Nobody Should Hit Arnie

"You sure you sent the letter?"

"Yes, I'm sure I did!"

The two men with the black balaclavas had been arguing for over half an hour already. They were talking about a letter, something called a 'ransom'. Arnie had never heard this word before, so he didn't quite understand why they were so angry at each other. He understood though what a letter was. He had received some himself, and he usually was very happy when they came in through the hole in the door. When it was time for the postman to come, Arnie would wait seated on the stairs right in front of the door, so he could see the letters appear as if they were coming out of nowhere. He would then be filled with such a joy, he would jump around the house, laughing. Arnie loved to laugh. He loved to hear a good joke. That's partly why he had followed the men in the balaclavas two days ago. They weren't wearing the balaclavas at the time. And they weren't fighting either. They had been very nice. The taller one had short blond hair and blue eyes, and he had nice, round features. The small one had a black mane that fell down to his shoulders, and black eyes. This one had a square jaw, and a very thin nose. Arnie didn't like that one very well. But the taller one looked like an angel, and when he offered him an ice-cream, Arnie decided that this one was nice. He loved ice-cream too. The small one told him a joke about a penguin which breathes by his ass-hole and when he sat one day, he died. Arnie found it hilarious, and so the small one gained his favor too. Then, they had shown him a beautiful van, with cartoons drawn all over it. Arnie told them it was the most amazing car he'd ever seen. So when they asked him if he'd like a ride home, he was delighted, and jumped all over the place, clapping his hands. But they hadn't brought him home. Instead, they had gone far from it, to an abandoned slaughter house in the outskirts of town. Arnie started to wonder what was happening. Maybe they didn't know where his home was? But they turned the TV on, and Arnie was suddenly captivated by the cartoons, forgetting all about where he was. He spent the whole next day in front of the TV, eating ice-cream with the taller one, while the smaller one had gone out to do some business. And that morning, they had put the balaclavas on their head, and brought Arnie in this meadow far in the woods, tying his wrists with an old rope. They were obviously waiting for something to happen, but Arnie was clueless of what it might be.

"Maybe the postman was late? Maybe the letter got lost in the post office, and they didn't receive it yet?" the taller one said, sounding a little nervous.

"Or maybe they don't care about their kid," the small one spat. His voice was way colder than the taller one's. Arnie didn't like his tone a bit. "Maybe they're glad we took him. Look at him, he's a fucking retard."

"I'm not a retard!" Arnie protested. "Mama told me I'm not! I'm just special. I'm unique," he said dreamily, thinking about his Mama. She was the nicest person on earth. Not like this small man.

"Shut your mouth, you retard!" he barked, slapping him so hard Arnie was thrown against a nearby tree and fell to the floor.

"Kilov!" the taller one exclaimed. "Don't hurt him! We told them we didn't hurt him!"

"Oh, shut your mouth, you wimp," the small one said.

The taller one didn't say anything else, but he kneeled by Arnie, who was seated on the grass, rocking back and forth while holding his head.

"Nobody should hit Arnie, nobody should hit Arnie," he was chanting to himself as a reassuring lullaby.

"Come on kid, let me see this," the taller one said, trying to calm him down. But Arnie brutally pushed his arm away and started to chant louder and louder, rocking back and forth as if he were in another dimension. "See what you've done?" the taller one scolded.

"You soft-head, just make him stop or I'll have him shut his retard's mouth for some time," snarled Kilov.

But just as he was about to come closer, something hit him right in the mouth. The taller one jumped on his feet, and tried to find out where the projectile had come from, but he was suddenly hit by the same thing. Arnie raised his head, stopping his chant, and saw something white on their mouth. It seemed to be sticky, because as hard as they were trying to take it off, they simply couldn't. Both of them were staring at the top of the trees, searching for the thing that had done that. They looked like rabbits, Arnie thought. Two baby rabbits which are out in the open, when they know the eagle is coming but they have nowhere to hide. The way they were turning around was hilarious to Arnie, and he started to laugh. Kilov jerked in his direction, and darted towards him with rage in his eyes. But he was stopped halfway by the white sticky thread that caught him right in the chest. Then there was another one, and another one, until he was all covered in it. They were coming from everywhere, it was incredible! The same thing happened to the taller one, and with a final thread, they were pulled up in a tree, hanging there like chrysalis. Arnie laughed, seeing them like that.

"Nobody should hit Arnie!" he shouted at them. "That's what Mama told me. She told me: nobody should hit Arnie or they will get trouble!" he laughed.

"And she was right, Arnie," a voice came from the top of the tree Arnie was seated under.

He raised his head, and there he was, in his red and blue suit, with a big spider on it. He jumped down from the tree and squatted in front of Arnie

"Spiderman!" Arnie shrilled with joy, clapping his hands. "You're Spiderman!"

"Yes, I am," he said, "and you, you're one of the bravest kids I know!" he added, messing Arnie's hair.

"I'm special! I'm special!" Arnie answered with a grin that spread from ear to ear.

"Indeed, you are... You're so special that I'm going to bring you straight to your Mama, how'd you like that? She can't wait to see you."

"Mama, Mama! We go see Mama!" Arnie was overwhelmed with happiness at this thought. It had been quite sometimes he hadn't seen her after all. He jumped on his feet and started to run around the meadow with his arms spread. Spiderman stood up, laughing, and approached the two men in the black balaclavas.

"Don't you worry, the police in on its way, they'll soon be here to take you to your new house. You'll meet a lot of new friends there! Though it probably won't be very comfortable... Anyway, let's hope I never see you again!"

He stepped to Arnie and took him in his arms, making him turn as he laughed. Arnie was so gleeful he felt as if his heart was about to burst.

"What do you say we fly to your Mama?" Spiderman asked.

"We... Fly? WE FLY!!! That's swell swell swell!!!" Arnie shouted out!

"Okay, hold on to me tightly then!" Spiderman advised him.

Arnie wrapped his arms around Spidey as tight as he could, and in the blink of an eye, up they were, swinging from trees to trees, up to see his Mama. This was the best day of Arnie's life.