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Second Place Winner: Grace Maginn

The Mysterious Spider - download as a pdf      As Sina walked through the dry desert, she could see, just over the hills, a little town. She walked through the scorching sun trying to get over the hills, but having no water or food for her three-day trip, her strength was failing. She fell, and cried for help.      “Hello?” she asked in a weary, scratchy voice. “Is anyone there?”      Suddenly, Sina saw a large figure coming closer and closer. It appeared to be a camel with no rider. It stopped, just a few feet away from her. She gathered all of her strength, and after a few minutes, reached the camel, got onto it, and headed off into the crisp dry desert. She crossed over the hills and soon reached the town.      In the town, she met two wise men who took her to their house and gave her food. They put her to bed, and she soon fell fast asleep. When she woke up, she felt better. Sina got out of bed, and walked into the room where the two wise men were. She sat down in a chair and listened as they told her about life in the desert. When they were just about to finish speaking, one of the wise men said, “One last comment, Sina. Sometime this evening, a huge black spider will come rushing out from under the ground. The spider will attack anyone it finds and will poison them with the venom from its jaws.”      Just as he said this there came a blood-curdling scream.      “In fact, Sina,” he said a bit louder. “ I think it is coming out right now!”      “Quick, lock the doors! Make sure the spider doesn’t get in!” the other wise man said.      While the wise men were locking the doors and windows, Sina rushed toward the window to see what was outside. The black spider was huge. She watched in horror as it dug its jaws into the flesh of anyone it found. Frightened, she ran under the bed to hide. She stayed there for what seemed like an hour (but it was only a few minutes) until it was completely silent. She then slowly crept out from her hiding place.      Sina and the wise men continued talking after they felt sure the spider was gone.      “Unless a potion from the cave of darkness is found, the people who have the spider’s venom in their veins and blood will turn into vampires at the stroke of midnight,” explained one of the wise men.      “So I just have to get into the cave of darkness and get the potion?” asked Sina.      “Not only that, but you will have to spread it on every doorstep of each house in the village before midnight,” the other wise man answered. “ I would hurry to get the potion, Sina. You don’t have much time.”      “All right. I’ll leave as soon as I get my coat.”      After she got her coat, she rushed out the door, then immediately came back into the house.      “How do I get there?”      The two wise men laughed. “Here is a map for you, Sina. Hurry.”      Sina took the old dusty map and rushed out the door.      She soon came to the place where the cave stood and walked in. The cave was enormous, with millions of passageways leading to places like who knows where. After about an hour, she finally found the right passageway to the potion. She walked into the small crevice and into a room decorated with candles and markings on the cave walls. She saw the magic potion immediately. It was right in the middle of the room, as if this was some sort of a trap. She quickly took the vial from its rack, and then heard a loud crash behind her. She turned in fright to see a cage where the potion was.      “I guess my thoughts were right,” she said to herself. “Someone has almost trapped me!”      She quickly ran out of the room, snuck through the crevice leading to the room where the potion was, and scurried out of the cave. She ran toward the town.      She reached the town an hour before midnight. She quickly smudged a drop of potion on each doorstep. When she was finished, she poured the extra liquid from the bottle into the sand where the spider’s doorstep was. After she completed this task, there were three minutes left until midnight. She rushed into the comfort of the wise men’s home and soon fell fast asleep.      In the morning, the crisp air was already stirring. She rushed outside to see what had happened. To her surprise, she saw frogs dressed in pajamas! She must not have chosen the right potion!      Sina lived with the frogs a while and decided that she liked their company. So, rather than try to turn the frogs back into people, she decided to keep them the way they were. People say that she still lives in the “frog-populated” village where she is happy and content.