A soft knocking sound startled Double awake, snorting in alarm as his eyes flew open. He was previously having a marvelous dream, one in which his subconscious can barely remember now. Struggling to take in what little was left of his dream, the young hedgehog climbed out of bed and walked to his bedroom door, yawning.
He opened the door and smiled tiredly when he saw his father Bramble standing there. "Hi, Papa..." he smiled, cupping a paw over his mouth in another yawn. "What's up?"
"I'm sorry for waking you up, buddy, but I've got someone I really want you to meet," Bramble replied. Double noticed he was bouncing up and down a bit on his hind legs, and his purple eyes shone with excitement.
"Can't it wait until after my nap?" Double muttered as he swayed a bit on his paws that weren't completely awake yet either. "I'm really tired..."
"Usually, I'd say yes," the red hedgehog began, "but this opportunity won't come for a long while. It's autumn and she's about to hibernate. I haven't seen her in forever and I really want you to meet her. I'd show your siblings and mother as well, but as you know they're off running a few errands. Please, son? For your old man - er, hedgehog?"
It was obvious Bramble wasn't going to let Double go back to sleep one way or another, so he yawned a third time and smiled, trying to blink sleep out of his eyes. "Okay, Papa, I'll do it for you." He yelped as his father scooped him up in a large hug, and he grunted as he tried to pop his prickly head out from between his chest and arms.
"Thank you, Double! This means so much to me!" Bramble purred as he nuzzled his son's cheek. He placed him down and started towards the front door. "I'll give you some time to wake up. I'll be waiting behind the house."
"Okay, be right there!" Double replied, waving farewell to his father for now. Once the red hedgehog walked out of the house, he grunted. He so desperately wanted to go back to bed, but he knew he had to do this for his father; with all the wonderful things he and his mother Thistle had done for him and his siblings, he owed him at least this.
Scooping up his pink scarf and heart pendant, Double made his way into the bathroom to splash some cold water in his face to help him wake up.
Five minutes were spent waking up and getting ready to meet his father's old friend, and finally Double was ready. He walked out of the house and around it to the backyard where he spotted Bramble a few yards away crouching down, his back turned to him. The younger hedgehog waddled over to his father, speaking up when he was in earshot. "I'm here, Papa. Who's your friend?"
Bramble sat up and looked at Double with a wide smile, yet his torso was still turned away from him, as if to hide something. "I met her when I just grew out of my hoglet state, around your age. I'm honestly surprised she had managed to live this long, but I'm very glad she finally came back to visit me from her travels on ships and trucks around the world. The lucky lass!"
Double giggled a bit. "She sounds wonderful! I can't wait to meet her!"
"There is one thing you must promise me, though, Double." Bramble's gaze suddenly darkened with seriousness. "You mustn't scream or run away, and you'd better not attack my friend. Do I make myself clear?"
"O-Of course I wouldn't do that to your friend, Papa!" Double exclaimed, confused and shocked by his father's words.
Bramble's eyes almost immediately brightened back up, and he bent down again to scoop something up in his paws. He then turned around to reveal his best hoglethood friend...
And who - or in this case what - Double saw made him want to shriek and run for the hills and beyond.
There in his father's paws was a giant fuzzy black tarantula!
Trying desperately not to shriek at the top of his lungs, Double only let out whimpers and whines as he eyed his absolute worst fear, trembling from quill-tip to toe claw. How could it be? Bramble's best friends with a spider? This is absolute madness! Everyone in his family feared the little eight-legged "freaks", but apparently Bramble was the only one who liked them. This just scared poor Double even more...
"Did you know," Bramble suddenly spoke, trying to break the ice, "that tarantulas are one of the only breeds of spider who don't spin webs? They rely on their speed, strength, and venom to do the job a web originally would. Of course, my best friend Puff here would never harm anyone who isn't a pesky insect. People and animals tend to take spiders for granted because of their appearance, but if it weren't for these marvelous creatures harmful bugs like locusts and mosquitoes would kill off every last human being, plant, and animal."
Double blinked a bit in surprise. He had never known that about spiders. He was prepared to block out everything his father was going to say in his friend's and her kin's defense, but he forced himself to remember that this creature was one of his closest friends. She hadn't hurt Bramble in all these years, and there was no way she was going to harm Double if he's his son, especially in front of him.
"So... Spiders have more to offer than just looking scary?" Double asked with a tremble.
"Spiders are only scary if you make them seem scary," Bramble smiled softly. "It's the same with any other thing. If you want to be scared of dogs because of their sharp teeth, you'll be scared of them. If you want to be scared of fish because of their buggy eyes, you'll be scared of them. The same goes with spiders and their appearance; if you want their eight legs or fuzzy bodies or tiny eyes to be scary, you'll make them seem scary."
"That... actually makes a lot of sense..." Double muttered in shock. He looked down at the tarantula and whimpered as she was looking back up at him, but she wasn't reared back to leap out at him or anything. If anything, she was trembling as well.
"One other thing," Bramble chuckled, noticing his friend trembling in his paws. "People may be scared of spiders for their appearance, but have you ever considered how they felt about us? They're downright terrified of us due to our own size; you and I are at least four times bigger than Puff here is, but a full-grown male can be over a hundred times bigger! All these little sweeties want to do is mind their own business and hope others will do the same."
"Spiders are scared of us?..." Double gasped. "But what about spiders who bite us?"
"They're just trying to defend themselves because they're scared and have no where to run or hide. It's like a last resort to them, like how stinging something is a bee's last resort. Granted spiders don't die if they bite anything."
Double looked back down at Puff, who was still trembling a bit. He had never thought of a spider's true role in this world, or what it would be like to walk in their shoes. Suddenly, he didn't even feel that afraid of them anymore. They seemed just as innocent and peaceful as any other animal, just with an intimidating appearance.
The younger hedgehog broke out of his thoughts at the feeling of Bramble gently grasping onto his arm and pulling it towards him. He watched as his father slowly placed his other paw holding Puff to Double's, and he whimpered as the tarantula began to slowly crawl onto him.
"N-No!" Double yelped, trying to pull his paw away. Puff stopped in her tracks and began to back up back into Bramble's paw a bit, but Bramble gently shushed his son.
"Calm down, Double. She's not going to hurt you. I promise." He placed his paw to Double's again and Puff hesitated, afraid Double will have another fearful outburst.
The younger hedgehog was trembling again as well, just itching to yank his paw away again. But then again, what Bramble said was true: things only seem scary because you make them scary. Gulping down most of his fears and forcing a gentle smile, he softly said, "C-C'mon... I won't shout again... Or I'll try not to..."
Puff looked up at Double as he spoke, and he had a feeling she could understand what he was saying for she began to slowly crawl on his paw. The feeling of her fuzzy thick legs crawling on him made him want to shriek, but he kept repeating to himself, "She's not gonna hurt me... She's not gonna hurt me..."
Bramble gave his old friend a small push to usher the spider a bit faster, then slowly retracted his paw once her back legs lifted away and onto Double's. Now the tarantula was standing on Double's paw, and the younger hedgehog couldn't help but tremble in fright. For crying out loud, he had his worst fear staring him in the face on his arm!
Puff seemed to gain more confidence, for she began to crawl up Double's arm slowly, as if trying not to startle him with any sudden movements. Double couldn't keep back terrified whimpers as the spider crawled closer and closer to his face.
"Seems to me like she likes you," Bramble chuckled. "If I know Puff, she's crawling over to give you some affection."
"Wh-What k-kind of a-affection...?" Double gulped. He braced himself for the worst as Puff crawled up onto his shoulder, but he felt nothing but fuzziness rubbing against his cheek. He cracked an eye open, and they flew all the way open in utter surprise to see the spider was actually nuzzling him!
"What did I tell ya?" Bramble joked. "Puff's a very affectionate specimen of her kind, and she's quite playful, too."
As if on cue, Puff began to crawl down Double's quilled back, brushing her fuzzy legs between them against his back. This made Double yelp and squirm a bit and giggle. "Hehehe! That tickles! Hehehe!"
"I take it you like her at least a little?" his father asked.
Double blinked a few times in thought, then looked down to see Puff crawling on the ground up to his legs. Finally, he smiled and gently picked up the tarantula, who was trilling in a friendly manner, and hugged her gently. "Actually... I love her. I was always so scared of spiders because of their appearance, but I never knew some could actually be so friendly once you got to know them." He giggled as Puff nuzzled his cheek again.
"I knew Puff would be the best way to help you get over your fear," Bramble smiled. He then gently took Puff from Double and placed her on the ground in front of a little den. "Well, as I said before, she's beginning hibernation since it's autumn. Hopefully she'll be warm enough..."
"I know!" Double suddenly squeaked. He unwrapped his pink scarf from his neck and placed it in front of Puff. "My scarf is super soft. I want you to use it during hibernation, Puff."
Puff looked up at him and trilled loudly, waving her two forelegs around happily. She then clutched the end of the scarf and crawled into the den, trilling a last goodbye to the two hedgehogs.
"That was a very nice thing to do, Double," Bramble said with an approving nod to his son. "Now I know she'll be just fine."
"Thanks. I can't wait to see her again in the spring!" Double squeaked happily with a little excited waggle of his haunch.
"And I'm sure she can't wait to see you. It's too bad she couldn't stay long enough for the others to meet, but they'll be able to meet her again in a few months. Now come along, it's getting chilly out here."
"Chilly? For a thick-furred hedgehog who loves the snow?" the younger hedgehog joked.
"Oh, hush!" Bramble leaped on Double and pummeled his belly gently with his forepaws, causing him to shriek with laughter. The older hedgehog stopped and helped his son up, then waddled back to the house. "Come in when you're ready!"
"Okay, Papa!" Double waved farewell to his father before turning back to the den Puff crawled into. He smiled and crouched down on all fours to try and peer inside it, but he could see only pitch blackness. Softly, he spoke through the hole, "Sweet dreams, Puff. I can't wait to see you in spring." With that, he got to his feet and waddled after his father to the house.
Once again grateful for the fuzz on her body to help her navigate through the pitch black den, Puff crawled down the hole, clutching the very soft and warm pink scarf in her front legs. Once she crawled into the tiny clearing that was her sleeping place, she began to bundle up the scarf so it made a small pile of warmth and fluff. Nodding in satisfaction with her work, she crawled on top of the pinkness - which was barely visible in the darkness that engulfed the den - and snuggled into it.
She really liked Bramble's son - Double, was it? - and she knew he liked her, too. She was used to being screamed and stared at for her appearance, her being a large pitch-black tarantula and all, but she was glad her old friend and his son weren't scared of her. She was very grateful for Double's gift; she was so worried she wasn't going to be able to survive this hibernation considering her age, but now she knew she'd be able to live long enough to not only see her two friends again, but also introduce a new plethora of spider babies come next spring.
Puff had a feeling Double wouldn't be as comfortable around a hundred plus tiny spiders, and she was expecting him to freak out a little like how he did earlier when meeting her for the first time. But she also hoped she could help him see her next litter of children would be as harmless as she was, as well as teach her children not everything that's big is scary. Take Bramble for example. In fact, she hoped that one of her children will grow very attached to Double so he and the little spider could become the best of friends for years to come, just as she and Bramble are.
Trilling softly in content, Puff closed her eight beady eyes and drifted into sleep, snuggling against the warm, fluffy pink scarf.