::house ablaze::

“… spiders?!”

“Dead. You’re welcome.”

---

I wanted to write a “fight or flight” story and this one illustrates that it is possible for one’s impulsive instincts to go too far.

When I was a kid, my family was once awakened to the sound of about 10 firetrucks parked on my street, blaring their sirens, putting out a fire two houses away. The neighbors who lived there were out of town and apparently their aquarium caught on fire while they were gone. I assume – but cannot say definitively – that this was not an elaborately staged spider removal tactic. Either way, the blaze is well-etched in my memory.

Burning the house might be one of the few fail-proof ways for an arachnophobe to know for certain that the spiders did not survive, however, there are undoubtedly better approaches to dealing with a eight-legged infestation.

It can be useful information, before living with another person, to find out whether and to what degree he or she is afraid of spiders. If so, having contingencies in place to help that person, in the event of a spider encounter, could be in one’s best interest. Reasonableness in fighting or flighting is key. Since a fire is self-defeating and a basilisk might bring about more harm than good, a housecat or a pet lizard might help to keep down the local arachnid population.