SpirellaMary Brady

First published in 2010 by Messenger Publications

Messenger Publications, 37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2www.messenger.ie

Printed in Ireland

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Copyright © Mary Brady

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Spirella

Spirella

Spirella spiderSpirella Spider was very handsome. She was plump and round and wore a brown jumper

and black furry stockings on her eight lovely long legs. She was born in the Murphy’s old

farmhouse where her family had lived for a long time. Her web was in a corner of the sitting

room ceiling and had a large terrace and several balconies overlooking the room below.

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It wasn’t easy to see it so far up because it was made of the finest

lace and was almost invisible.

She had been living there for some time and liked it so well she hoped

she would never have to leave. Several times in the past she was forced to

move from other places when Mrs Murphy swept her house away with a brush,

only narrowly missing Spirella herself. But here she felt so secure that she had built a

nursery, with her eggs wrapped up in yellow silk blankets, ready to hatch into baby spiders

in a few weeks time. She was looking forward to when they would all be big enough to be

taken for walks, and learn how to swing from the chandelier, and even go exploring.

One morning as she sat in her doorway gazing down on the empty room below she was

startled to hear her name being called.

“Spirella, Spirella.”

She looked around, and sure enough a large fly wearing a blue vest had landed near her.

It was old Buzzer Bluebottle himself. He was careful to keep his distance knowing Spirella

had the place booby-trapped with webs everywhere to trap foolish flies. She wasn’t mean;

it was just her spider nature.

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“What now,” she said, “more gossip I

suppose?”

Buzzer travelled around a good deal and

picked up all sorts of information. He listened

to the Murphy family talking, especially

during meals, when he even had the nerve to

land on the table cloth. Spirella didn’t believe

half of what he said.

“I just came to warn you, but if you don’t

want to know ….”

“Warn me of what?” Spirella interrupted

him. Buzzer could be a tease, but still a nervous

feeling began to creep down her eight legs.

“It’s just that Mrs Murphy has bought a

new vacuum cleaner and is going to spring

clean very soon.”

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“A vacuum cleaner,” gasped Spirella. “Oh dear, oh dear, bad news.”

“I thought you’d like to know,” Buzzer tossed over his shoulder as he prepared to fly off.

“Oh what am I going to do?” She called after him, her heart sinking.

“Move,” he shouted, “go outdoors for the summer. Even I’m not safe you know.”

“But I can’t move,” she sobbed. “What about my nursery. I can’t leave my babies to hatch

out alone.”

“I don’t see why not, your sister Spinny in the kitchen is moving into the garden shed.

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She told me to tell you. But suit yourself,” he said, and he flew away.

Flies can be very cold-hearted, she thought to herself. All that continuous buzzing

around, never settling down, I suppose, and never owning a home. The thought of home

made her tremble again. She knew all about vacuum cleaners. Many times she had heard

tales of whole Spider families disappearing in a second without a trace. Her mother had

warned her often enough when she was teaching her to loop-the-loop.

“When you hear a vacuum cleaner you must move out immediately,” she had said very

solemnly. “Your grandfather wouldn’t move, and then he disappeared and we never saw

him again.”

She’d have to think of something before it was too late, but what? She sat in her front

room for a long time, her head full of worries. Even after the light went off in the sitting

room, and the house was quiet and still for the night, she couldn’t sleep. She watched the

firelight below flickering and casting shadows on the walls. It was so cosy here, and this

was her favourite time of all. It was the safest time.

Suddenly a strange smell made her sit up feeling anxious. I should know that

smell, she thought. It’s an old and dangerous kind of smell, worse even than

vacuum cleaners. It’s a fire smell, I’m sure. Something is on fire!

The smell of fire means flight for every

living thing, and Spirella acted quickly. She let

herself down from her terrace on a long rope

she kept handy, and scuttled across the floor.

And there indeed was the cause of the smell.

A red coal was smouldering on the rug in front

of the fire. Spirella made for the door as fast as

she could. I’ll wake Mrs Murphy, she thought,

and then she’ll do something to save her house

and my house. So she rushed across to Mr and

Mrs Murphy’s bedroom and swung herself up

on the bed.

With all her eight legs wiggling around as

fast as they could go on Mrs Murphy’s face, she

finally woke her up. Spirella barely escaped the

blow Mrs Murphy aimed at her in the dark, but

she managed to tumble off the bed to safety.

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“A wretched spider waking me up,” complained Mrs Murphy as she put on the light to

investigate. But by then the smell of smoke was unmistakable, and Mrs Murphy was on her

feet in no time with a bucket of water to douse the flames.

“Thank God for spiders,” Mrs Murphy said to her husband

when she had the fire out. “I just got to the fire in time, but if it

hadn’t been for that spider we might have been burned in our

bed. I don’t think I’ll bother clearing the cobwebs after all, at

least not this spring.”

Spirella, crouching under the bed, was relieved to hear this.

Now she wouldn’t have to leave her home. When her babies

hatched, she could watch them learn to swing from the terrace

and loop-the-loop across the ceiling. She could even extend her

house if she wanted to. A couple of extra rooms would be just the

thing for a growing family.

So feeling happy and relieved Spirella returned home to begin designing the new

extension and to plan adventures for the summer.

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Summer had arrived at last. From her web high up on the ceiling, Spirella watched the

sunlight creep along the floor of the hall through the open sitting room door. She longed to

go outside and have a change of scene.

“My babies have another couple of weeks before they hatch out, so I’ll take a holiday

Spirella spider’s summer outing

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first, and go and see a bit more of the world,” she thought. So she took out the silk rope

she kept handy on the balcony, and let herself down to the sunny patch of floor beneath.

Spirella, in spite of having four eyes, was a bit short sighted. So she had landed before

she recognised Buzzer Bluebottle in a new blue waistcoat, sunning himself on the rug.

“Where are you off to Spirella?”

“I’m not sure yet, maybe to visit my sister Spinny in the garden shed?”

“Yes, the garden shed. It’s pretty crowded out there now you know. Lots of new families

have moved in. It’s not the quiet place it was. Foreigners some of them.”

Buzzer being a gossip kept up with all the news and any change in the Murphy household,

but Spirella didn’t always trust him. Anyone Buzzer didn’t know he considered a foreigner.

“Well I’ll see where I end up,” Spirella said cheerfully as she swung her long rope out

the door.

A sudden gust of wind landed her on the car parked outside.

“Well, this IS a different place … plenty of travel ahead if I stay here,” she thought as she

examined the side mirror.

It did look a good spot, with a place to hide from danger and yet lay traps for food.

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“What a lucky landing I’ve had,” she said to herself as she set about creating a new

holiday home, and making a web for her larder. There was a blue sky and sunshine and

plenty of fresh air. It was the perfect holiday choice for someone wanting to travel.

Spirella was still busy when Mrs Murphy suddenly came along and opened the car

door. Spirella’s half-built house trembled. She managed to scramble around to the back

of the mirror so as not to get blown away when the car sped down the drive and onto

the street. Travel has its hazards, and Spirella was forced to hang on tight and watch trees

and houses and walls flash by. Then the car rolled into the Petrol Station and stopped.

Spirella peered out and saw a sign saying ‘Car Wash’ in large letters. Before she knew what

was happening an enormous orange-coloured brush was coming towards her, and water

worse than any rain storm began to pour down. Soon everything was covered in soap suds

and Spirella, clinging to the inside of the mirror while the brush scrubbed against it, was

nearly drowned. It was like being in the middle of a terrible thunder storm. The sound was

deafening. Suddenly, it stopped. Just as she picked herself up to look out, warm air blew

in on top of her. It was almost worse than the time she had got into Mrs Murphy’s tumble

dryer by mistake. She was shaken and scared and she took a long time to recover when

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