3 words drawn from magnetic nouns/verbs:
spider
family
laughed
These are to inspire me to write a haiku:
willow tree torment
family laughs following
caterpillar squish
So this is where my head went with the words 'family' and 'laughed':
One of my frequently recalled unpleasant childhood memory (memories--this happened multiple times).
Family at the time = two older brothers (Tom and Scott). Mark would have been too young. Dad at work. Mom at home.
Not spiders, or a spider, but black caterpillars (Eastern tent caterpillars) were seasonal visitors to our front yard weeping willow tree. My brothers and I played under that tree often. My brothers found great joy in sneakily placing a caterpillar on my left shoulder, toward the back, out of my peripheral vision. Inevitably I would reach back with my right hand and slap at the sensation. This would result in a disgusting squished caterpillar. I detested those caterpillars, finding them gross. Seeing their guts on my fingers made me want to retch! It made my brothers cackle with delight.
If I ran to find mom and complain (tattle), she would guffaw with delight too, siding with my brothers at their great prank, and telling me to toughen up.
I have never intentionally placed a caterpillar anywhere but in the open ready palm or on the bare and ready forearm of an interested and willing child or friend. I still do not find my brothers' prank funny. Likely I never will.
[This is one of the reasons my family used to remind me that I had no sense of humor.]
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