4.Spider's Web

Spider’s web

It was a golden Autumn afternoon. The time of day when the sun starts to set and nutbrown hares start making their way towards home. But there was still time for one last gam along the way. Little Field Mouse, where are you?

“Got you! Oops! Sorry! Big brown frog. I thought you were somebody else. Did you see where Little Field Mouse went?”

“I have no idea. There are so many places for a Little Field Mouse to hide.”

“I can hear giggling.”

“I’m here!”

“You’re so good at hiding. You can hide even when you don’t mean to. My turn to hide now.”

“Alright. One autumn leaf… two autumn leaves, three autumn leaves, five autumn leaves…”

“Ready or not, here I come!”

“Look!”

“Hey. You’re meant to be hiding.”

“There’s a spider here and it’s flying!”

“I didn’t know spiders could fly.”

“Are you sure it’s flying? Don’t get too close.”

“It’s good to stay away from things with more legs than you.”

“It’s not flying. Look!”

“It’s drifting. On a strand of silk.”

“Silk? What’s that?”

“Spiders make silk. They spin the silk out in long thin threads.”

“What’s it doing now?”

“It’s weaving a web. That’s how spiders catch their food with a sticky silk web.”

“Wow! That’s very clever.”

“It looks like a lot of work. I’m glad we can just eat berries and grass shoots.”

“So am I. let’s go home. We have autumn berries for dinner.”

“Come on Little Field Mouse, first one home gets the biggest berry!”

“Hey! Wait for me!”

“Good morning! Do you want to come and play?”

“Oh yes, May I, Big Nutbrown Hare?”

“Of course, you run along and have fun. I’ll see you later.”

“Race you to the riverbank! Can’t catch me!”

“Watch out! Wow, so sparkly.”

“I never know that a spider’s web could be so pretty. Sorry.”

“Watch out for the web! Ooh… It’s stuck to your back!”

“Oh no, I’ve ruined it. All that poor spider’s hard work.”

“Don’t worry. We can make a new one.”

“Really?”

“Only thing is, we don’t know how to make silk.”

“We could try using something else. Let’s see what we can find. We need something long that we can weave together.”

“What about a stick?”

“Maybe. Not bendy enough.”

“And too stick-ish. Trying to make a spider’s web is trickier than I thought.”

“Yes, it is. I’m going to some hard thinking.”

“What are you doing Little Nutbrown Hare?”

“Thinking hard… like Big Nutbrown Hare does.”

“I’ll try it too.”

“Stop that. I’m trying to think. Little Field Mouse, stop tickling me.”

“But I’m not tickling you.”

“It’s this grass. It’s long and thin and bendy. It might be good for making a web.”

“Lying down and thinking hard sure does work!”

“Hello, what are you two up to?”

“Little Grey Squirrel! We’re making a spider’s web.”

“Ooh, can I help?”

“Thank you.”

“Here’s another one”

“Now we need to weave more grass into a pretty pattern. There. It looks … quite good.”

“Hello.”

“Hello. Little White Owl. We’re building a spider’s web!”

“Oh, dear! It’s not supposed to do that.”

“The web is not staying woven. Because the grass is not sticky. Spider’s silk is sticky.”

“that’s true! It stuck to your fur when you walked into it.”

“How can we make out web sticky?”

“I know something that’s sticky. Tree sap!”

“Oh, look there is a break here. I’ll scratch the old sap away.”

“Here… catch the sap in this leaf. It’s sticky alright.”

“we’re back!”

“Let’s start weaving.”

“How does it look?”

“Almost as pretty as a spider’s.”

“I think she’s going to love her new web.”

“We’d better get clean.”

“We are a little grassy, aren’t we?”

“It won’t come off.”

“Here, let me help.”

“And I’ll get this piece off you.”

“It’s really stuck, isn’t it?”

“Pull harder.”

“Oh no. we’re caught!”

“Oh dear! Here!”

“Now we’re stuck too!”

“Oh dear! What if we miss dinner?”

“Hello. What’s going on here?”

“We accidentally broke the spider’s web, so we make her a new one.”

“So, I see.”

“What do you think?”

“It caught things.”

“It certainly does. And it is a beautiful web. But would you like some help getting out?”

“Yes, please.”

“Look! The spider has built another web.”

“Wow! That’s a good web! Spiders are much better at making webs than Little Nutbrown Hares and Little Field Mice.”

“Very true. Spiders build their webs again every evening. So, she’s had lots more practice than you.”

“Every evening! So she won’t be cross about you breaking her web yesterday, Little Nutbrown Hares.”

“That’s a relief!”

The little spider was wide-awake, but Little Nutbrown Hares and his friends were all very tired.

“Goodbye.”

He waved goodbye and started to make his way back home with his father.

“Guess how much I love you.”

“As much as all the sap in a maple tree?”

“No, more.”

“As much as all the barley grass in the meadow?

“No, even more. I love you… as much as all the stickiness in a spider’s web. So that when I hug you, I’ll stick on and hug you forever!”

“Really? That’s just how much I love you too.”