By, Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan

Ari wanted to build his first web, but every web he tried was ruined.

He made the first web at the top of the old wooden fence. He had just gotten started when a bumblebee buzzed by and tore right through his first strand of silk.

So Ari climbed up to the top of the door. He was only halfway through, a great gust of wind ripped his web apart.

Ari kept on climbing to the highest corner of the house and went right to the top of the water spout.  

When he was almost done, the sky grew dark and fat raindrops fell, faster and faster. Then a wave of water washed him right out.

“Help!” cried Ari as he tumbled into the yard.

“In here,” Grandpa waved from a hole under the fence. Ari scurried into the hole and out of the rain.

“I give up,” Ari complained as he huddled next to Grandpa.

“That doesn’t sound like you,” Grandpa said.

“I’m just too small to build a strong web,” Ari replied.

“Spiders in our family have always been itsy-bitsy,” Grandpa said and patted Ari with two of his short, hairy legs.

“Did the rain wreck your web, too?” asked Ari.

“It sure did,” Grandpa said. “But look, the sun’s out now.”

Grandpa left their hiding place and climbed up the fence post. He released a strand of silk. The breeze carried the silk until it caught on the next fence post. Grandpa crossed the strand like a tightrope walker and released another thread of silk.

“You’re building a new web?” Ari asked.

“That’s what spiders do,” Grandpa said. “You know, it’s not really the size of the spider that matters, it’s the size of the web in the spider.”

Ari watched Grandpa weave and tie his silk until the new web was finished. Then he hopped up and said, “Thanks, Grandpa!”

“Where are you going, little spider?” Grandpa asked.

“Up the spout again!” Ari called.

The End

About the Author

Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan is a children’s author from Pittsburgh, PA. She writes fiction and non-fiction for many magazines including Highlights for Children, Muse, and Cricket. She also writes for the educational market, from PK-2 to high reading level middle schoolers.

She has a book with Capstone coming out Fall 2019. She’s the regional advisor for SCBWI Pennsylvania: West, and was 2016-2017 Fellow for Pen Parentis. Check out her books available on Amazon and learn more about her writing at her website.