© Sarah Potter
After he died, I put Dad’s old shoes in my closet and then forgot about them.
Come Autumn, I decided to clean out my closet and found them again. This time, they weren’t old shoes anymore.
“Grandpa, what’s that?”
My six-year-old granddaughter had caught me about get rid of the infested footwear.
“Just old shoes.”
“They’re filled with spider webs. Do Charlotte’s babies live there?”
I’d shown Mia the movie “Charlotte’s Web” recently. Now I knew what I had to do.
Mia and I found a safe place for them in my shed.
I’m still not getting a pig.
I wrote this for the Rochelle Wisoff-Fields flash fiction writing challenge. The idea is to use the image above as the inspiration for writing a piece of flash fiction no more than 100 words long. My word count is 99.
It is true that after my Dad died in April, I took a pair of his old shoes as a backup pair to the ones I currently wear. It’s also true that recently, I showed my grandchildren the 2006 live action version film version of Charlotte’s Web. The combination of the two, plus the photo, inspired this wee tale.
To read other stories based on the prompt, go to InLinkz.com.
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Dear James,
While I adored Charlotte’s web, I think I’d dispose of the ‘babies’ while the grandbaby wasn’t looking. Cute story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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In real life that’s probably what I would have done.
My grandson is now eight, but when he was still young enough to sleep in a crib, I went to wash his blanket (he only stayed over every so many weekends back then) and found it infested with hundreds of baby spiders. Needless to say, I exterminated the little critters.
All that said, I was trying for an “endearing” piece that captured the spirit of the movie and the original book.
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It certainly did that that. One of my favourite books.
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Agreed! Spiders, blech! (summoning my inner Ron Weasley)
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I have not seen the film, but I can imagine the compassion felt. I remember serving reindeer heart to American and they say they couldn’t come home telling their kids that they had eaten Rudolph’s heart.
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“Charlotte’s Web was originally a children’s book published in 1952 written by E.B. White, who also wrote “Stuart Little”. There have been several animated film versions but only one live action version to the best of my knowledge.
Yeah, don’t eat Rudolph. 😉
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At least they could eat a pig
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My wife is Jewish so…no.
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Sweet tale James – so long as the spiders stay outside the house! 🙂
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Agreed, which is why Grandpa put them in his outdoor shed.
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Beautiful story, Ksmrs and Mia is such a smart young lady .( I haven’t read the book or watched the movie) will try watching it with my daughter now .Thanks, James.🙂
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Great take on the prompt. Charlotte’s Web was magical. A real pig isn’t. 😉
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LOL. Real spiders aren’t either. Thanks, Christine.
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Love EB White. His essays are especially moving.
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Ah, that’s very touching – Charlotte’s Web and those old shoes, all the generations strnagley united over a nest of spiders. Lovely tale James
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Thank you, Lynn.
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My pleasure James 🙂
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I too am unfamiliar with the story but I’ve picked up enough from other’s comments to understand the child’s thinking.Delightful.
Click to read my FriFic!
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This morning I went in search of a spider, having discovered a huge lump on the back of my arm and flecks of spider poo on the duvet. I found it. It’s dead now. I was succeeding in putting this behind me until I read your story. Sweet tale though.
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Thanks. I’ve put many spiders out of their misery, a lot of the times for the sake of my wife and daughter.
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Fun story. Love the last line – it kinda’ took me off guard and I had to read it twice, then I laughed. Personally, I save spiders by catching them in a glass and tossing them outside. People say I’m weird. I’m just trying to be nice.
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Spiders certainly have their purpose, but I prefer them to be out of doors. I saw a couple of really big ones inside last weekend and they are now in spider heaven.
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I really enjoyed that story. What an imaginative granddad! Super last line about the pig!
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Thanks, Penny.
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Great last line, James. We once had one of those egg sacks to hatch over our bed. Thousands of the little buggers. It was big job getting rid of them all.
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I agree, Russell. Thanks.
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Give it a couple more years and maybe the shoes will actually make it the rest of the way to the trash. That or you’ll have to get a pig. 🙂
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I’m sure that’s true, Alice. His little granddaughter won’t stay six forever.
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I love when you tell these stories from a grandfather’s perspective.
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Thank you. It’s one of my best perspectives.
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A sweet story, but spiders ewww!
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If you’ve read or seen “Charlotte’s Web,” you’d understand. 😉
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Nice take on the prompt. I had no idea where this was going and absolutely loved the last line.
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Thanks.
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Nice story!
DJ
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Thanks, DJ.
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Really enjoyed this one.
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Thanks, Jelli.
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Heartwarming and lovely. I took my 5-year-old granddaughter to “Bug World” a couple of weeks ago and had to pick up a tarantula and a huge cockroach, ‘cos she did (the things we do for love, hey, James). I drew the line at a big centipede – she put me to shame by holding it with no qualms whatsoever.
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My two-year-old granddaughter gets freaked out by ants. Not sure why. I don’t think she’s afraid of them exactly, just really excited.
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I can understand that. An ants’ nest is a bit like a busy fairground in miniature.
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My daughter read Charlotte’s Web a few years ago I still remember reading it as a child but can’t remember much about it so might have to re-read it.
I initially was going to have a spider in my shoes but came up with something else which truly terrifies me. Here’s a link: https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2017/09/20/captain-clean-friday-fictioneers/?wref=tp
xx Rowena
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Yes. False teeth. Yuk.
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What a kind and thoughtful grandpa 🙂
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Yes, he is.
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I loved this especially the last line.
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Thanks, Ellen.
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💥🌼
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I would rather have the pig than the spiders but I am sure they will find a nice home in the shed.
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Not sure what I’d do with a pig. Spiders are pretty self-sufficient. Thanks, Susan.
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kids are more perceptive than we think. 🙂
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Oh they are quite perceptive.
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A wonderful take on the prompt, James 🙂 Funnily enough, my son (the owner of those shoes in the picture) kept a giant house-spider as a pet for a year after reading Charlotte’s Web. And, no, we didn’t buy him a pig to go with the spider, but he did want one!
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LOL. Thanks for the inside scoop on those shoes and the house spider, Sarah.
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A sweet sweet story. V
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lol! Get a pig. They are as smart or smarter than dogs…and you can train them. 🙂
Love the story.
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Half my family is allergic to dogs and the other half is allergic to cats. Not sure I could adapt to a pig.
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Ha. Great to have a humorous response.
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Children can develop instant love for all kinds of unsavoury creatures. Give them a few days and they’ll have forgotten.
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I’m sure she already has, Elizabeth. Thanks.
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