ATTACK
of the
AQUATIC ARACHNIDS
Thursday , July the Fifteenth
We are traveling across the Pacific on this magnificent floating island ! Built by the Japanese to be the most luxurious hotel and amusement park that ever crossed the ocean , it is roughly the shape of a great whale . There is such an expanse between shores that you need not see the other guests if you choose to spend some time in solitude !
Below decks is a sort of submarine where the worker robots create steam to propel the vehicle through the water . They even have the most modern of conveniences , a telephone !
I sent a telegram to Aunt and Uncle to be ready for a telephone call from across the world ! It was so delightful ! I merely picked up the receiver and said , “ Are you receiving me ?” and they replied , “ What ?” Can you believe that we could hear each other practically a hemisphere away !
“ What did you say ?” I asked , and they replied , “ Can you hear us ?” Ah ! It was the absolute height of technology !
Suffice it to say , I decided to take a stroll around the island , instead !
I was strolling around the island with Thunderboy , and as we passed through the jungle portion of the island , near the center , there was a giant vent ( like a blow-hole on a whale ) where steam was released , and there we saw what looked like giant spider webs spun around the chasm . It would be quite interesting to see so many tiny spiders living together in close proximity , but I dared not venture too close . I was wary of both the spiders and the giant blasts of steam that burst forth from time to time . Those spiders must be attracted to the steam ?
Later , I decided to go paddling on the beach . There was a gramophone provided there , and Percy , Thunderboy , and I danced about most gaily . It made me laugh . We decided to play a round of badminton . After hitting the shuttlecock back and forth a few times , Percy managed to launch it wide into the sea . He went to the basket to pick out another , and to his horror he instead pulled out a 12-inch spider !
Startled , the boy tossed the creature in my direction ! Why , of all the impulses to have , tossing a spider at a lady has to be quite the most vulgar ! I quickly thrust my racket out and hit the giant spider back . He reacted in kind , and there we were , having a badminton round with a giant spider ! Neither of us wanted it to stop , for fear of it landing on our persons !
Around that time , swarms of similarly-sized spiders started coming out of the jungle ! Large , horrifying spiders with their spindly legs began to crawl all over my bare feet ! Oh , how my skin