The Time I was Scared! by Aniruddha

The Time I was Scared

By Aniruddha Pochimcherla

              Do you know that I watch Kung Fu movies and detective serials like Sherlock Holmes and Poirot on TV? I am not scared of watching crimes, fighting, and people getting hurt. When I myself get hurt, I don’t cry much. I am also not scared of ghosts and the dark. But, there is one thing that always freaks me out. Do you know what that is? I am very, very scared of spiders.

             When someone is afraid of something, they say that they have a phobia. My fear of spiders is called “Arachnophobia”. Whenever I see spiders in magazines like National Geographic Kids, I turn my head away or turn the page immediately. Even seeing pictures of spiders makes me start to panic. I feel really yucky in my head and start to sweat sometimes if I have to keep seeing the picture.

             The reason I am scared of spiders is because they look disgusting to me. Spiders have eight legs and they can have six to eight eyes. The ones I see are usually dark in color, black or brown. I also don’t like looking at the ones that are really hairy because I find them to be gross-looking. Another reason is that the spider might bite me. Some spiders like the Recluse spider and Black Widow spider can be dangerous when they bite. People can even die by their bites. 

             Last year, on Halloween evening, I went trick-or-treating in my neighborhood. I went to one of my neighbor’s houses and saw a big spider decoration. It was a gigantic, black spider with eight long hairy legs and gloomy, bulging eyes. It was surrounded by a big white web. When I saw it, it really freaked me out and I was sweating for a very long time. I did not want to go trick-or-treating for the rest of the evening after that incident, and I have never gone to that neighbor’s house again. 

            I have been reading up about spiders on Wikipedia and I read that in the 20^th century, there were only 100 deaths due to spider bites. So, I am trying my best to not be so scared of spiders anymore. But the fear is still with me. My parents tell me that when I grow up, I won’t be afraid of spiders anymore. I sure hope so!