ZUR’S DREAMS… by SC Bryson

SC BRYSON IS A WRITER I ADMIRE… ALLIGATORS AND INSECTS ARE PART OF HER LIFE IN THE LONE STAR STATE WHERE SHE HAS MADE HER HOME. I DON’T KNOW HER WELL BUT OVER THE PAST MONTHS SHE HAS SHOWN ME THE GOODNESS OF HER HEART, THE BREADTH OF HER MIND AND THE JOY OF HER ECCENTRICITY.

HERE SHE PRESENTS A BRILLIANT CHILDREN’S STORY ABOUT A GOLDEN ORB-WEAVER SPIDER NAMED ZUR … SC BRYSON’S STORIES TAKE YOU INTO AN ALIEN WORLD OF FANTASY AND MORALITY…

An enormous Golden Orb-Weaver Spider, named Zur, was enjoying an eerily quiet day. Her web was very sturdy so she was not feeling alarmed, in spite of the ominous clouds, staring down at her. In fact, she was feeling very, very confident and content.

This special spider only lacked one extremely important item. She wanted a true friend, a kindred soul who would always love her, even in the midst of a scary storm or even a humongous hurricane. Humongous was Zur’s favorite word, and she sprinkled it, profusely, as if it were a special seasoning. She never wanted her thoughts or feelings to seem remotely ordinary even if no one could hear or sense them.

Zur was feeling lonely because there were no other spiders of her species that lived in her neighborhood. Her little plot of land actually belonged to an ancient Homo Sapiens who lived by herself. Zur could see one other home from her web, and that was all she could see.

Occasionally, other creatures that resembled her Homo Sapiens would visit her, very briefly, but they never remained for very long.

Zur’s weird Hominid spoke in a loud, annoying manner, and she always carried a large, flat, silvery-black object with her, and she would constantly thrust that device towards Zur’s body.

A larger cluster of malevolent storm clouds began approaching, and they were enormously humongous. Zur began pacing back and forth.

She forced herself to remain very still so she wouldn’t damage her web but seven of her legs began twitching so severely that her humongous home had started shaking.

The rain slammed the parched ground as Zur trembled. She was humongously horrified as she muttered her favorite word again and again. That special word and all its identical siblings had soon fashioned a gorgeous web within her keen mind. Zur was half asleep when her Homo Sapiens scared her, and she was already terrified. This time, that horrid creature had actually lowered its volume so that random act of civility made Zur feel somewhat better.

Zur realized that her Homo Sapiens inhabited the large structure behind her cozy abode, and she rarely left it. Zur just had to put up with that unwelcome pest. The Hominid disappeared a few minutes later. Zur was feeling frustrated due to strange sensations that she’d been experiencing, but she was tired of focusing her precious spider brain on bodily goings-on so she slipped into a hypnotic coma, of sorts.

The sunrise was stunning. Zur loved the humongous clouds with their beautiful rosy bellies. The sweet spider especially loved being surrounded by Nature. Sometimes, she was frightened by certain primal sounds, especially when it was really, really dark. But, overall, she enjoyed her life, except for the absolute loneliness she experienced, night and day. Days and nights exchanged places, and the pace of those natural cycles kept accelerating. Zur’s catastrophic sadness began smothering her.

Then a miracle unfolded, in front of her. A beautiful, young Homo Sapiens wearing gorgeous multicolored skin suddenly appeared, and that beautiful being stimulated her curiosity. Zur’s favorite unwelcome creature was conversing with the lovely one.

Then the annoying one abruptly departed, for some reason, and Zur and the new Homo Sapiens gradually became acquainted. Her coloring was similar to Zur’s, and best of all, their names both began with the same letter. Zur discovered that the ancient one had nearly named her after the beautiful, young one, but changed her mind, for some unknown reason. Zur and Zayne were both thrilled that God had allowed them to possess the ability to understand one another. The new friends chatted a while longer, before parting ways. Zayne, and her fraternal twin brother, Zeeke, were involved with five different projects, and they both wanted to finish at least two or three of them before the sun slowly slid down the cloud-cluttered sky.

Zur stretched her long, lovely legs. A gentle breeze was gifting her with a very pleasurable ride. And, her heart was finally overflowing with a humongous helping of pure love. Zur and Zayne had created a very magical bond, and, Zur hoped that she would meet Zeeke some day soon.

Three days had fallen off of Zur’s imaginary spider-sized calendar. Loneliness had begun nagging at her sturdy spider soul. Where was her new friend?! Zur spent so much time worrying about Zayne that she forgot to secure her latest snack, and she cried when it flew away.

Then the two friends locked eyes…

Zur explained to her best friend that she was feeling very melancholy because she did not possess an audible voice. Her dear friend smiled sympathetically, and instinctively, an identical, double helix-shaped prayer surged towards Heaven.

Their conversation soon began drifting, and twisting all over the universe, completely encompassing both trivial and highly important topics of great relevance to both of them. All those ideas purposefully amused themselves as they meandered along the interconnected superhighways of their temporarily shared mind. And, it was an exhilarating experience for both of them.

Eventually, Zayne had to leave. Her incredible brother picked her up, at the appointed time, and they slowly sped down the long, long gravel road. Zur had never seen it before, but some day soon, she would.

Three sunrises and sunsets had appeared and disappeared, but Zur still hadn’t received another visit from her very own Homo Sapiens. The despondent spider clung to her tattered web. The last major storm had devastated it, but Zur couldn’t summon the strength or willpower to repair it. An inner wail turned into an outer groan. Zur’s legs tingled, and she nearly plummeted to the soggy, mossy ground directly beneath her beleaguered web.

“I, Zur, the Golden Orb-Weaver Spider, now have a voice!!”

Sobs, laughter, screams, and songs began echoing all around the deliriously triumphant spider. And, a joyful yet solemn prayer of thanks rattled her wildly ecstatic soul, mind and body.

Zur felt like she was 55% Homo Sapiens, and it was such a wondrous feeling. The spellbound spider was singing her favorite Blues tune when Zayne and Zeeke suddenly showed up. Zayne

and Zeeke both gasped, and then Zayne dropped to her knees and began to pray. Zeeke lowered himself to her level, then he put his arm around his beloved twin. And, she sobbed with joy.

“Thank you, Zayne and Zeeke…I am so glad that both of you showed up!! Now, my special celebration is complete!!”

Zayne and Zeeke were grinning at Zur, and at each other.

“We have moved to a much bigger, newer home in a secluded spot near a peaceful pond on the county line. It has a humongous enclosed patio, and you’re coming with us…right now!!”

Twin voices uttered those precious words in perfect harmony as if they had been practicing for years.

Zur, and a tiny scrap of her woebegone web were precariously perched on Zayne’s head while Zeeke slowly drove down the long, long gravel road. Zur savored every second of the ride, looking forward to the day when it would become a cherished memory.

Waves of thunder jerked Zur out of a deep sleep, and billions of bolts of bright jagged light kept tormenting the stunned, scared spider. Zur soon realized that she had only daydreamed and/or dreamt about possessing a real voice, an authentic Homo Sapiens’ voice. Her tears flowed for hours, nearly drowning her.

Zur’s humongous web was depressing her, and she began losing a lot of weight because she was feeling so sad. Zayne’s twin brother said he was feeling very ill, but Zeeke really wasn’t. He was only pretending because he had become jealous of his sister’s special relationship with the sweet spider. Zayne assured Zur that a little comfort and care and lots of sisterly love would soothe his shattered ego. Zur understood Zayne’s sticky situation, but she was still sad.

“I am very sad, much sadder than Zeeke, and I am genuinely sick… he’s just faking!”

Zur’s hoarse, internal statement was immediately swallowed by the howling winds as the trees began practicing the limbo. The exhausted spider couldn’t even shed any tears because she was so dehydrated. Zur was very frustrated and confused because she could barely feel her legs, and her head felt like it was spinning like an out of control gyroscope. Then Zur nearly blacked out.

“Don’t worry, Zur, we’re going to rescue you,” said Zayne as she stroked her emaciated friend.

Zur searched for Zeeke, but she couldn’t see him. Her vision was blurred, and she felt terribly weak. Zayne couldn’t find her brother either, but she had to focus fully on caring for her dear little friend. Just as Zayne pulled Zur towards her body, the newly still air began throwing a terrible temper tantrum. Pale blue skies instantly transformed themselves into an angry, yellowish-green hue, and frightened birds began the battle for their immediate survival.

Three jagged bolts were hurled from the increasingly infuriated skies, and two tall trees were neatly split in half. On top of that devastation, most of Zur’s ancient Hominid’s home was completely destroyed by the massive tree halves. Luckily, she had been out of town. Nature’s wondrous wrath had knocked Zayne and Zur to the ground. And, Zeeke was missing. For a few moments, they were both surreally stunned. No words or thoughts could be formed because that horrible event had destroyed all of them before they had even been born. All sense of everyday tranquility and normalcy had been thoroughly obliterated. But, in the midst of the overwhelming terror, the best friends remained eerily calm, cool and collected. Zur and Zayne had always loved that tired, old cliché because it always tickled their beautiful brains!!

Zayne was a gifted Wordsmith, Zur was an aspiring singer even if she had no voice yet, and Zeeke was a superb guitarist, drummer and self-taught mechanic. But would the trio live long enough to taste the future, or would their dreams disappear at the same time they did!?

Zeeke stumbled towards his sister, and Zur. Then he fell face forward into a friendly flowerbed.

Time became confused. Seconds seemed like hours, and hours had turned into decades. Then several hours passed away in only a few seconds. Time kept alternating between insanity and lunacy.

The sun suddenly appeared, and it brought a friend with it. A double rainbow. The beleaguered trio had survived the tempest. They couldn’t tell if it had been full-fledged hurricane because unconsciousness and consciousness had been involved in a seemingly life-threatening tango for the entire duration of the storm. At least, that’s how Zur’s spider brain remembered those horrific events, the few that she could actually recall.

Zayne stood up, but her knees and legs could barely bear the weight even though she was very petite. She allowed gravity to pull her back to the soggy, boggy, moss-encrusted ground. The best friends were stuck on that slippery spot that they had just escaped from. The weary warriors rested for an hour or so, and by then, Zeeke had regained consciousness, and he was feeling much stronger than his sister and her beloved spider friend.

The three of them concocted a feasible plan of action while they continued resting. Zur informed the twins where the tractor’s magical keys could be located. At first, the twins’ fingers became hopelessly entangled then they couldn’t stop trembling and fumbling about. Seconds soon turned into minutes. The keys were probably laughing at the klutzy duo, and finally decided to crawl out of their hiding place with some assistance from the hapless twins.

Zayne and Zeeke struggled for sole proprietorship of the precious keys. Each twin dropped them once or twice until Zeeke overpowered his diminutive sister. He held onto them, very tightly, and very triumphantly. Zayne no longer cared who drove the tractor as long as they made a speedy escape. Zeeke scrambled onto the tractor seat with exceptional dexterity, and Zayne used her remaining strength to drag herself onto the humongous tractor, with zero help from her twin. And, Zur, would soon be riding high, on top of Zayne’s head.

Zeeke had only driven a much smaller version of this tractor once before. But his confidence had swelled to enormous proportions.

Soon, the trio began bumping and lurching their way down the long, long gravel road. Three humongous grins appeared on their faces, and they were longer and prettier than any rainbows that had ever graced the skies.

They made a full recovery, and the twins penned and illustrated a children’s book chronicling their amazing ordeal. Occasionally, they would speak to local children at libraries and hospitals. Sometimes, they also made special appearances at birthday parties and family reunions.

Zur never realized her dream of having a real voice like Zayne’s or Zeeke’s, but her shining soul spoke directly to all the mesmerized listeners at each venue.

THE END

#spiders #