Fetch- Rubber Spider

  Jake, four years old, loved the picnic, but he wasn’t keen on the huge rubber spider that lurked near the edge of the picnic blanket. He was so agitated that Greg suggested they put the picnic on hold. He got out two spatulas and made a big production of scooping up the spider and putting it in a sealed plastic bag. That wasn’t enough for Jake.

  “Out!” he demanded, pointing a chubby finger toward the door.

  So Greg put on his rain jacket and went out in the rain. While Dare and Jake supervised from under the shelter of the house, Greg dug a hole in the mud and buried the rubber spider.

  Satisfied, Jake ate the rest of his picnic lunch without comment.
...

  A couple days before Christmas, Greg and Hadi were talking on the phone about Trent. “He’s such a jerk,” Greg said. He laid on his bed watching his plants, sending specific thoughts to them like one might send to an REG. Just like in Cleve Backster’s experiments, his plants seemed to be responding well to his latest intentions.

  “I don’t really pay attention to him,” Hadi said, “but I know he freaks out Cyril.”

  “Yeah.”

  “He needs to be pranked,” Hadi said. “I was thinking spiders. I overheard him the other day telling Zach he’s afraid of spiders.”

  Greg laughed. “Seriously? I’ve got a rubber one buried in my backyard. Maybe if the rain stops, I’ll dig it up before I come over.”

  “Yeah, do that. Ho, ho, ho. It’d make a nice surprise in his stocking.”

  Greg waited a few hours, but the rain didn’t let up. It thrummed relentlessly on the roof. If Greg hadn’t promised Hadi he’d go over to wrap presents, he wouldn’t have left the house.

  But he promised, so he geared up for the rain and stepped outside.

  He almost screamed when he looked down and saw a huge spider covering the WEL of WELCOME FRIENDS on his mother’s jute doormat. Jumping back, he stared at the spider, realizing now what it was.

  Greg felt his pulse accelerate.

  This. Was. Not. Possible.

  But there it was. It was the rubber spider he’d buried—still in its now muddy plastic bag.

  No one except Dare and Jake knew where that spider was. Jake and his family had gone to Hawaii for Christmas, and Dare was on a ski trip with friends. “Wish you could be here for our white Christmas, boyo,” Dare had said on the phone the night before.

  Leaning over and picking up the plastic bag by the corner, as if it was a deadly creature in and of itself, Greg held the bag in front of his face.

  Were those teeth marks along the bottom edge?

  He dropped the bag.

  His phone buzzed. He sucked in his breath and fumbled for his phone.

  Merry Xmas.

  Merry Christmas to you, too, Fetch, Greg entered while trying to ignore the fact that his fingers were trembling.

- Fazbear's Frights 2: Fetch