Just when I thought I’d left the dramatics behind in the old year, a few silly spiders showed up – and before I knew it, I’d driven through a spider web. Thrice. I’ve had my fair share of spider drama. Have I walked through cobwebs? Yes. Have I cleaned out a web with my hair, unwittingly? Far too many times. Have I been chased by one? Also yes. But the feeling of driving through a web felt worse.

It all unfolded last December during a stay at Eagles’ Rest, Valla. The place has everything a tourist could desire – proximity to beaches, streams, quaint little towns and shops, and scenic drives, like the Promised Land loop. And then there was Eagles Rest – a paradise of sorts in itself. No honking or screeching tyres for miles. Just bell birds and kookaburras laughing in a delightfully lush and green landscape.

But after the incident with the spider web, I’ve come to approach any green space with a modicum of fear. Because now, green equals spider territory.

One night, we were returning to the Eagles’ Rest property after a trip to the beach. The brightness of the stars in the sky was a stark contrast to the darkness of the night. So we strained our necks to look out the windows of the car and trace constellations, hoping to see a shooting star.

That’s when a scream resounded from the front of the car. The car came to a halt. My sister. in panicked tones, pointed forward and repeated, “SPIDER! Roll up your window.”

“Eh!”
“What mumma?”
“Why are you screaming?”

The nieces and I did not catch on to her sense of urgency until we too looked out the windshield.

There it was – a silky, glittering web suspended between two trees. Two rather large spiders were busy at work spinning the web further at different ends. Panic is the best word to describe what we felt in that instance. We frantically pushed and pulled the button, willing the window to close faster. And the only person who remained calm throughout all this was my sister’s husband.

There was no way around the web. We could only drive forward, which meant driving through the web. The car moved forward, and our voices joined in a chorus of screams. And in the middle of it all, I heard a small voice saying, “Dada, you destroyed the spider’s house!”

Just when we thought we were safe, another massive web loomed in front of us. This time, we drove on. Before we reached the house, we passed through two more webs. Scenes from Harry Potter and the scene in the forest flashed through my mind. My active imagination conjured up images of being tangled up in a web, waiting to be devoured by a giant spider. After all the holiday snacking, I’m sure we seemed like plump pieces of meat.

The ordeal was far from over. Were the spiders stuck to the roof? Did one slide down the window? None of us wanted to be the first to open a door and find out where the spider was hiding. So we sat there arguing for a while and refused to let the only brave person step out.

Eventually, my patience ran out. I flung the door open and bolted, leaving the others to their fate. We learnt a valuable lesson that day.

Keep your windows up in the countryside, especially at night.

But the spiders were not backing down because I learned a new lesson the next day.

Keep your eyes open when you stroll through a garden.

You see, to no one’s surprise, I walked into a spider web the next day. This was the score at the end of the year –

Spider: 4
Betty: 0