I was out walking the dogs along the river today, when I came across a young boy and an older man coming the other way.
The boy was holding tightly to a small plastic container, and as I came abreast of them he turned to me and said “would you like to see what I have in my jar?” I was a little taken aback, but as the old man with him was smiling and nodding, I said yes.
He took the lid off and I peaked inside. I was expecting maybe he’d caught a little fish or something similar he wanted to show me, but it seemed to be some sort of bug. Was it a giant beetle or cockroach? I looked closer and saw that it was an enormous spider. I looked sharply at the boy to see if he was playing some sort of trick and hoping to scare me, but he seemed so genuinely pleased and proud of himself that I couldn’t doubt him. I congratulated him on his very excellent prize, and he beamed and we all went on our way.
Heartwarming but I’m pleased it was me and not my arachnophobic daughter.