Arachnophobia Apple Tree House

# No matter if you're young or old

# To leave your home is never cool

# We all get sad, truth be told

# But nothing's gonna beat your first day at school

# First days, new days

# Are the very best days

# New things to discover

# New people to meet

# Don't stress, breathe deep

# Take it in your stride

# Life is for the living down at Apple Tree House. #

-You're it!

-No, you're it!

GIRLS LAUGH

-Raaa!

-Careful.

-You're it!

-No, you're it!

THEY SCREAM

What's happened?

Sam?

It's horrible, it's horrible!

What's horrible?

That.

Oh...my...

-It's...

-Huge.

Hairy spider.

We have to get rid of it.

But...you're usually brave with bugs and whatnot.

-No, I'm not!

-Erm...

Yes, you are. You love them!

You're always going on about how much you want one as a pet.

Well, I like butterflies, ladybirds, and colourful beetles,

but not spiders.

BUG BUZZES

I hate spiders.

They do scary things like crawl all over stuff.

Hello!

I'm afraid if we don't get rid of the spider now,

it will stay in my room forever, and I won't have a room any more.

But...how do we get rid of the spider?

Don't look at me. I don't know.

Most spiders are harmless and just want to be left alone.

Can't you get rid of it?

No. Sorry, kids.

Please?

I'm a bit scared of spiders, too.

Is it still there?

Oh, gross. It's on your bed now.

-It is big.

-See, I told you it was trying to take over.

-We have to get Dad right now.

-Well, first we have to find him.

I think he had an emergency job at number 24.

Come on, kids. Let's try and catch him.

-Oh, hello, Patience.

-Hello.

Let me guess. You're after Kobi.

-Can I speak to him, please?

-Ah, you just missed him.

He was chatting on about some job he's been putting off forever.

Sounded kind of horrible if you ask me.

You know our Kobi. He sometimes puts off doing the messy stuff.

THEY LAUGH Then, he said he was hungry.

So, it may be he's taken himself off for a wee nibble.

Sorry for the bother.

Kids, let's see if we can find your dad back in his shed.

BOTH: Aww!

SHE LAUGHS

Come on, girls. We'll find him.

Hiya.

Hello, girls.

You look like you're in a hurry.

A spider has moved into Sam's room, and it's taken over her bed.

We need someone to help us get rid of it.

We're all scared of it, including Mum.

Well, I'm not especially scared of spiders, so...

Let's have a look.

So, where is this creature?

Oh, no. It's gone.

It could be anywhere. Under the pillow?

Or under the bed.

This is horrible. I'm never going to get my room back.

Hmm...

-Maybe you can come home with us.

-Whoa, whoa! Calm.

Have you ever heard of the word "arachnophobia"?

"Arachno...phobia"?

What is that? A type of yucky food?

It's a grown-up word.

It means fear of spiders.

There are ways of making people's fear of spiders go away.

But first, I must find the creature and capture it.

I think I've found our friend.

Careful, Gran!

Oh!

Oh, I can't reach it.

I think I could do with a stepladder.

-My dad has one. Can we call him and see where he is?

-Smart move.

LOUD JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS

Sorry for the emergency call out, mate.

No problem. Always glad to help.

What?

-PHONE BUZZES

-I said, no problem.

-What?

I said, actually, doing this job has meant me

putting off another really horrible chore.

Oh, it's a real stinker, the other job.

OK!

OK!

MUSIC COMES TO AN END

PHONE BUZZES

DIALLING TONE

VOICE MAIL BEEP

Hmm. Where is he?

OK. I think I've got the right recipe to put a smile back on those

cute little faces.

Frozen fruit sticks...with...passion fruit and lemon drizzle.

Oh, come on, everyone. Spiders aren't so bad.

Yes, they are. All they do is upset little kids.

I wish there were no spiders in this world.

Oh, but Sam, the world absolutely needs spiders.

In fact, the world would fall apart without spiders.

-Really?

-How?

Well... Let's think.

What do spiders eat when they're hungry?

Er... People?

No, they eat bugs.

Correct.

They eat insects and other creepy crawlies.

Including the really nasty ones that eat farmers' crops and plants.

One spider can eat approximately 2,000 insects every year.

That's a lot of insects.

So, imagine if there were no spiders.

What do you think would happen?

The world would be ruled by bugs.

For the world to work properly, we need all kinds of creatures,

big and small.

And that includes the spider.

Wow, really? I guess we have to save the spider in Sam's room, then.

DIALLING TONE

I still can't get that man on the phone.

Right.

Sam, let's go and get the stepladder from the shed

and sort this spider out.

BOTH: Aww...

I mean...for Grandma Zainab to sort the spider out.

Eugh!

Come on, Kobi. You can do it.

It's just a measly eight yucky recycling bins.

Kobi?

-There you are.

-Oh!

You've caught me at a really busy moment.

Ew, that's a yuck!

Oh, well, you see? That's what I have to deal with.

We have a problem.

-Your daughter won't even step in her room because of a...

-Hairy spider.

Neither will Mum.

-Well...

-Grandma Zainab's trying to help, but we need a stepladder.

Oh, no, I've got a better idea.

Patience, why don't we swap tasks?

If you help me out with this recycling yuck,

and I'll come and sort out the spider.

-HE CHUCKLES

-Deal?

THEY LAUGH

OK, we have a deal.

Let's have a go.

Result! He-he-he-he!

This, kids, is how you catch a spider.

It takes years and years of gruelling training.

-Only joking.

-KIDS LAUGH

Hello, Mr Spider.

Can I borrow you for a moment?

-Come to Kobi.

-Careful, Dad.

Ah, gotcha.

HE CHUCKLES

Hey, guys. Meet...

..the spider.

Spider, this is Mali...

..Bella...

-..and this is...

-Sam. My name is Sam.

You know, I used to love spiders when I was a kid.

I think it's because we used to listen to old African

stories about the legendary trickster...

..Anansi spider.

Aunt Nancy?

-LAUGHING:

-No. Anansi spider.

He was a really interesting creature.

Now, the great Sky God, Nyame, liked him

so much, that he gave Anansi a special pot full of wisdom.

But Anansi wasn't satisfied.

He wanted to be the only person in the world with wisdom.

So, he hatched a plan.

He went from door to door asking people to hand over their advice

and wisdom, which he took away in his special pot.

Finally, when the pot was full, Anansi attempted to hide it on top

of the tallest tree in the world, so no-one could steal it from him.

But every time Anansi tried to climb the tree,

the pot nearly fell off his back.

Just then, a young girl walked by, and suggested that Anansi tie

the pot to his back, in order to climb the tree.

Now, Anansi was surprised by the little girl's wise words, and

it made him realise that wisdom was best used when shared with others.

So, when he got to the top of the tree, he released all of the

wisdom from the pot, and scattered it to every corner of the world.

Now, THAT is how wisdom came into the countries of the world.

-Wow!

-I like that story.

-BELLA:

-Yeah, it's cool.

Maybe it'd be a good idea if I gave the spider a name.

Like a pet name.

How about we call it...Hairy Harry?

Now I feel guilty I kicked it out of my room,

and now it won't have anywhere to live.

Well, it might be a good idea if we found it a new home.

-Maybe somewhere like...

-Bill's.

-Or...

-The community garden!

Yes, where it can roam free and eat load of bugs for dinner.

That's a great idea.

Let's stick him down over here.

OK. How about this?

-There we go.

-BELLA:

-Bye-bye, Hairy Harry.

I hope you find lots of bugs to eat.

HE CHUCKLES

I'm still not sure if I want to share my room with a spider.

Good job your dad could help him find a new home.

THEY LAUGH

I wonder what Hairy Harry's up to right now.

Eating bugs and keeping the planet safe.

Does this mean you're no longer scared of spiders?

Well... No. Just a tiny bit. But not as much as before.

HE LAUGHS

-You're a good friend, Mali.

-And you're a great friend, Sam.