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Octavia hated spiders.  In fact she feared them so much she even considered her dislike for them bordered on a phobia.  She sat there and thought about it as she watched the large spider in the corner of her bedroom spinning her web.  She would have reached up and broken the web if she had something long enough to reach it, but when your only eleven years old reaching things can be a problem.

The spider continued working oblivious to Octavia’s venomous thoughts.  Living in an old house means you have to share it with horrid creatures sometimes.  No matter how many times you ask your Mum to get rid of little ‘beasties’, they always seem to find their way back.  There are just too many nooks and crannies for them to hide in.

Octavia went back to her book and tried to concentrate on the words before her.  If she ignored the spider and immersed herself in her book she would forget about it and it would stop bothering her.  There was no point shouting for Mum as she had made it plain to Octavia that she was sick of rescuing her from what she simply referred to as ‘nature’. 

Before long Octavia had reached the penultimate chapter of her book, she put it down deciding to save the ending for when she went to bed that night.  Autumn evenings were always boring, by the time it had reached October the weather had changed and most evenings were cold, wet and windy.  Octavia sighed and went downstairs to see what was for tea, or ‘dinner’ as Mum so often corrected her.

Octavia sat down next to her younger sister Olivia and waited.  After a few minutes Mum came in with a large earthen pot full of beef stew and dumplings, a proper winter tea!  Octavia felt better already and almost forgot about the hideous spider busy knitting it’s horrid web in her bedroom.  Olivia was busy chatting about her friends and her day at school.  Octavia stopped herself from interrupting and spoiling Olivia’s stories, as she wanted to ask Mum about the spider.