An unforgettable day
Sara the spider is having fun. She's busy doing an autumn cleaning. Her web is cleaning them all today. The wires put them in the wax and she scrapes all the corners and holes until everything shines in the sun. After a few hours, the entire web is dust-free. And so far also flying free. But that's going to change.
Today is a special day for Ed. Because he's a one-day fly. Yes, you can hear it right: a one-day fly!
That means he's got a busy day ahead of him. There's a lot of things on his wishlist. First of all, he'd like to fly as high as he can. Maybe to the sun. He climbs on a leaf of clover, takes a run-up and sets his little wings in motion. There he goes. Ed is flying higher and higher, but oh oh, how heavy it is. His early wings can't handle that much fluttering. Panting, he tries to make a soft landing somewhere before he falls to the crush.
Sara's in a corner of her web. She enjoys the sun and takes a nap. The scrub and scrub has made her tired. Then there's a vibration going through the web. Right away, she opens her eyes. She's got visitors! Excited, she tripples to the middle of the web.
Ed's in the web. Wall fixed. What happened, he wonders. He wriggles hard with his paws to come loose. His wings are sticking to those weird wires.
“Good afternoon, “salutes Sara's visitor. “How nice of you to come by.”
'Er, yes hello, 'says Ed back. “Who are you?”
“I'm Sara the spider, “she says smiling. “You're just on time. I was just about to go to lunch.”
Ed doesn't look at Sara comprehensibly. “I'm a little stuck here. Can you help me?”
'No, sorry, I can't do that, 'says the spider. “But I can spin you in.”
“Inspider “? What does that mean?”
“That I'm gonna make you a cocoon. I'll spin you all in with my beautiful threads until you've got a nice warm jacket on. What do you say about that?”
Ed's gonna be all white. “No, anyway!” he says terrified. “You're not gonna do that, are you?”
“I'm sorry, “says Sara. “Spiders have to eat too, and I'm terribly hungry. I've been cleaning for hours.”
“M-M-but, “stutters Ed. “I'm not at all to eat. I must taste very dirty.” The day-fly shivering with fear. “Please sweet spider, don't eat me. I only live one day, I can't end up like this, can I? I just crawled out of my egg.”
Sara listens to the wailing fly. She finds it hard. “So you're a one-day fly and you really only have one day to live?”
Ed nods quietly. The spider is poking back and forth a few times. “All right, “she says, after all. “I'm letting you go.”
“Thank, thank you, thank you, “stammer Ed.
Sara loosens Ed from the web so that his wings are free again. “And what are you going to do now?” asks the spider.
'Well, at least no more flying, 'says the fly. “That's a little too dangerous for me. But other than that, well, I don't really know. Do you have a nice idea?”
Sara looks at Ed with raised eyebrows. “And that's what you ask a hungry spider?”
“Yes, I'm sorry. Maybe I'd better go.”
'No, wait! '
Ed's turning around shaky. “What is it? You didn't change your mind about eating and stuff, did you?”
“No, I thought maybe I could help you. I don't have anything else to do. Do you have a wish list?”
'Well, I'd actually like to bungee jump sometime, 'says the one-day fly desiring.
'Look, I can help you with that, 'says Sara.
A little later they stand on the wide branch of a large apple tree. Ed's looking down. He's shaking all over his body. There is a strong cord of spindles around his legs.
Sara's looking at the nervous fly. “Don't think, “she whispers to him. “Just do it.”
Ed closes his eyes and counts in mind “three two one.” Then he jumps. With a graceful dive, he shaves into the depths. 'This is great! ' he screams on his flight.
Sara's excited jumping on the branch. Now she's got excited, too. She wraps a new line of spindles around the branch and goes after Ed. Together they will have a great day that they will never forget in their lives.