MR. HURLEY

 

"Hey, kids! Lunch is ready!"
 

Mr. Hurley huffed as a stampede started from Ben's bedroom and paraded down the long flight of stairs to the main floor. Ben was a young human- probably no more than eight years- and he was fine. Ben's little sister, Sarah, probably around four years, was also fine. It was that noisy girl they called "Emily". Now she was a problem. Ever since Emily moved in next door, Mr. Hurley developed a headache that never seemed to leave him.
 

See, Mr. Hurley lived in the corner of the ceiling at the top of the stairwell where he liked things to stay quiet. It's where he liked to take his morning, afternoon, and evening naps. It's where he would snack on the occasional fly or moth and pretty much just mind his own business.

 

That is, until Emily noticed him.
 

It was an unfortunate moment. Emily, Ben, and Sarah ran down the stairs for lunch. On the way down, Emily turned around for a split second and locked eyes with Mr. Hurley. Then, an ear-piercing shriek rang from her throat and every human in the house huddled around her.

 

Ben asked, "What is it, Em? Are you okay?"

 

Emily managed to point a shaky finger up the steps and everyone turned to stare at Mr. Hurley. He tried to tuck himself behind his web, but once seen, there was no hiding a fuzzy spider like him.
 

Sweat began to form at Mr. Hurley's brow as the Mother squinted up at him.
 

"He's huge!" she said. "Ben, run and grab the broom."
 

Mr. Hurley didn't know what a broom was, but it didn't sound good. He scuttled as deep into the ceiling corner as he could manage.
 

Emily screamed, "He's moving!!" She turned on the spot and threw open the front door, bolting outside. As the door flew inward, a GIANT WASP buzzed inside the house. 
 

Ben returned from the kitchen with a broom in hand. Mother snatched it and began swinging it wildly, trying to hit the wasp!
 

"Ben!" she yelled, "run! You're allergic!"
 

Ben ran for the back patio, but the moment he opened the door, the dogs ran inside and started jumping all over the furniture. The Mother started yelling at the overgrown pups and Ben chased after them to get them back outside. In the middle of the yelling, barking, and swinging, Sarah began to cry.
 

Mr. Hurley sat frozen in his web as the chaos ensued. The wasp was zooming in and out of rooms, the dogs were tracking mud all over the sofas, Ben was chasing the dogs, Emily was screaming in the front yard, Sarah was crying in the hallway, and Mother was swinging the broom all over the place like a crazed woman! Suddenly, the wasp shot straight for Mr. Hurley! The broom was following all too closely behind, swinging violently through the air. Mr. Hurley could just see it now: Mother would take out the wasp and Mr. Hurley in one swoop!
 

All in a blink, the wasp crashed right into Mr. Hurley's web and began thrashing around. It struggled to get free but only wrapped itself further!

Mr. Hurley just wanted things to go back to how they were. He didn't want to get squashed. He wanted to live in peace and quiet. All eight eyes grew as the broom zoomed closer and closer. Mr. hurley sighed. This was it. He looked down at the wasp entangled in his web and thought, one last meal.
 

Mr. Hurley pounced on the wasp and drank as fast as he could, expecting the broom any second. But for some reason, he was not squashed against the ceiling. In the time it took for Mr. Hurley to finished his lunch, Ben had taken the dogs back outside, Sarah had stopping crying, Emily was back in the house (scrunching her nose at the scene in Mr. Hurley's web), and Mother looked relieved that the wasp was handled.

 

Mother said, "The spider stays." And with that, she took the broom back to the kitchen, leaving Mr. Hurley in peace.

 

The End.

 

-H.C. Herman