Story Spider Scheme [Narnia Oneshot for the Halloween Challenge]

Title: Spider Scheme

Fandom: Narnia

Author: devilinthedetails

Genre: Family; Humor

Characters: Edmund Pevensie; Susan Pevensie; Lucy Pevensie; Peter Pevensie.

Summary: On a rainy day at the professor's manor, Edmund is bored and creates trouble with a spider.

Author's Note: Written for the Halloween Challenge from @Kit' using the words "spider," "panicked," and "cackle" as my prompts.

Spider Scheme

Edmund sat, breath fogging the glass, at the window in one of the manor room’s the professor had set aside for their use no doubt so he wouldn’t be disturbed in his research by the sounds of their play. Not that there was much playing to do, Edmund thought with a snort, when the sky was heavy with slate gray clouds and rain drops the size of pebbles were plummeting to the ground in sheets. It was the sort of weather that in a book would have presaged something exciting or horrifying, but in the drudgery of real life only meant oppressive boredom and unrelenting doom.

There weren’t even any dazzling forks of lightning to watch splitting the sky or any claps of thunder to count the time in between to calculate how far away the storm was. Not that there was much point in bothering to calculate how far away the storm was, in Edmund’s dour opinion. As far as he was concerned, the storm had been raging right over the manor where they were stuck as a consequence of the war–everything nasty in Edmund’s life seemed to be the fault of the war–for hours and would continue to darken the air and dampen the dirt around them for hours.

The wireless was on, but it wasn’t playing anything interesting, of course. Susan, being her unbearably responsible self had set it to a news channel. Edmund had no desire to listen to the news. There hadn’t been any good news since Father left for war, and Edmund was sick of bad news.

Scowling and sulking at the window, he noticed a spider spinning a cobweb on the windowsill. The spider weaving its white web was more fascinating to watch than anything else in the room or outside the window, so Edmund found his attention fixated on the spider. Staring at the spider and the web it was so diligently creating to hunt flies and other insects had an almost hypnotic effect on Edmund as the newscaster’s voice continued to drone from the wireless, relaying bad news nobody except Susan wanted to hear.

Eventually an idea for sparking some excitement flashed across Edmund’s mind like the lightning the storm outside was missing. He reached out a hand, hid the spider between his fingers, and rose from his window perch. As if stretching his legs, he ambled around the room. Beneath his innocent mask, he tried to decide which of his siblings would make the best target for the prank he was presently plotting.

Peter would be a choice dull as the gray weather outside. He wouldn’t scream or leap in the air if Edmund dumped the spider on him. He would just brush off the spider and ask in his most withering big-brother tone why Edmund couldn’t behave for one day.

Lucy might squeal amusingly, but she also might burst into tears. Then Peter and Susan would scold and might even order him to go to bed without supper, adding to the woes of a day that had been miserable enough already.

That left prim, proper Susan as the best victim of his prank.

He slipped behind her and dropped the spider on her neck behind the dark hair she had pulled back.

He was barely a step away from her when she must have started to feel the spider crawling across her skin. She shrieked, piercing Edmund’s ears, and, obviously panicked, slapped at the spider with her palm. Her swats missed the spider, however, and it continued its journey across her body. Edmund cackled at the sight of her distress and ineffectual swatting.

As the spider began to travel down Susan’s arm, Lucy, proving to be braver than Edmund had assumed, leaned over to pluck the spider from Susan’s dress and set it gently on the floor, exclaiming, “Don’t kill it! Spiders are our friends! They catch and eat other bugs!”

“You could’ve given me a heart attack.” Susan clutched at her chest as if she might collapse from shock.

Edmund’s cackles died as soon as the spider was removed from Susan and placed on the floor.

“It was only a joke,” he mumbled, gaze falling to the woodland scene of frolicking forest animals depicted on the carpet beneath his feet. What a foolish carpet it was, he thought spitefully. Animals didn’t dance like that. Why anyone would bother creating such rubbish was a mystery to him.

“It wasn’t a very funny one,” Susan snapped. “Apologize at once.”

“I’m sorry,” Edmund answered in a sarcastic tone that said he wasn’t, chin lifting defiantly. He was tired of staring at frolicking forest animals anyway.

“When will you grow up, Ed?” Peter’s glare boiled Edmund’s skin like some vile mixture in a witch’s cauldron.

“Sometime after Susan develops a sense of humor.” Edmund stuck out his tongue because he couldn’t think of a cleverer retort and stomped back to the window in a huff to do some more gazing out at gray gloom.

 

@Anedon Thank you so much for commenting! I definitely think it's in character for Edmund before his time in Narnia changes him to pull a prank like this so I knew it had to be done when he was in that sort of spiteful stage, and you're right that Lucy is always braver than people expect her to be since people seem to underestimate her and her courage. She becomes Queen Lucy the Valiant for a reason. And I do love the fact that Peter is annoyed at his younger brother's immature, childish behavior in the Narnia books and movies since it feels like a very authentic big brother type of reaction, so I couldn't resist including that attitude from Peter in this story. It was nice to be able to sort of explore their sibling dynamics here, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the story!

 

@amidalachick As always, thank you so much for your kind comment! This story was a fun one for me to write, so I'm so happy that you found it a fun one to read and that you thought the use of the prompts was great. I felt like going for more of a humorous than spooky take on the prompts this time.

I really wanted to capture that atmosphere of a rainy, gray day trapped inside so it makes me so glad that you could get the very real mental image of the dull, gray weather outside and Edmund sitting bored by the window.

Like you, I can definitely sympathize with Edmund's feelings about the news. For Edmund, it would always be the bad news of World War II, and so often today, it also feels like there is nothing but bad news to hear. So that can make it tempting to not want to listen to the news at all especially on such a gloomy weather day.

Sibling antics and pranks are definitely so much fun to read and write, and it's awesome to know that you loved seeing this spider prank of Edmund's and Edmund plotting who would be the best victim for his prank.

I do love Edmund's capacity for snide remarks so I couldn't resist showing that off here, and I'm so happy you loved that line about Susan developing a sense of humor

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha As always, thank you so much for commenting!I'm so glad that you found this realistic and in character. I could definitely relate to the rainy day feelings Edmund is experiencing since we have gotten some gloomy, rainy days this autumn, and Edmund being sick of bad news is totally my mood this pandemic. And I enjoyed writing Peter's big brother indignation, Lucy's courage and compassion, and of course Edmund's sarcastic apology because Edmund's sarcasm is always fun to write

@Kit' Thank you so much for commenting!I'm glad that you found this rang true for Edmund and the other Pevensie siblings. And I'm with you and Lucy in thinking that it is nicer to transfer the spiders outside than to kill them inside.

 

@Seldes_Katne Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!Edmund will always have a special spot in my heart because of his journey from this self-centered, bitter boy into this mature person who understands the true meaning of justice and I think tries to balance justice with mercy. I remember in Horse and His Boy he says even a traitor may mend, and in Voyage of the Dawn Treader when Eustace apologizes for his behavior after being returned to his human state from a dragon, Edmund is quick to acknowledge that Eustace wasn't as bad as him (Edmund) when he (Edmund) first came to Narnia. So that to me shows a merciful and humble spirit. And I think of how even though he couldn't see Aslan when Lucy could in Prince Caspian he is the only one of her siblings or Trumpkin who votes for following Lucy and taking her word that she has seen Aslan. He even says if I recall correctly that they at first made the mistake of not believing Lucy when she first entered Narnia and told them about it, so they should do the fair thing of taking her word about seeing Aslan in this circumstance. I always thought that really demonstrated how Edmund had evolved into a fair-minded person.

In this story, Edmund is still in his disagreeable state, but I do think even in his disagreeable state, Edmund's feelings can be sort of sympathetic and relatable in the way you mentioned. It can be hard to be the middle child, feeling that you are bossed around by your older siblings but also that you don't get the attention that sort of comes with being the youngest, so it can be an uneasy position where you struggle to find yourself. That is where I think Edmund is as a character before he enters Narnia. He is in the position of trying to find himself. Then as a result of his time in Narnia, he finds his true self--his best self--and is capable of overcoming his bitterness to become a very admirable, just person in every sense. So I really appreciate everything C.S. Lewis was able to achieve with Edmund's character journey, which is a wonderful testimony to people's ability to grow, change, and find redemption.

And I'm so flattered that you felt this was a nice bit of character development and that you found it to sound like something C.S. Lewis might have included in his novel, since that is a huge compliment to me. Thank you again for your thoughtful comment!

 

@brodiew Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I'm so sorry that I had a brain fail and forgot to reply until now

Peter and Susan are definitely being sticks in the mud surely forming in gloomy weather outside, especially from Edmund's perspective.

This was a fun piece to write--to get back into the mindset of a child plotting a prank and pouting about the weather--and so I'm so happy you found it to be a fun one to read as well.

I really enjoyed being able to explore Edmund's boredom, and how it clashes up against Peter and Susan's seriousness, desire to be very responsible, and expectations that Edmund will conform to a certain form of behavior instead of creating mischief because he wants to have fun.

And it did warm my heart to have Lucy be the one to offer such sweet, innocent wisdom about not killing spiders and spiders being friends who help humans. It was nice to be able to display that characteristic mixture of courage and compassion that to me really defines Lucy.

I'm so pleased that you thought this story was excellent, and I humbly apologize again for taking so long to respond

@Sadie Erso Thank you so much for reading and commenting! It makes me so happy that you found this to be a funny story with great writing since I'm always a bit nervous about how well my humor will land, but one of my favorite things about the Narnia books is how C.S. Lewis can weave humor into the narration, the character dialogue, and the general situations that befall characters so I wanted to try to channel some of that spirit here, and it makes me so pleased that the humor came across well for you.

I could definitely picture Edmund before he is changed by his time in Narnia deciding to pull the spider prank, so it is great to hear that you could also imagine him doing the same thing.

Edmund is one of my favorite Narnia characters because his journey is so moving and he seems like such a complex character that I very much enjoy writing Edmund fan fiction. That makes it very awesome to know that you enjoy reading it!

And Susan definitely had no sense of humor about the spider prank!

So glad that you loved this story and found it well-written. Thank you again for your kind words!