Only In A Dream Series: Caught in a Web ~ The Trees Are My Friends~What Is All the Buzz About?
Only In A Dream Series: Caught in a Web ~ The Trees Are My Friends~What Is All the Buzz About?
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781481702478 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 10/16/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 4 MB |
Read an Excerpt
Only In A Dream Series
Caught in a Web ~ The Trees Are My Friends ~ What Is All the Buzz About?By Kimberly Anne Harris
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2012 Kimberly Anne HarrisAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-7005-9
Chapter One
Caught In A Web'Starring'
~Kennedy~
"Let the Adventures Begin"
Kennedy was an adventurous and very athletic girl who loved exploring and taking charge. She immediately became the leader of a group of children who had recently moved into a new neighborhood. They lived on a cul-de-sac, which was a perfect setting for what was soon to become a tight-knit bunch known as the Alhambra Crew.
Their first adventure was to explore their new surroundings by going on long hikes, creating new bike paths, checking out the creek and its occupants, climbing and identifying trees, hunting salamanders, lizards, bugs, frogs and other creatures. These treks were always thrilling and full of excitement. Kennedy planned many of these activities and was involved in planning the first of what was to become the annual neighborhood sleep-out.
The "green box" is where the crew would gather. The "green box" was a perfectly placed electrical box located just the right distance from all their homes and served as a podium for those in charge of the day's activities. On this day, Kennedy had everyone gather around and she shared the idea of sleeping under the stars in her backyard. The crew cheered with excitement and they all agreed with her idea and added many ideas of their own.
They had concerns and discussions about the weather. (It is usually very chilly at night in their area of Northern California with coastal breezes and fog during the summer months). Kennedy told them that her parents had mentioned that there had been an unusual weather pattern of 80-degree nights in the past few weeks and the forecast was for more warm nights to come. The warm weather along with a previous overnight adventure at her cousins' house is what gave Kennedy the idea.
With this information, a time, place, date, goodies list, and a plan on how to sell the idea to their parents were all agreed to, and off they went to complete their other activities for the day. The whole crew was very excited and looked forward to next Friday, the day selected for their overnight adventure. Kennedy, in her excitement, had completely forgotten how her first sleep-out ended, yet this would all come back to haunt her when she least expected.
On this particular day, they would complete their two-wing tree house at a place they named "Tree Fort." Tree Fort was a secret location under a huge grove of trees on a hillside just beyond the last home on their block. This place could easily be called a "Kid's Paradise." It was well hidden, difficult for parents to access, and full of lush green plants, moist soils and plenty of bugs, slugs, reptiles, amphibians, and, oh yes, spiders too.
The Alhambra Crew would spend long summer days in this haven they called tree fort. After several hours, and lots of fun, they would come up for food and sunlight and to check in at the appointed times with their parents.
It was routine to have parents come to the edge of the hill and bellow out their kid's name, hoping for the arrival of a whole kid-muddy knees and all. This would usually be after five or six hours of their kid missing in action. Yet, their parents knew exactly where they could find them. They were rarely concerned with their children's whereabouts.
Tree Fort was the perfect place for spiders to live, lounge, and multiply. With this in mind, Kennedy proceeded with great caution on her creepy-crawly collecting adventures. She was always the main one to initiate games that involved collecting creatures, but she made it her business to avoid spiders.
A few days after the crew completed their lavish, two-wing tree house, (one wing for the girls and one for the boys) the spiders moved in and claimed it as their party home. This was a clear signal to Kennedy that her enjoyment in the tree house was complete.
Most of the crew did not seem to mind their spider guests. Kennedy-on the other hand-took it upon herself to become the "Fort Security" after the spiders took over. This meant that she was not going in the tree house, but would remain outside. She was determined to avoid close proximity with these eight-leg creatures that had invaded their space. She decided to let the others fight off the spider mobs, which soon became a daily routine for the Alhambra Crew. Although she was pleased with the results of their new tree house, Kennedy was more preoccupied with avoiding their uninvited spider guests, and planning the details for Friday's big sleep-out.
When Kennedy would hang out at the tree house, she would always sit on the outer branches and keep watch. She would talk with her friends from a distance, making sure to keep ample space between her and the possibility of any vicious spiders.
Although Kennedy kept quiet about it, she was scared to death of spiders. When she spotted one, (big, small, red, black, or furry) she would dash in the opposite direction knocking any obstacles out of her way. These obstacles included her best friends Kymani and Ari along with the rest of the Alhambra Crew.
According to Kennedy, the spiders took over and built meticulous webs, hosted huge web-spinning parties, watched web-tv, and even browsed the web. She vowed to let the spiders have the girl's wing as long as they paid rent and left her out of their webbing network.
"The Night Under the Stars"
Friday had finally arrived, and the crew was excited. They had planned a fun and adventurous evening. All of their parents had agreed to the logistics, however, some parents were more hesitant than others were. Nevertheless, all the crew was ready to roll. Some of their parents even prepared special treats. You name it-they had it: popcorn, cupcakes, chips, kool-aid, cookies, jolly ranchers, space sticks, and of course their favorite, delicious homemade pepperoni pizza.
They had more than enough supplies to last throughout the night's activities. This spectacular event would end up being the highlight of their summer and a tradition that would live on throughout their childhood. For Kennedy, this experience would never collect cobwebs in her mind.
It was agreed that the boys would create camp on one side of the lawn and the girls on the other. Kennedy's younger brother claimed the side closest to the house for the boys, so the girls ended up on what they described as the "scary end" of the yard. The "scary end" was located next to some large bushes that barely blocked an opening to a path that led down a slope to a big open field. Deer, raccoons, squirrels, and other creatures had passed through this area before, so this, of course, added a sense of adventure to the night.
The girls organized their area, and created a barrier to block the boys' view into their camp, and protect them from creatures that might enter through the bushes. The boys, on the other hand, could care less; they were more concerned with preparing for their secret water balloon attack on the girls later that evening. In between their camps, they created what they called the 'social area', which is where they had all their snacks and games set up for the evening. Although they were all a little nervous about sleeping outdoors, the excitement to be sleeping under the stars was much more fascinating. Kennedy was thrilled at the fact that her sleep-out plans were underway, but she had a little secret that had worried her throughout the evening.
"Attack of the Evil Spider"
As the night grew later and all the festivities ended, everyone prepared for story time. Kennedy, on the other hand, had become more and more preoccupied with her little secret. She quietly gazed at the stars as she recalled an incident that occurred at her very first sleep-out, where she experienced what she referred to as "the attack of the evil spider."
This attack took place one summer when Kennedy, thrilled to be spending the summer with her Aunt Tutu, Uncle Jack and their children, was bitten by what she described to be an evil spider. On this particular night, Kennedy and her two cousins decided to pitch a tent in the backyard. It was a warm night, the stars were bright and the moon was full. It was really no big deal, they were fenced in on all four sides and their two big dogs would remain outside with them throughout the night. They were right outside her aunt and uncle's bedroom window, so they felt very safe. Safety was very important to her youngest cousin who could be very fearful at times.
As the night progressed, the girls played games, ate snacks, told scary stories, giggled and had the time of their lives. After a night filled with adventure and excitement, they eventually fell off to sleep one by one.
Early the next morning they awoke to a bright orange sun, chirping birds, and the smell of biscuits and bacon flowing from the house. Kennedy, the first to wake up, attempted to call out to her cousins but only managed to mumble a few words. Her lip felt numb and heavy and she had no idea why. Her cousin, barely opening her eyes, groggily responded with "leave me alone," but when she noticed Kennedy's lip had swollen to double its normal size she was stunned. She gasped for air wanting to scream and laugh at the same time, but instead just pointed-with her mouth wide open. She was afraid for Kennedy, but at the same time tickled by her distorted mouth.
Kennedy's youngest cousin, awakened by the commotion, screeched in terror at the sight of Kennedy's lip, as she crawled over and tightly hugged her. Kennedy had no clue as to why they were making such a fuss.
Finally, her cousin told her that her lip was huge. Kennedy touched her lip and tears swelled up in her eyes. Her cousin hugged her tighter and began to cry. Scrambling out of their sleeping bags, they all jumped up and rushed into the house.
Following a few moments of hysteria, Kennedy revealed her lip, which she had been covering with a small stuffed animal. Very concerned, her aunt and uncle calmed her down as they tried to make sense out of all the chaos. "Something bit me," shouted Kennedy, as her cousins co-signed.
"When?" asked her uncle.
"When we were sleeping!" cried out the younger cousin.
Her uncle immediately went out to search the tent for the culprit, as her aunt cared for her lip. She iced Kennedy's lip down and comforted her, and debated as to whether or not to call the doctor or rush her to emergency.
Five or ten minutes later, her uncle came in with the verdict. He had found a small black and yellow spider in Kennedy's sleeping bag. According to his knowledge of spiders, he knew she would be okay. It turned out to be a harmless garden spider.
Kennedy cried out after the discovery, and said, "Well it wasn't harmless to my lip." They all laughed as Kennedy pulled the ice from her lip and pushed it out further to magnify its size.
After a day and a half, the swelling had gone down and Kennedy was fine. At least her lip had recovered, but this incident had altered Kennedy's life from that day forward. She now had a serious fear of spiders, also known as 'arachnophobia.' Kennedy had set out to make this a summer she would always remember, and that it was, thanks to that evil spider.
She was nine years old when this took place, and on that day, her fear of spiders was officially established, and she vowed never to be attacked by another one. As a result, she altered her life in many ways-including remaining on the outside of the elaborate tree house she helped to build-in an attempt to avoid the possibility of another spider attack.
Two years had passed now and everyone else had quickly forgotten about that incident; yet it had continued to haunt Kennedy. Now on the night of her first annual sleep-out, Kennedy consumed herself with the thought of her recurring spider phobia.
"Night Night"
After a long night of laughter, every night game you could imagine, and everyone was ready for bed, the spooky stories began. This, of course, further amplified Kennedy's memory of her spider incident.
While they all shared stories, Kennedy constantly turned her flashlight on and off to check for spiders. Her friends noticed her silence and accused her of being a party pooper-they thought she had fallen asleep. This quiet behavior was definitely awkward for Kennedy. She loved to tell creepy stories, and her friends knew this. What they did not know, was that she was quiet because she was preoccupied with the thought of another spider creeping into her sleeping bag and pumping her lip with its ugly venom.
When they accused her of sleeping, Kennedy laughed. She promised them that she would be the last one to fall asleep because she had something special for the first one down. They all laughed and dared not to be the first to fall asleep.
It was not long before the story telling came to a crashing halt. Everyone had fallen asleep like dominoes, one after the other, barely able to mumble goodnight.
As Kennedy had promised, she was the last one to fall asleep. This was not her choice, but due to her fear of being attacked by another vicious spider. As she fought sleep, she barely managed to turn off her flashlight before she finally dozed off.
"I Must Be Dreaming"
Minutes into to her sleep she felt herself falling, and she could not catch on to any of the extended branches she passed on her way down. Her imagination picked up speed as she came closer to the
bed of red bark underneath the large grove of trees. Noticing that there were no more branches as an option, she prepared for her final plunge. Just as she touched down, she noticed what appeared to be a silky netting material that broke her fall. She gasped loudly for air briefly waking her best friend Kymani. Kennedy swept her hands back and forth over her mouth and flared her arms as though she were removing something. Kymani squinted and tried to identify what was on Kennedy's face. Noticing nothing, she mumbled Kennedy's name, rolled over and fell back asleep.
Now suspended just inches from the ground, Kennedy remained motionless. She was in a slight state of shock, not because of the silky web that saved her from hitting the ground, but because a big black and yellow spider was looking her right in her eyes.
Stunned and terrified, she could not manage to get the attention of her friends or to alert them with her dramatic moans. The spider, also traumatized did not move. As they stared at each other, a tear rolled down Kennedy's cheek. The spider cast a web to a tree just above Kennedy's head and dangled itself in position to take a closer look. Noticing the tear in Kennedy's eye, it lifted two of its eight legs and waved at her. Kennedy could not believe her eyes.
"Are you waving at me?" asked Kennedy.
"Yes I am. Are you ok?" the spider asked.
Two more tears rolled down Kennedy's cheek; she wiped her eyes and tried to focus. "Are you talking to me?"
"Well, I see no other humans lying in my web," said the spider. Kennedy nervously giggled, convinced now that she must be dreaming.
"What gives you the right to just drop into my web and cry?" asked the spider as it smiled baring its tiny fangs. Kennedy let out another nervous giggle as she unclenched her fists and began to relax.
"You should have contacted me via the web and I would have baked you some insects," said the spider as it spurted out a wicked little laugh.
"I have to admit I am terrified of spiders, but something about you makes me want to laugh," said Kennedy.
"Hey, don't take my kindness for weakness, it just happens to be my nature to spin a good 'webitude' in life," said the spider.
Kennedy giggled again as she spoke saying, "I am just glad you are kind and not mean and evil like the spider that bit my lip."
"Bit your lip, now that spider must have been desperate, unless you tried to bite it first," said the spider, followed by another wicked little laugh.
"I was just sleeping, minding my own business when it decided to crawl in my sleeping bag and attack me. It was definitely an old evil spider," said Kennedy.
"It might have been old, but evil, I would think more like curious or just plain crazy. Bite a lip, I rather eat a bug any day," the spider stated with conviction, rolling what looked like multiple eyes back in its head.
"Well it got me, and had a good time, because it left my lip full of its venom. It probably kicked back somewhere and burped out my blood while it laughed at my swollen lip," said Kennedy, as she gave the spider an evil eye.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Only In A Dream Series by Kimberly Anne Harris Copyright © 2012 by Kimberly Anne Harris. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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