A Story from the Underpass

A family of spiders, the Orbweavers, had just returned home from their holiday. Mr Orbweaver used one of his legs to wipe the sweat off his forehead while holding his kids with his second and third legs and carrying the luggage with the fourth one. They were just getting off a burdock leaf they had used as a boat.

“I can’t wait to be back in my own bed,” said Mrs Orbweaver as she gracefully hopped from the leaf into the grass. The whole family set out as a troop into a nearby tunnel where they had been living for the past couple of months.

It was an underpass, and humans had built it only recently. It was a true blessing for the spiders in the neighbourhood. The smarter ones had even made time to watch the construction to pick the best spots in advance.

After all, who would willingly make their living in bushes when they could have a firm roof over their head and enough space to build an entire spider palace!

They were greeted not by their happy home on the lamp, but by a large crowd of unhappy neighbors with tears in their eyes.

“What happened? Was there a fire?” Mr Orbweaver called to the crowd.

“Even worse! They have swept out all our webs,” said Mr Funnelweaver, who was leading the procession, dejectedly. “They had brooms and hoovers. Hoovers! We barely made it out alive. We break our backs catching all the flies and mosquitos, and this is how they repay us?” The whole crowd started weeping and wailing.

The Orbweaver family was horrified. Their three-story web with a view was gulped down by a hoover! Mrs Orbweaver was doing her best to comfort the kids, while Mr Orbweaver was holding his…