Heart Strings

Friends and Enemies

"Nathan, come and see what I found!" Arya stared in wonder at the small hole in the wall, the fine strands of silk making it glisten like thousands of tiny diamonds strung around the gap.

Nathan ran over his little fit kicking up small clouds of dust as they dragged through the dirt. He crouched down beside Arya, his blue eyes wide with wonder.

"How did you find one of these? They're so good at hiding."

Arya smiled up at him, he was a little bit taller than her. She picked up an unsuspecting ant with her chubby little fingers, ready to drop onto the pretty web before her. However, in her clumsiness, she squeezed a little too hard and when the small insect was already lifeless. Arya furrowed her brows and glared at the ant.

"Here, do it like this." Nathan put his hand flat on the ground and gently nudged it until it was crawling around on his outstretched fingers, then carefully lowering his hand over the spiders home, he pushed the ant until it was stuck firmly in silks hold, wriggling for freedom.

Arya gasped slightly as she saw the tip of two spindly legs at the entrance to the tiny cave. One long feeler stretched closer to the ant, testing to make sure it was dinner that had landed on its web.

Faster than Arya's careful eyes could follow, the spider leaped from the safety of the small hole and was attacking the ant with its pincers.

The wolf spider stood there in all its glory, its leg span about the size of Arya palm, its body was thick and a dark grey, the colour of ash. The two friends sat and watched the spider eat its meal for a few minutes, trying to make as little noise as possible so they didn't disturb the magnificent creature.

Arya slowly moved her eyes from the spider to the boy beside her.

"I don't know anyone who likes spiders like me." She muttered, a small smile filling her small face. Nathan looked at her, and a grin filled his fair features.

"Me either. Most people are stupid and are cared of them." He laughed, a gentle, happy sound.

Arya laughed too.

"You know, I'm glad you like spiders. Now I have someone as weird as me." Arya grinned a toothy grin at his words, and he returned it, showing the large gap where his front teeth were slowly growing.

"You know what that means right? It means you are my best friend." 

And the pair continued to watch the spider eating his meal in silence.

***********

"Daddy you should have seen it!" Arya all but shouted with excitement at her dad. "It was huge, like really really this big." 

She put her hands side by side, with her pinky fingers touching and spread her fingers as much as she possibly could to show how big the spider was.

"Oh wow, that is a very big spider, do you know what kind of spider it was?" Arya's father shared her excitement, he always loved hearing about the different insects his daughter would find every day.

"Obviously daddy, it was a wolf spider, with the big body and the really long legs." She knew almost all of the types of spiders she could find in her garden. "I didn't touch it though, they have a very strong venom and it can really hurt if they bite you."

"That's right chick, now go upstairs and wash your hands and you can tell me more while we eat dinner." Arya ran up the stairs as quickly as her little legs would carry her. Darting into the bathroom she turned of the tap and threw her muddy hands under the water. She quickly washed off all the dirt and ran back downstairs, smelling the lasagne before she could see it.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Arya's excitement very quickly left her as she looked at the large dinner table and around it sat her parents, as well as Carly and her parents too.

*****

Arya kicked the dirt. She kicked the shed. She kicked the leg of her swing set again and again and again, then slumped angrily on the swing. She kicked the dirt around her feet repeatedly, creating a little ditch in the mud.

That was the worst dinner ever.

Carly acts like a spoilt little brat and her parents were believing her and thought she was a "little angel". Stupid Carly. As soon as Arya was telling her parents about the drawing she did at school, Carly spoke over her and started telling them about her paintings, and when Arya tried telling everyone about the birds nest she found in the little cherry apple trees, Carly told them all about the bird she apparently helped that was tangled in a net on the back green. 

Well she lied.

Arya was there and she didn't save a bird, she kept trying to scare away the birds when Arya would try to get close to them.

Carly always had to be better than Arya and she always lied. Stupid Carly.

"I think Carly is stupid too." The voice scared Arya out of her thoughts a little bit and when she looked up to see her new best friend with his head stuck out of, what she thought was his living room window. Arya gave him a big toothy grin, her first smile since she had seen Carly at the dinner table.

"Well I'm glad someone understands how stupid she really is." Nathan smiled down at her, she still wondered why he was so friendly, everyone else didn't like how weird she was. And he like spiders. 

"Yeah, my parents like her too, they said she has to come to my birthday party tomorrow."

"Ugh! That's stupid why are grown ups so stupid too?"

"I know, but that's okay, because we will be there so it will be loads of fun. I promise."

Nathan looked back into the house behind him, talking to someone in the hidden room. He nodded once and turned back to Arya.

"Sorry, I've got to go, mum said dinner is ready. You are coming up tomorrow aren't you?"

"Definitely, see you tomorrow." Nathan shut the window and Arya was left to hate Carly all by herself.

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