Spider Bite

Start writing...Frederick Jackson hated spiders. He had Arachnophobia, which was the fear of spiders. Nobody could blame him really, I mean who doesn't feel uncomfortable around those eight legged freaks? I know I do, they just seem so creepy and hideous, don't you think? Black little bugs that can run a thousand miles per hour across the dining room floor, something about seeing them move at such unfathomable speeds is always unnerving. Now Frederick was especially fearful of them, he had nightmares almost every night about the monstrous little things. In fact, the thought of them lived rent free within his scared little mind; often leading to intense anxiety and insomnia. The man had night terrors around giant spiders, they were his sleep paralysis demons, huge black, tentacle things with a thousand eyes and fangs, always standing over his bed at night, red drool dripping from their mouths. Horrifying. One could only imagine the terror his mind created. It must've been hell.

Frederick went through years of therapy to get over his fear of spiders, he spoke to psychiatrists about his condition. They reassured him that Arachnophobia was a common thing, lots of people (including myself, dear reader) are afraid of sick things. However, Frederick's anxiety, dread and paranoia over spiders was far too out of control. He needed to get over this little problem, that in time had become a huge problem. Whenever he saw a spider, even a tiny little one; he'd scream, panic and be overcome with an intense urge to run or hide. The psychiatrist said that although spiders are a bit frightening, the most common house spider is just another harmless bug. One that may not seem to have any fear, is actually far more afraid of us than we ever are of them.

"I'm not so sure about that, Doc!" Frederick would argue.

"Think about it Frederick. We must look just as ugly to them, as they do to us. On top of that, we tower over those little bugs. Imagine seeing a 30 foot spide-"

"DON'T!" Frederick gasped, instantly imagining a dinosaur sized spider monster, one with huge hulking muscles and a million eyes full of fire.

"I'm sorry, Fre-"

"You're not helping!" He'd roar.

"Perhaps Hypno therapy might be in order." The psychiatrist suggested.

"I don't like people fucking with my mind, Doc!" Frederick screamed.

"I can understand that, but it might help your condition. Wouldn't it be great to get over this crippling anxiety you have?"

Frederick replied with a great sigh, "I am willing to do anything." He said.

"Then that's sorted, perhaps we could schedule this next week?"

"Sure Doc, whatever you think is best." Frederick smiled weakly. It was the hypnotherapy that finally, after all these years; cured Frederick of his irrational fear towards spiders. You see, although he was very anxious about the hypnotist 'operating' on him, the results were beyond satisfactory. The hypnotist had convinced Frederick's subconscious to abandon all the internal dread that came with fearing them. Frederick couldn't believe it actually worked, he was shown pictures of spiders and felt absolutely nothing. No fear, no unease. Just nothing, like looking at a blank white canvas. He was cured!

A few years later:

Frederick had forgotten about his Arachnophobia almost entirely, he saw spiders as no different than flies or ladybirds, just irritating pests. Ones he now hated instead of feared. You see, although he wasn't afraid of them anymore, the years of fear that crippled him had since manifested into pure rage inducing hatred. The memories of being so psychologically damaged over this fear had made him resentful and often rash. I think we all fear creepy crawlies to a certain extent, it's why they're often used to horror movies to creep out the audience. Perhaps the reason is because they are dirty little critters who live in the mud, or maybe it's because some of them can actually be poisonous or harmful. Like how bees and wasps can sting you or how eating a slug could destroy your stomach. Without this fear, maybe we'd run into the trouble of facing avoidable dangers. Because if you or me saw a black widow spider, with its red cross upon black skin, we'd run a mile; knowing one bite could be fatal! Yet, because Frederick no longer feared the sight of that little black widow on his bedroom window, he fearlessly punched the little bug with his bare fist. Frederick missed, then roared in fury, punching wildly at the black widow, trying to destroy it. The spider was scared, far more afraid of him than Frederick ever was of those spiders. The black widow bit him in pure self defence. Suddenly Frederick felt sick, he collapsed under his own feet and fell flat in his back with a great big, heavy and loud thud. Suddenly he felt scared, all that hypnotherapy had been undone in that single second, as Frederick slowly died an agonising death. Ironic, if he still had Arachnophobia, he'd likely still be alive to this very day.