She Had Another Spider-in-the-Car Incident

I probably shouldn't make fun of her this way, but my fantasy author just stepped away from the writing den, which means I have full command of the computer and keyboard. She can't stop me. Yesterday, Sandy Lender had another one of those spider encounters that raises her blood pressure. The creature's gut-smear is still on the driver's side window...

Let me set the scene for you so you can appreciate this as much as the witness did. Oh, yes, there was a witness to the whole thing this time. She had just checked the mail (which became the weapon that created "the smear") and returned to the driver's seat. She closed the door, drove about twenty feet, let out this ear-piercing shriek, threw the car into "park", flung the door open, and swatted the spider (which was moving at a pretty good clip) mere inches from her head.

For those of you who know Sandy, you might think she was brave in killing the spider (about an inch long, including bent legs, she said afterward). But I think she killed it for lack of any other recourse. Think about it. She couldn't get out of the car because she'd have to get past the spider. (I think we can all agree that wasn't happening.) And she couldn't climb over the gear-shift and the passenger seat to exit the car that way (which she's done in the blink of an eye once before when escaping a spider) because a friend was sitting in the passenger seat.

So she looked brave (except for the scream that frightened her friend into thinking she'd just run over a child) for a moment, but she's nervous every time she gets into the car now. This is the third spider-in-the-car incident in a year. She's considering trading the car in...

Tags: fantasy author, Sandy Lender, spider