Andy's Shorts to GA Prompts - 20. Prompt #46

I walked over to the terrarium and picked her up. “Good morning my lovely. How are you today?”

She looked up at me with those eyes of hers, and I not only saw myself reflected in them, but I could swear I saw her affection and love for me reflected back.

“Time to clean out your home. It’s been nearly six months you know.”

I started the process of cleaning. I removed all of her toys, trinkets, baubles and decorations first, and gave them a quick clean. It still amazed me not only how much stuff I had bought her over the years, but the sheer amount of money I’d spent.

I emptied out the thin layering of substrate and found a few insect remains. I looked over at her, tapped on the cage she was being kept in during the cleaning process and playfully chastised my pet, “You mucky girl. Just look at this.” I waved one of the insect carcases in front of her. She looked up at me and then allowed her head to droop – it was most likely instinctual to my tapping on the cage she was in, but I couldn’t help but think she was ashamed at how messy she had allowed her home to get. I threw the substrate and the few insect carcasses in the rubbish.

I got a bowl of soapy water and a cloth, and washed the inside and outside of the terrarium. The water was a muddy brown by the time I had finished the cleaning, and emptied the dirty water down the drain. I cleaned her water dish and began the process of setting up my pet’s home again.

I put down a fresh layer of substrate and her water dish and carefully rearranged her fixtures and fittings. I set things up slightly different this time to give her a change of scene; even dropping in a few fresh leaves to brighten the terrarium up.

I took her out of the small cage I had put her in for safe keeping during the cleaning process. I held her in my hand and slowly stroked her. I can’t believe how big she’s gotten over the past six years. She started to crawl up my arm, but I knew enough to make sure she stayed in my hands. “You’re excitable today aren’t you girl. Why is that always on cleaning day?” She looked up at me as though she understood my every word, and in that moment I realised just how much I had come to love her.

I was about to put her back in the terrarium when I heard my mum shriek in terror. “How many times have I told you to keep that damned spider in its cage!”

“Mum. I’ve just finished cleaning out the terrarium and wanted to give Ariadne a bit of a stretch.”

“I don’t care! I, for some reason, agreed to you getting a Mexican Red Knee on the understanding that it stayed in its cage!”

“Ariadne is not an ‘it’, mum. She’s my pet, and I’ve had her since I was seven.”

“For the love of God! A cat or a dog is a pet; a tarantula is not!” Mum stormed out of the room.

I looked at Ariadne and a silent tear fell. “Don’t listen to her girl, she’s just being mean. You’re my pet and I love you; I always will.” I put her back in her cage, and dropped in a fresh cricket. I knelt in front of the terrarium and watched Ariadne make a start on her breakfast.

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