The Christmas Spider

Once, there lived a spider, deep in the woods, near a small town.

He was quite large.

Every year, the people there would celebrate.

They put up lights, hung garland, and decorated a very large tree.

The tree came from the spiders forest. He loved climbing trees.

One year, the townspeople cut down his favorite tree.

Enraged, he chased them from the woods.

They chased him back.

The spider watched from the woods, while the people put up his tree.

They decorated it...

...and danced.

The spider wanted to climb his favorite tree.

So one night, after bedtime, he snuck out of the woods.

...and climbed the Christmas tree.

The sun rose, and the spider was still in the tree.

It was Christmas Eve. He watched the people gather while children played.

They threw snowballs, and built snow-forts.

They played near the tree.

Too near...

An ornament fell.

The giant spider jumped from the tree.

The children screamed. Everyone fled.

He tried to chase them away...

...but he was tangled up in ornaments and garland.

The men came with their guns.

and the big spider ran With all the decorations ringing and clanging.

The tree fell and the spider dragged it...

...until the garland finally broke away.

And he escaped!

Leaving a trail of ornaments behind.

The tree was ruined.

It was too late to fix. And most of the decorations were gone.

The spider watched. He felt terrible.

When darkness fell, he crept into town...

...and rebuilt the tree!

On Christmas morning, the people of the town returned.

The tree was fixed!

All the decorations were back where they belonged.

It was perfect!

The children opened their gifts.

And they sang, and they danced.

And high in the tree, they saw two red eyes, and a trail of tinsel leading from the woods.

Was it the spider?

They never touched the tree again.

Every year since, they put up the tree, and it always stays perfect. Whenever an ornament falls, it finds its way back. Sometimes, a trail of tinsel leads toward the forest.

The Christmas Spider was there.

Is he watching over your tree?

The End.

2013 Tom Bishop