Weaving Reality: A Kids Story for Adults
The Unseen Journey
The iridescent green garden spider had an ideal location in the middle of a bright and fragrant geranium patch. She gazed at the pink and white blooms that sent the most lovely smell wafting towards her. Her home sparkled and glistened with little specks and twinkles of light through the dew. She perched herself on the edge of her newly created web and waited patiently.
Buzz, buzz, plop… Her web shook for a moment then stilled. Her lunch just landed in her home with a plunk. She didn’t have to go very far to collect and enjoy her food. She gingerly wrapped her meal and honored the little fly's life. She felt gratitude for her full belly and hummed a little song as it began to digest. A soft breeze rocked her little hammock home ever so gently.
This moment was idyllic. She sighed in awe and happiness. She allowed herself to lay back, relax, and let her mind wander as her home swayed in the comforting, whispering wind.
Other insects looked on from below with jealousy as the spider seemingly dozed in the afternoon while the sun was high and beating down into the garden.
“She really has it all, isn’t she lucky.” they chirped amongst each other enviously.
“Yeah, wouldn’t it be nice if my dinner was just delivered to me daily,” said one little bug with an eye roll.
“Who does she think she is taking a nap during the day? Some of us have to go hunt for our dinner!" moaned the dragonfly.
“Yeah I have to climb up so high for mine,” said a leaf-cutter ant.
“And I have to dig around in the dirt for my food” complained one of the rolly pollies.
As the bugs moaned and chattered amongst themselves the spider sunk deeper into meditation and did her best to tune out the noise below.
She remembered the journey that brought her to this moment.
It had been difficult to find this spot. Over rocks and through prickly patches she trudged. Through the darkness below, she meandered through the spiney and bouldered landscape. She kept her her eyes on the ground as she made her way through the challenging terrain, but continued to glance upward. She had to pay acute attention to the common flight paths of the big buzzy biting flies, the ones that were especially pesky for humans. She watched, she tracked, and she stumbled. When she saw the right spot she just instinctively knew and she decided to make the long ascent to the spot that would be her new home.
She had a picture in her mind of a perfectly woven web…but it took much time and she would find out that it wouldn’t always go as she planned. Painstakingly slow it began. One tiny thread almost invisible to the eye was the only way to start. One by one. Little by little. These threads were part of her but also outside of her when manifested in the external world. Threads that were to be her creation.
Her thread was stronger than most realized so she learned to trust her life to it as she took a bold leap into the unknown trying to reach the other side. It was necessary to attach her thread to something far away. Compared to her size, it was miles away.
A wild leap hoping to reach her destination was terrifying. And she didn’t make it the first time, second or even third. Each try, she’d swing down into the abyss of shadows under the leaves. Her stomach would lurch. She’d sway back and forth dizzied by the drop, but she’d crawl her way back up, shake herself off, take a breath and reconfigure her plan. Then she jumped again.
The main threads were attached and she then had to delicately crawl across great chasms, doing her best to secure her home in the hot sun, in the rain, or when a gusty wind would really throw her around. Many days she’d go hungry as her web wasn’t completed yet.
Exhausted and alone with no witnesses to her struggle, she trudged on. Day after day she lovingly and knowingly wove all of the intricate details. Just a few strands wouldn’t hold a tiny insect at full flight, so she had to keep weaving layer after layer until it was strong enough, until it was beautiful enough for her, until it was ready.
One day as she neared completion and a huge black bumble bee didn't see the house. He ripped through it causing her to start over again. A devastating blow, she paused to regroup and rest. She took the time to breathe and gain her strength again. The mending process would take her even longer than expected.
But she got up again and again. Eventually, with a big exhale, she knew it was done.
Her home went unseen unless it caught a perfect dew and a ray of light. It wasn't perfect or according to plan but it was her work and she knew that she had to do what was needed to eat and to be the spider she was.
None of the other bugs in the garden had paid attention below, nor seen her process. After all, they could barely even see the house. But she knew what she had created. She could feel every vibration that passed through it and it was a part of her.
She came out of her dreamy state that took her back to the time and effort to design and secure every last strand. It was a long and arduous process. But she wove with faith in herself and here she was in her web.
She was a sensitive creature and she could still hear the chatter below. She had her feelings. I wish they could see, she thought, but she also could understand why they thought everything came easy to her, when all they could see was the end result.
While others might not understand what it took, she did.
It wasn’t an simple task to become a being that could have everything arrive like magic at her front door.
She pondered… this is who I am. I’m a spider. I take joy in the process and the toils and challenges are just part of the journey. They weren’t always easy, but they brought me here.
I wonder…wouldn’t the dragonfly be bored if he were here… he was meant to dart at incredible speeds with his iridescent wings and eyes made for the hunt. He looks so magnificent as he can change direction and take incredible dives from great heights.
The rolly pollie would be hot up here in the sun.. he likes to curl up in the cool mud under a stone and helps turn the dirt so these flowers can grow. He’s meant for life close to the ground. He’d lose patience making such a web.
The ant would be lonely doing this kind of project. After all, he enjoys working together with his family and team. It’s really amazing how much they can do together. He’d get seasick in the weather up here, he likes to be in the ground that doesn’t rock back and forth. Gosh, he has to take some joy in making all of those incredible interconnecting tunnels.
Well, let them chatter, she thought, I sure appreciate their work. I’ll just send them some love, gratitude, and compassion. I really hope they’ll be able to find happiness in their own talents and lives too. With that thought, she felt another plop, smiled to herself and said, “Well gosh, looks like it’s time for dinner.”
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I wrote this kids story I wrote when I was reading a lot of Eric Carle’s stories to my boys. I saw it being read by parents that would look back on their own journeys. The author passed away and I felt moved to write this extension of a beautiful book about a spider diligently weaving her web, when others kept asking her to do other things. I saw his beautiful books being expanded on by other writers for older audiences to keep his legacy alive and fresh.
I don’t believe that we should talk down to children or use limited vocabulary. I also wanted to honor all peoples paths, skills and journeys will acknowledging that some work goes unseen.
Breaking up the course for something fun I wanted to share.
Go check out the healing system if you missed them. Magic is real. It’s within your actual body.
https://meganyoungmee.substack.com/publish/post/149885803
Megan, you yourself are a busy little spider forever weaving tales to feed the healthy hunger in our imaginations. I send you gratitude and thanks for you efforts, which all good writers know are never as effortless as they seem. A good word-web takes time to build!
Beautiful story that is full of deeper meaning.