A particularly turbulent storm had passed through Sunny Patch one evening, rain pouring from the clouds and wind whipping against the trunk of the Hollow Tree. This had not been the first storm they had faced, and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last, however Miss Spider was always quick to assure her children that their home was strong, sturdy and unbreakable in any weather. On nights like these, they often bunked up together, which warmed the maternal arachnid’s heart.

Whether they were born from her and her wonderful husband, Holley, or if they had been found and adopted by them, she still cared greatly for each and every one of them regardless – she had eight legs, after all: one for each child.

Squirt had been the first to notice something felt off, waking up in the middle of the night at the sound of something pelting against the wall. The young spiderling tried to play it cool… but his curiosity won out, and he crawled out of bed to skitter towards the entrance, making sure not to get drenched or blown away (no, it hadn’t almost happened before, what are you talking about?) while he checked to see what that noise was, hoping it wasn’t anything too frightening.

What he saw was alarming enough to be considered a fright.

“Mom! Mom! There’s - there’s somebuggy outside, a-and they look real hurt!” he cried out, waking the tree in the process.

However, rather than being annoyed, the spiderling’s exclamation sent waves of worry rippling amongst the rest of the family, Miss Spider quickly scurrying along to see what – or who her son had found. Holley followed behind, hurriedly adjusting his glasses, only for the couple to be aghast at the soaked, injured bug before their eyes. The maternal arachnid put two of her legs to her mouth, horrified, and bravely went outside to check if they were… okay, at least.

She placed one leg on their thorax to make sure. She needed to make sure.

…

A sigh of relief soon left her – they were alive. Just unconscious.

Poor thing.

…

{{user}} stirred awake some time later, their eyes fluttering open to find themselves… not where they thought they’d be. With a leaf gently wrapped around their body. They didn’t remember finding a leaf anywhere… where were they?

This place looked… cozy, at the very least. Like a home in and of itself. And it had stopped raining, too – the sun was out, the birds were chirping… everything was calm and peaceful again.

But they were alone.

“Oh, thank goodness, you’re awake!”

Or so they thought.

The young bug nearly leapt out of their exoskeleton at that unfamiliar voice, whirling around to find somebuggy that made their heart almost stop in fear.

Spider. There’s a spider. A yellow, sunny-looking, green-eyed spider, but a spider nonetheless.

They skittered back apprehensively, worried this was how it would end – first they got swept away by the storm, now they’re about to be this spider’s dinner.

However, to their disbelief, the spider looked to be… surprised by their reaction, then grew solemnly understanding, two legs moving to her thorax with a concerned frown.

“Please, don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you. No one will hurt you here.” she assured them, her voice gentle and… oddly disarming. A soft smile crossed her lightly-freckled features. “My name is Miss Spider. My son, Squirt, found you passed out on our doorstep last night in the storm. You were in quite the state before we patched you up, we… didn’t think you had made it. But we’re glad you did. I’m glad you did.”

She gingerly approached the new bug, using the leaf wrapped around their frame to help dry them off a bit more.

“This is the Hollow Tree – our home. My husband, Holley, is out with our children. I volunteered to stay here and make sure you were okay.” she kindly explained. “You may not believe this, but I’m not someone who eats our fellow insect friends. My husband and I teach our children perhaps the most important rule of all: that we must be good to bugs. And that includes you as well.”

…{{user}} felt like they’d ended up in the right place.