PROLOGUE

Hey, you there. You, the one reading this book right now. Have you ever wondered how  a spider felt when you squashed it with a mop or a rolled newspaper just because it squat somewhere or inhabited the tiny corner of your room.

Summer vacation was close at hand and the school had just announced its emergency closure a week before the scheduled date. The weather that day was boiling and there was an endless desire to stay as cool as possible. My body was heating up, and I was sweating profusely because of the heat. But one would be surprised to see me running along the corridor with a large blue coloured box. The sticker of a munchkin cat with a thumbs up and a tinned bottle in its left hand , on the sides of the box, drinking  the latest released cola with a refreshing touch of mint and sour coffee, was driving me crazy. As if it was surprised to see my jealousy and saying that ‘why don’t you go and get one for yourself.’

Was this my responsibility? Or maybe the heat got to my head and running under the sun may even dry the sweat. No despite being a holiday there was no rest but an urgency to meet the deadline. If you look inside the box you will find lots of choco bars, cold drinks, instant noodles, potato chips and cake.

Was it the preparation for a summer trip with family or friends the source of this chaos? Definitely not, because I did not had the luxury to call someone my family. Both of my parents died in a car accident. You don’t need to feel sorry for me because I was just 6 years old back then and was taken under the protection of my mother’s only elder sister and her husband. At that time I used to cry all the time but the moisture of tears in my eyes soon dried off and what remained was longing for affection and love which was met by the disgusted looks of my uncle and aunt. For them I was just a burden, a load that had nothing in his possession, a being that should not have existed. At first I was miserable and hurt but soon I stopped feeling anything when I learnt that my uncle had his eyes on my parent’s business company for a long time and now his happiness knew no bounds. But to stop the outbreak of gossips in society he had to take me under his care.

As for friends, I had none.

I entered my small room and placed the box on the chair and lying on the bed took a deep breath. While one could only hear the creaking voice of the slow moving fan and failing to find any window but gawk at a small hole in the left corner of the room where a tiny ray of light lit the undersized wretched cube.

But for me it was the only place where I had known peace. It was devoid of any human greed and malice, what remained was not happiness or joy of freedom from outside noises but emptiness and loneliness.

For the whole summer vacation I had taken the oath not to leave my room or step outside the house. I had already collected a bundle of manga and light novels to read and bunch of game which I bought at a very low price from a second hand shop. I was all set! Unfortunately I blew up all my pocket money I had been saving for six months. But there was no regret, if I could shut off myself from the world; it helps me to avoid the hateful statements of my uncle and aunt.

As my eyes rolled through the tattered ceiling it passed through a corner but halted and returned back, as if to report an anomaly, presence of an unidentified living being.

IT WAS A SPIDER.

An eighth-legged arthropod that belongs to the class of animals named Arachnida. A close inspection revealed a well knitted small white cob-web, while the spider looked like a minuscule white speck on a brown sheet.

I made a decision and announced it to be my roommate. It was a profitable one sided agreed agreement. A win-win situation! While the spider gets a place to live and insects to feed upon. I would be saved from loneliness and most important of all rid of all the mosquitoes that disturbed me in my beauty sleep.

One and a half month passed and it was a victory. All the conditions were met and Elly, my roommate kept its end of the deal till the very end as per the agreement.

But sadness was the only feeling that melted and dripped from my face. My days of peace were over and next day was school!

Most of the student would hurry to finish their vacation work or contact their friends and discuss about how they cannot contain their excitement to meet their other friends.

I am quite a studious child as a matter of fact and evidence to prove my point I completed my vacation work in the first week of holiday. Some may consider it a smart move for future plans; some may say to take it easy. But I just did it on instinct. Maybe a certain someone would call me and ask for a favour of lending them my homework and maybe we could become friends. It was a mere wishful thinking.

Only my partner, miss Elly, the white spider, would understand me. Even though we did not speak to each other but we could find solace in our own small world without any outside intervention or interference. Both of us were afraid from the outside gusty winds that can blow anyone away from their goal or perilous water that can drown anyone in their foolish desires.

Both of us strived for a life of isolation and somehow appreciated a life devoid of other’s hate, love, affection, envy, care or anger. We were comrades, accomplice and partners who shared same thoughts and aspire for same dreams.

 ELLY MY BEST FRIEND!

I had made up my mind to keep miss Elly safe and stop others from killing or hurting HER.

If I had the opportunity to make any wish then maybe I would ask for the universal rights of spider. You must be thinking that I have gone crazy but soon you would realize, no I am sure that you would join me in this campaign when I will be done with my story.

I tore a sheet from back of a rough copy and jotted down the points which I and miss Elly agreed upon. It was daybreak when the alarm rang; I wiped off the drool from my face and the preamble addressed to the welfare rights of spider which we drafted yesterday. Fifteen minutes later I was sitting at the back of the school bus alone while the school bus was filled with noises of students chattering and laughing together…