hang on,” I said, my patience beginning to wear thin.
On the way back into the bedroom I hit the dressing table again. Once more the cans crashed to the floor. I put a couple back on the side, and unable to find room for the last, I stuck it in my pocket.
When I got to the bedroom I scanned for the bear. No sign. Maybe it had fallen under the bed I thought, but as I was about to bend down I heard another thump, and was sure that the bed had just risen a few inches from the floor. As I looked down I caught a glimpse of teddy, moving away from me. I got down onto my stomach for a better look, sure enough teddy was being clawed further under the bed by a huge, hairy leg. A ginormous leg.
I pushed myself off the floor with a nervous grunt and switched the light on. I squinted as the room lit up, then bent down ever so slightly to check under the bed.
“Teddy!” came an impatient shout from the bedroom.
“Just a sec…” I said, slowly moving lower down. The bear was still there, and no sign of any spider leg. I reached down and grabbed the bear, cursing my vivid imagination, and headed back to bed, switching the light out on the way.
The alarm blurted out at 6:30. I hit snooze and turned over. Something was wrong.
Kara.
I shook Sue gently at first, before become more forceful. “Where’s Kara.”
“I sent her back to bed,” replied Sue, eyes still close, drool encrusted on the side of her face.
“Was she okay?”
“She said there was a spider, but… her feet were cold.”
I darted into her room, throwing on my dressing gown on the way. Kara’s bed had been moved at an angle, her duvet and sheets strewn across the floor.
“Kara,” I called, as I quickly searched the other rooms.
At first I didn’t hear it, only when I returned to the bedroom could a muffled cry be heard.
I moved over to her bed, from where it seemed to be loudest. I pulled the bed further away from the wall and spotted the large cracks in the floorboards. Around them in the dust were the tracks of eights legs on the floor, and from the bottom of the bed hung thick cobwebs.
I put my head to the floor and listened again. Kara was under there, somewhere. I pulled at the floorboards, and found they came up remarkably easy, as if a trap-door had been created from beneath.
I shot up and grabbed a torch from the drawer before returning to look into the hole under the floorboards. It seemed to open up into a large basement. It was full of boxes, shelves, all kinds of junks that you’d normally find in a basement, only this wasn’t our stuff, and this house had no basement we knew of.
I dropped into the hole, not thinking about how I’d even get back out. The room was covered in cobwebs, dust thick on the floor. The basement was huge, stretching out for yards in each direction, with dozens of pillars supporting the floor above, probably for the whole estate. The tracks of the spider could be seen all around, I didn’t know which way to head until I spotted a dustless streak on the floor that was probably carved out by Kara being dragged along it.
I followed the path to one side, where the cobwebs were much thicker. Hanging above me was a large webbed parcel. The sound of breathing could be heard from within. I stood tall, but could not quite reach it. I climbed the shelves on the side and reached out towards it. Just as I placed one hand on it the shelves came crashing down. The parcel fell too, landing hard on the floor.
“No!” I cried, as I picked myself up and tore the web away from the body. From inside came a whimper as it moved its limbs. It wasn’t Kara, it was the stray dog that had been pestering the neighbourhood until the last few days. I remember being pleased that I hadn’t seen the mutt for a few days, but Christ, it didn’t deserve that.
The crash of the shelves had alerted the spider to my presence. I caught it from the corner of my eye as it scuttled towards my, its thick legs swishing the dust out of it’s way, throwing it up into the air, creating a cloud around its fat body. I kicked out at a leg, but it barely noticed the blow, other legs pushing against me, feeling my body. I batted at they with my hands, tried to keep its body away from me but as I did so I felt them begin to stiffen. The spider cast webbing around them, was trying to bind me up.
As it moved towards my face I heard a growl. The dog had caught the spider off guard and jumped at one of its legs. It clambered off me and turned its attention back to the dog. I used my legs to push myself away from them as I tried to move my hands free of the webbing.
The dog was still pulling at one of the legs, always moving backwards so the spider could do no more than just keep it, it couldn’t move its other legs fast enough to get back on top – but it was fast approaching the corner. I didn’t have much time. Other parcels hung from the ceiling, but there was one of a shape that could not be mistaken. The pink fur of teddy could be seen through a gap in the web. I climbed up to where Kara was hanging, and ensuring the shelf was strong enough, took her in my arms and pulled her down. I quickly pushed the cobwebs away from her face, checked she was breathing. She opened her eyes and gave me a weak smile, I returned it as I clambered down the shelves with her over my shoulder.
As my feet hit the floor the spider was upon me again. I looked back into the corner – but the dog was still in battle with his foe. There was more than one of these beasts. Kara’s presence gave me renewed strength, I couldn’t let them get hold of her as I kicked out as its head. It reeled back and fell, but as I turned I was faced by a couple more. Kara held me tightly, and as I smelt her hair I remembered. I thrust my hand into by pocket and removed the hairspray. I knocked off the lid with my knee and as the spiders slowly moved in I begun to spray towards their eyes. They reeled back, then started running in random directions.
I looked up towards the ceiling, a spotted the sign I was looking for, a faint glow from the floor boards above. I pulled at some shelves, but they wouldn’t budge, so I moved on to a table and placed it below the light. Standing on the table I pushed up, the floorboards above moving open like a trap-door. It caught something, then crashed down again. I continued to push until I heard the cry of a young boy.
“Mummy! Mummy, the bogeyman!”
A few seconds later further light could be seen and I again pushed up at the floorboards.
“It’s just a bad dream Billy,” came a voice from above.
“No, it’s not!” I shouted.
Billy screamed.
“Who’s down there!” cried his mother, “leave my boy alone!”
“Help us, move the bed!”
“I will not, I’m calling the police!”
I looked down to the spiders. Their panic seemed to have passed, and they were turning their attention back towards us.
“Mrs Wendall,” said Kara, much to my surprise.
“Kara? That you?” said the voice from above.
“It’s me and my Daddy, we’re trapped!”
Seconds later there was a scraping as the bed was moved out of the way. I pushed the trapdoor open and was greeted by a face a vaguely recognised from the school playground, Mrs Wendall was a classroom assistant at Kara’s school. She held out her arms and lifted Kara out. I pulled myself up, then placed the bed back on the trap-door.
I had to knock on the front door for a long time before Sue answered. She was squinting as the early morning light hit her face. She looked at me and Kara, for a long time, the look of puzzlement growing as she looked back and forth between us. She sobered up pretty quickly when I showed her the hole and told her what was down there.
Since there have been teams from various government departments down there, having a look. The police force were able to close a dozen or so missing persons reports going back decades once the place was cleared out. We got a pretty hefty insurance pay-out too. As long as it was enough to allow up to move I didn’t care. Only this time I was going to make sure the floors were completely solid.
It was the thump that woke me. The age of the house, with it’s classic wooden floorboards were a feature that attracted me to the place, but by Christ they could be noisy. At first I thought she had fallen out of bed, and sure enough, “Mummy!” was called out seconds later in a high-pitched squeal, making me sure this was the case.
It wasn’t.
With Sue out of action thanks to a girl’s night out, it was my turn to be the hero. I stumbled out of bed, and headed out of the room. I knocked into the dressing table on the way, despite its presence in our room for a decade, I still hadn’t gotten used to it being there. There was a crash as cans of hairspray and deodorant fell to the floor. I picked them up as best I could and dropped them back on the side before moving on to Kara’s room. I pushed the door open, the nightlight illuminating Kara’s face as she sat upright in her bed, her duvet pulled up to her chin.
“A spider!” she cried, shivering.
“It’s okay darling, where was it?” I said, stifling a yawn.
“It went under the bed. Be careful!” said Kara, hugging her teddy bear tightly.
“Did you get out of bed?” I asked, remembering the earlier thump. Kara shook her head.
I got down on my knees and peered at the floor beneath the bed where a large book of fairy tales lay open, spine up, with it’s pages bent against the floor.
“Did you throw your story book at it?”
“No Daddy, it tried to steal it!”
“Spiders can’t pick up story books.”
“But it was ginormous! It dragged it along with its legs!”
“Were you having a bad dream?” I asked.
“No Daddy, the spider woke me up. Can I get in your bed?”
“Go on then, hop in with Mummy.” I was pretty sure she wouldn’t wake her.
“No Daddy, carry me. The spider might get me.”
I sighed before giving her a smile, and she stood up on the bed. She looked nervously down at the floor as I approached, then jumped into my arms, her knees pushing into my gut, winding me. Teddy fell from her arms to the floor.
“You’re getting heavy,” I said as I carried her to bed, dropping her carefully beside Sue.
“Teddy!” she said as I was about to climb into bed myself.
“Hang on,” I said, my patience beginning to wear thin.
On the way back into the bedroom I hit the dressing table again. Once more the cans crashed to the floor. I put a couple back on the side, and unable to find room for the last, I stuck it in my pocket.
When I got to the bedroom I scanned for the bear. No sign. Maybe it had fallen under the bed I thought, but as I was about to bend down I heard another thump, and was sure that the bed had just risen a few inches from the floor. As I looked down I caught a glimpse of teddy, moving away from me. I got down onto my stomach for a better look, sure enough teddy was being clawed further under the bed by a huge, hairy leg. A ginormous leg.
I pushed myself off the floor with a nervous grunt and switched the light on. I squinted as the room lit up, then bent down ever so slightly to check under the bed.
“Teddy!” came an impatient shout from the bedroom.
“Just a sec…” I said, slowly moving lower down. The bear was still there, and no sign of any spider leg. I reached down and grabbed the bear, cursing my vivid imagination, and headed back to bed, switching the light out on the way.
The alarm blurted out at 6:30. I hit snooze and turned over. Something was wrong.
Kara.
I shook Sue gently at first, before become more forceful. “Where’s Kara.”
“I sent her back to bed,” replied Sue, eyes still close, drool encrusted on the side of her face.
“Was she okay?”
“She said there was a spider, but… her feet were cold.”
I darted into her room, throwing on my dressing gown on the way. Kara’s bed had been moved at an angle, her duvet and sheets strewn across the floor.
“Kara,” I called, as I quickly searched the other rooms.
At first I didn’t hear it, only when I returned to the bedroom could a muffled cry be heard.
I moved over to her bed, from where it seemed to be loudest. I pulled the bed further away from the wall and spotted the large cracks in the floorboards. Around them in the dust were the tracks of eights legs on the floor, and from the bottom of the bed hung thick cobwebs.
I put my head to the floor and listened again. Kara was under there, somewhere. I pulled at the floorboards, and found they came up remarkably easy, as if a trap-door had been created from beneath.
I shot up and grabbed a torch from the drawer before returning to look into the hole under the floorboards. It seemed to open up into a large basement. It was full of boxes, shelves, all kinds of junks that you’d normally find in a basement, only this wasn’t our stuff, and this house had no basement we knew of.
I dropped into the hole, not thinking about how I’d even get back out. The room was covered in cobwebs, dust thick on the floor. The basement was huge, stretching out for yards in each direction, with dozens of pillars supporting the floor above, probably for the whole estate. The tracks of the spider could be seen all around, I didn’t know which way to head until I spotted a dustless streak on the floor that was probably carved out by Kara being dragged along it.
I followed the path to one side, where the cobwebs were much thicker. Hanging above me was a large webbed parcel. The sound of breathing could be heard from within. I stood tall, but could not quite reach it. I climbed the shelves on the side and reached out towards it. Just as I placed one hand on it the shelves came crashing down. The parcel fell too, landing hard on the floor.
“No!” I cried, as I picked myself up and tore the web away from the body. From inside came a whimper as it moved its limbs. It wasn’t Kara, it was the stray dog that had been pestering the neighbourhood until the last few days. I remember being pleased that I hadn’t seen the mutt for a few days, but Christ, it didn’t deserve that.
The crash of the shelves had alerted the spider to my presence. I caught it from the corner of my eye as it scuttled towards my, its thick legs swishing the dust out of it’s way, throwing it up into the air, creating a cloud around its fat body. I kicked out at a leg, but it barely noticed the blow, other legs pushing against me, feeling my body. I batted at they with my hands, tried to keep its body away from me but as I did so I felt them begin to stiffen. The spider cast webbing around them, was trying to bind me up.
As it moved towards my face I heard a growl. The dog had caught the spider off guard and jumped at one of its legs. It clambered off me and turned its attention back to the dog. I used my legs to push myself away from them as I tried to move my hands free of the webbing.
The dog was still pulling at one of the legs, always moving backwards so the spider could do no more than just keep it, it couldn’t move its other legs fast enough to get back on top – but it was fast approaching the corner. I didn’t have much time. Other parcels hung from the ceiling, but there was one of a shape that could not be mistaken. The pink fur of teddy could be seen through a gap in the web. I climbed up to where Kara was hanging, and ensuring the shelf was strong enough, took her in my arms and pulled her down. I quickly pushed the cobwebs away from her face, checked she was breathing. She opened her eyes and gave me a weak smile, I returned it as I clambered down the shelves with her over my shoulder.
As my feet hit the floor the spider was upon me again. I looked back into the corner – but the dog was still in battle with his foe. There was more than one of these beasts. Kara’s presence gave me renewed strength, I couldn’t let them get hold of her as I kicked out as its head. It reeled back and fell, but as I turned I was faced by a couple more. Kara held me tightly, and as I smelt her hair I remembered. I thrust my hand into by pocket and removed the hairspray. I knocked off the lid with my knee and as the spiders slowly moved in I begun to spray towards their eyes. They reeled back, then started running in random directions.
I looked up towards the ceiling, a spotted the sign I was looking for, a faint glow from the floor boards above. I pulled at some shelves, but they wouldn’t budge, so I moved on to a table and placed it below the light. Standing on the table I pushed up, the floorboards above moving open like a trap-door. It caught something, then crashed down again. I continued to push until I heard the cry of a young boy.
“Mummy! Mummy, the bogeyman!”
A few seconds later further light could be seen and I again pushed up at the floorboards.
“It’s just a bad dream Billy,” came a voice from above.
“No, it’s not!” I shouted.
Billy screamed.
“Who’s down there!” cried his mother, “leave my boy alone!”
“Help us, move the bed!”
“I will not, I’m calling the police!”
I looked down to the spiders. Their panic seemed to have passed, and they were turning their attention back towards us.
“Mrs Wendall,” said Kara, much to my surprise.
“Kara? That you?” said the voice from above.
“It’s me and my Daddy, we’re trapped!”
Seconds later there was a scraping as the bed was moved out of the way. I pushed the trapdoor open and was greeted by a face a vaguely recognised from the school playground, Mrs Wendall was a classroom assistant at Kara’s school. She held out her arms and lifted Kara out. I pulled myself up, then placed the bed back on the trap-door.
I had to knock on the front door for a long time before Sue answered. She was squinting as the early morning light hit her face. She looked at me and Kara, for a long time, the look of puzzlement growing as she looked back and forth between us. She sobered up pretty quickly when I showed her the hole and told her what was down there.
Since there have been teams from various government departments down there, having a look. The police force were able to close a dozen or so missing persons reports going back decades once the place was cleared out. We got a pretty hefty insurance pay-out too. As long as it was enough to allow up to move I didn’t care. Only this time I was going to make sure the floors were completely solid.
You must teach me how to revide one day. It's a skill I've always thought might be useful.
Thanks for reading, and apologies for not being able to give it a polish before posting.
FFF, interesting what you say about it tailing off, the first 500 words or so were written first, and revided slightly, the rest though is all first draft not even checked for errors. I'll sort it out at some point.
FFF, interesting what you say about it tailing off, the first 500 words or so were written first, and revided slightly, the rest though is all first draft not even checked for errors. I'll sort it out at some point.
Humorous, imaginative, original and above all, interesting. So wonderfully easy to read from start to finish - an underrated and often scarce quality in stories.
Riddled with typos, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean anything. Not flawless, but very well done.
Riddled with typos, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean anything. Not flawless, but very well done.
I liked that muchly but what happened to the dog? Cruel of you to leave it behind when it had helped you :(
I liked it very much indeed at the start ... but then kinda lost interest in the middle somewhere. Still, a good tale.
Hmmm, rather implausible, especially the part about government departments and a few factual errors but it's easily one of the best on here. Nice one
A nice story...
I enjoyed that, charming little story.
Big. Huge. Massive. Enormous. Gigantic. I should have remembered that those words aren’t interchangeable. There’s a strict rank to them when you’re a kid. When she said it was ‘ginormous’ I should have believed her, I mean, you don’t amalgamate enormous and gigantic if the subject doesn’t truly deserve it. Not when you’re five. But when it’s almost 4am the brain often fails to function, and the primary objective is to get back to the warmth of the bed as soon as possible.
It was the thump that woke me. The age of the house, with it’s classic wooden floorboards were a feature that attracted me to the place, but by Christ they could be noisy. At first I thought she had fallen out of bed, and sure enough, “Mummy!” was called out seconds later in a high-pitched squeal, making me sure this was the case.
It wasn’t.
With Sue out of action thanks to a girl’s night out, it was my turn to be the hero. I stumbled out of bed, and headed out of the room. I knocked into the dressing table on the way, despite its presence in our room for a decade, I still hadn’t gotten used to it being there. There was a crash as cans of hairspray and deodorant fell to the floor. I picked them up as best I could and dropped them back on the side before moving on to Kara’s room. I pushed the door open, the nightlight illuminating Kara’s face as she sat upright in her bed, her duvet pulled up to her chin.
“A spider!” she cried, shivering.
“It’s okay darling, where was it?” I said, stifling a yawn.
“It went under the bed. Be careful!” said Kara, hugging her teddy bear tightly.
“Did you get out of bed?” I asked, remembering the earlier thump. Kara shook her head.
I got down on my knees and peered at the floor beneath the bed where a large book of fairy tales lay open, spine up, with it’s pages bent against the floor.
“Did you throw your story book at it?”
“No Daddy, it tried to steal it!”
“Spiders can’t pick up story books.”
“But it was ginormous! It dragged it along with its legs!”
“Were you having a bad dream?” I asked.
“No Daddy, the spider woke me up. Can I get in your bed?”
“Go on then, hop in with Mummy.” I was pretty sure she wouldn’t wake her.
“No Daddy, carry me. The spider might get me.”
I sighed before giving her a smile, and she stood up on the bed. She looked nervously down at the floor as I approached, then jumped into my arms, her knees pushing into my gut, winding me. Teddy fell from her arms to the floor.
“You’re getting heavy,” I said as I carried her to bed, dropping her carefully beside Sue.
“Teddy!” she said as I was about to climb into bed myself.
“Hang on,” I said, my patience beginning to wear thin.
On the way back into the bedroom I hit the dressing table again. Once more the cans crashed to the floor. I put a couple back on the side, and unable to find room for the last, I stuck it in my pocket.
When I got to the bedroom I scanned for the bear. No sign. Maybe it had fallen under the bed I thought, but as I was about to bend down I heard another thump, and was sure that the bed had just risen a few inches from the floor. As I looked down I caught a glimpse of teddy, moving away from me. I got down onto my stomach for a better look, sure enough teddy was being clawed further under the bed by a huge, hairy leg. A ginormous leg.
I pushed myself off the floor with a nervous grunt and switched the light on. I squinted as the room lit up, then bent down ever so slightly to check under the bed.
“Teddy!” came an impatient shout from the bedroom.
“Just a sec…” I said, slowly moving lower down. The bear was still there, and no sign of any spider leg. I reached down and grabbed the bear, cursing my vivid imagination, and headed back to bed, switching the light out on the way.
The alarm blurted out at 6:30. I hit snooze and turned over. Something was wrong.
Kara.
I shook Sue gently at first, before become more forceful. “Where’s Kara.”
“I sent her back to bed,” replied Sue, eyes still close, drool encrusted on the side of her face.
“Was she okay?”
“She said there was a spider, but… her feet were cold.”
I darted into her room, throwing on my dressing gown on the way. Kara’s bed had been moved at an angle, her duvet and sheets strewn across the floor.
“Kara,” I called, as I quickly searched the other rooms.
At first I didn’t hear it, only when I returned to the bedroom could a muffled cry be heard.
I moved over to her bed, from where it seemed to be loudest. I pulled the bed further away from the wall and spotted the large cracks in the floorboards. Around them in the dust were the tracks of eights legs on the floor, and from the bottom of the bed hung thick cobwebs.
I put my head to the floor and listened again. Kara was under there, somewhere. I pulled at the floorboards, and found they came up remarkably easy, as if a trap-door had been created from beneath.
I shot up and grabbed a torch from the drawer before returning to look into the hole under the floorboards. It seemed to open up into a large basement. It was full of boxes, shelves, all kinds of junks that you’d normally find in a basement, only this wasn’t our stuff, and this house had no basement we knew of.
I dropped into the hole, not thinking about how I’d even get back out. The room was covered in cobwebs, dust thick on the floor. The basement was huge, stretching out for yards in each direction, with dozens of pillars supporting the floor above, probably for the whole estate. The tracks of the spider could be seen all around, I didn’t know which way to head until I spotted a dustless streak on the floor that was probably carved out by Kara being dragged along it.
I followed the path to one side, where the cobwebs were much thicker. Hanging above me was a large webbed parcel. The sound of breathing could be heard from within. I stood tall, but could not quite reach it. I climbed the shelves on the side and reached out towards it. Just as I placed one hand on it the shelves came crashing down. The parcel fell too, landing hard on the floor.
“No!” I cried, as I picked myself up and tore the web away from the body. From inside came a whimper as it moved its limbs. It wasn’t Kara, it was the stray dog that had been pestering the neighbourhood until the last few days. I remember being pleased that I hadn’t seen the mutt for a few days, but Christ, it didn’t deserve that.
The crash of the shelves had alerted the spider to my presence. I caught it from the corner of my eye as it scuttled towards my, its thick legs swishing the dust out of it’s way, throwing it up into the air, creating a cloud around its fat body. I kicked out at a leg, but it barely noticed the blow, other legs pushing against me, feeling my body. I batted at they with my hands, tried to keep its body away from me but as I did so I felt them begin to stiffen. The spider cast webbing around them, was trying to bind me up.
As it moved towards my face I heard a growl. The dog had caught the spider off guard and jumped at one of its legs. It clambered off me and turned its attention back to the dog. I used my legs to push myself away from them as I tried to move my hands free of the webbing.
The dog was still pulling at one of the legs, always moving backwards so the spider could do no more than just keep it, it couldn’t move its other legs fast enough to get back on top – but it was fast approaching the corner. I didn’t have much time. Other parcels hung from the ceiling, but there was one of a shape that could not be mistaken. The pink fur of teddy could be seen through a gap in the web. I climbed up to where Kara was hanging, and ensuring the shelf was strong enough, took her in my arms and pulled her down. I quickly pushed the cobwebs away from her face, checked she was breathing. She opened her eyes and gave me a weak smile, I returned it as I clambered down the shelves with her over my shoulder.
As my feet hit the floor the spider was upon me again. I looked back into the corner – but the dog was still in battle with his foe. There was more than one of these beasts. Kara’s presence gave me renewed strength, I couldn’t let them get hold of her as I kicked out as its head. It reeled back and fell, but as I turned I was faced by a couple more. Kara held me tightly, and as I smelt her hair I remembered. I thrust my hand into by pocket and removed the hairspray. I knocked off the lid with my knee and as the spiders slowly moved in I begun to spray towards their eyes. They reeled back, then started running in random directions.
I looked up towards the ceiling, a spotted the sign I was looking for, a faint glow from the floor boards above. I pulled at some shelves, but they wouldn’t budge, so I moved on to a table and placed it below the light. Standing on the table I pushed up, the floorboards above moving open like a trap-door. It caught something, then crashed down again. I continued to push until I heard the cry of a young boy.
“Mummy! Mummy, the bogeyman!”
A few seconds later further light could be seen and I again pushed up at the floorboards.
“It’s just a bad dream Billy,” came a voice from above.
“No, it’s not!” I shouted.
Billy screamed.
“Who’s down there!” cried his mother, “leave my boy alone!”
“Help us, move the bed!”
“I will not, I’m calling the police!”
I looked down to the spiders. Their panic seemed to have passed, and they were turning their attention back towards us.
“Mrs Wendall,” said Kara, much to my surprise.
“Kara? That you?” said the voice from above.
“It’s me and my Daddy, we’re trapped!”
Seconds later there was a scraping as the bed was moved out of the way. I pushed the trapdoor open and was greeted by a face a vaguely recognised from the school playground, Mrs Wendall was a classroom assistant at Kara’s school. She held out her arms and lifted Kara out. I pulled myself up, then placed the bed back on the trap-door.
I had to knock on the front door for a long time before Sue answered. She was squinting as the early morning light hit her face. She looked at me and Kara, for a long time, the look of puzzlement growing as she looked back and forth between us. She sobered up pretty quickly when I showed her the hole and told her what was down there.
Since there have been teams from various government departments down there, having a look. The police force were able to close a dozen or so missing persons reports going back decades once the place was cleared out. We got a pretty hefty insurance pay-out too. As long as it was enough to allow up to move I didn’t care. Only this time I was going to make sure the floors were completely solid.
It was the thump that woke me. The age of the house, with it’s classic wooden floorboards were a feature that attracted me to the place, but by Christ they could be noisy. At first I thought she had fallen out of bed, and sure enough, “Mummy!” was called out seconds later in a high-pitched squeal, making me sure this was the case.
It wasn’t.
With Sue out of action thanks to a girl’s night out, it was my turn to be the hero. I stumbled out of bed, and headed out of the room. I knocked into the dressing table on the way, despite its presence in our room for a decade, I still hadn’t gotten used to it being there. There was a crash as cans of hairspray and deodorant fell to the floor. I picked them up as best I could and dropped them back on the side before moving on to Kara’s room. I pushed the door open, the nightlight illuminating Kara’s face as she sat upright in her bed, her duvet pulled up to her chin.
“A spider!” she cried, shivering.
“It’s okay darling, where was it?” I said, stifling a yawn.
“It went under the bed. Be careful!” said Kara, hugging her teddy bear tightly.
“Did you get out of bed?” I asked, remembering the earlier thump. Kara shook her head.
I got down on my knees and peered at the floor beneath the bed where a large book of fairy tales lay open, spine up, with it’s pages bent against the floor.
“Did you throw your story book at it?”
“No Daddy, it tried to steal it!”
“Spiders can’t pick up story books.”
“But it was ginormous! It dragged it along with its legs!”
“Were you having a bad dream?” I asked.
“No Daddy, the spider woke me up. Can I get in your bed?”
“Go on then, hop in with Mummy.” I was pretty sure she wouldn’t wake her.
“No Daddy, carry me. The spider might get me.”
I sighed before giving her a smile, and she stood up on the bed. She looked nervously down at the floor as I approached, then jumped into my arms, her knees pushing into my gut, winding me. Teddy fell from her arms to the floor.
“You’re getting heavy,” I said as I carried her to bed, dropping her carefully beside Sue.
“Teddy!” she said as I was about to climb into bed myself.
“Hang on,” I said, my patience beginning to wear thin.
On the way back into the bedroom I hit the dressing table again. Once more the cans crashed to the floor. I put a couple back on the side, and unable to find room for the last, I stuck it in my pocket.
When I got to the bedroom I scanned for the bear. No sign. Maybe it had fallen under the bed I thought, but as I was about to bend down I heard another thump, and was sure that the bed had just risen a few inches from the floor. As I looked down I caught a glimpse of teddy, moving away from me. I got down onto my stomach for a better look, sure enough teddy was being clawed further under the bed by a huge, hairy leg. A ginormous leg.
I pushed myself off the floor with a nervous grunt and switched the light on. I squinted as the room lit up, then bent down ever so slightly to check under the bed.
“Teddy!” came an impatient shout from the bedroom.
“Just a sec…” I said, slowly moving lower down. The bear was still there, and no sign of any spider leg. I reached down and grabbed the bear, cursing my vivid imagination, and headed back to bed, switching the light out on the way.
The alarm blurted out at 6:30. I hit snooze and turned over. Something was wrong.
Kara.
I shook Sue gently at first, before become more forceful. “Where’s Kara.”
“I sent her back to bed,” replied Sue, eyes still close, drool encrusted on the side of her face.
“Was she okay?”
“She said there was a spider, but… her feet were cold.”
I darted into her room, throwing on my dressing gown on the way. Kara’s bed had been moved at an angle, her duvet and sheets strewn across the floor.
“Kara,” I called, as I quickly searched the other rooms.
At first I didn’t hear it, only when I returned to the bedroom could a muffled cry be heard.
I moved over to her bed, from where it seemed to be loudest. I pulled the bed further away from the wall and spotted the large cracks in the floorboards. Around them in the dust were the tracks of eights legs on the floor, and from the bottom of the bed hung thick cobwebs.
I put my head to the floor and listened again. Kara was under there, somewhere. I pulled at the floorboards, and found they came up remarkably easy, as if a trap-door had been created from beneath.
I shot up and grabbed a torch from the drawer before returning to look into the hole under the floorboards. It seemed to open up into a large basement. It was full of boxes, shelves, all kinds of junks that you’d normally find in a basement, only this wasn’t our stuff, and this house had no basement we knew of.
I dropped into the hole, not thinking about how I’d even get back out. The room was covered in cobwebs, dust thick on the floor. The basement was huge, stretching out for yards in each direction, with dozens of pillars supporting the floor above, probably for the whole estate. The tracks of the spider could be seen all around, I didn’t know which way to head until I spotted a dustless streak on the floor that was probably carved out by Kara being dragged along it.
I followed the path to one side, where the cobwebs were much thicker. Hanging above me was a large webbed parcel. The sound of breathing could be heard from within. I stood tall, but could not quite reach it. I climbed the shelves on the side and reached out towards it. Just as I placed one hand on it the shelves came crashing down. The parcel fell too, landing hard on the floor.
“No!” I cried, as I picked myself up and tore the web away from the body. From inside came a whimper as it moved its limbs. It wasn’t Kara, it was the stray dog that had been pestering the neighbourhood until the last few days. I remember being pleased that I hadn’t seen the mutt for a few days, but Christ, it didn’t deserve that.
The crash of the shelves had alerted the spider to my presence. I caught it from the corner of my eye as it scuttled towards my, its thick legs swishing the dust out of it’s way, throwing it up into the air, creating a cloud around its fat body. I kicked out at a leg, but it barely noticed the blow, other legs pushing against me, feeling my body. I batted at they with my hands, tried to keep its body away from me but as I did so I felt them begin to stiffen. The spider cast webbing around them, was trying to bind me up.
As it moved towards my face I heard a growl. The dog had caught the spider off guard and jumped at one of its legs. It clambered off me and turned its attention back to the dog. I used my legs to push myself away from them as I tried to move my hands free of the webbing.
The dog was still pulling at one of the legs, always moving backwards so the spider could do no more than just keep it, it couldn’t move its other legs fast enough to get back on top – but it was fast approaching the corner. I didn’t have much time. Other parcels hung from the ceiling, but there was one of a shape that could not be mistaken. The pink fur of teddy could be seen through a gap in the web. I climbed up to where Kara was hanging, and ensuring the shelf was strong enough, took her in my arms and pulled her down. I quickly pushed the cobwebs away from her face, checked she was breathing. She opened her eyes and gave me a weak smile, I returned it as I clambered down the shelves with her over my shoulder.
As my feet hit the floor the spider was upon me again. I looked back into the corner – but the dog was still in battle with his foe. There was more than one of these beasts. Kara’s presence gave me renewed strength, I couldn’t let them get hold of her as I kicked out as its head. It reeled back and fell, but as I turned I was faced by a couple more. Kara held me tightly, and as I smelt her hair I remembered. I thrust my hand into by pocket and removed the hairspray. I knocked off the lid with my knee and as the spiders slowly moved in I begun to spray towards their eyes. They reeled back, then started running in random directions.
I looked up towards the ceiling, a spotted the sign I was looking for, a faint glow from the floor boards above. I pulled at some shelves, but they wouldn’t budge, so I moved on to a table and placed it below the light. Standing on the table I pushed up, the floorboards above moving open like a trap-door. It caught something, then crashed down again. I continued to push until I heard the cry of a young boy.
“Mummy! Mummy, the bogeyman!”
A few seconds later further light could be seen and I again pushed up at the floorboards.
“It’s just a bad dream Billy,” came a voice from above.
“No, it’s not!” I shouted.
Billy screamed.
“Who’s down there!” cried his mother, “leave my boy alone!”
“Help us, move the bed!”
“I will not, I’m calling the police!”
I looked down to the spiders. Their panic seemed to have passed, and they were turning their attention back towards us.
“Mrs Wendall,” said Kara, much to my surprise.
“Kara? That you?” said the voice from above.
“It’s me and my Daddy, we’re trapped!”
Seconds later there was a scraping as the bed was moved out of the way. I pushed the trapdoor open and was greeted by a face a vaguely recognised from the school playground, Mrs Wendall was a classroom assistant at Kara’s school. She held out her arms and lifted Kara out. I pulled myself up, then placed the bed back on the trap-door.
I had to knock on the front door for a long time before Sue answered. She was squinting as the early morning light hit her face. She looked at me and Kara, for a long time, the look of puzzlement growing as she looked back and forth between us. She sobered up pretty quickly when I showed her the hole and told her what was down there.
Since there have been teams from various government departments down there, having a look. The police force were able to close a dozen or so missing persons reports going back decades once the place was cleared out. We got a pretty hefty insurance pay-out too. As long as it was enough to allow up to move I didn’t care. Only this time I was going to make sure the floors were completely solid.