Long ago, deep in the depths of the forest, two cousins known as Spider and Scorpion lived. They were both great hunters, catching prey with their own natural born skills.
Spider spun beautiful webs, nearly invisible to the naked eye, waiting patiently for prey to fly into it, while Scorpion was always on the prowl, seeking out any prey he wished to catch, before snagging them up in his claws, and delivering a finishing blow with his stinging tail.
Both cousins often argued about which of their hunting styles were better. However, despite these arguments, they prided themselves on how they hunted, even though a secret river of jealously started flowing underneath.
Though he would never speak it out loud, Scorpion envied Spider and his beautiful webs, wishing for all the world that he could create them too. Spider meanwhile, envied Scorpion’s own hunting prowess, going out to catch his food rather than staying stuck in a web all day.
This line of growing jealously would soon be the bugs’ downfall, especially when a tricky visitor arrived.
On that day, a fox was walking confidently through the forest when he caught sight of Spider spinning out a new web, getting ready to catch some fresh flies for his meal.
“ Good day Spider” greeted the Fox to the arachnid. “ How goes your web?”
“Slow” said Spider bitterly. “ like the dinner I catch every day. I wish I had my cousin Scorpion’s skill. He doesn’t have to sit around and wait for prey to come his way. I would trade my web for a stinger any day.”
“Well good luck with your wish,” said Fox to Spider and trotted away down the trail.
Soon Fox ran into Snake, who was just slithering his way up through the grass. The serpent stopped to talk to Fox, and he shared the events of his day. One tale in particular caught Fox’s ear.
Earlier that morning, Snake had run into Scorpion moaning on a rock near the stream. Curious to what could have made the bug upset, Snake had slithered in as quietly as he could and listened as Scorpion wished that he had the ability to spin Spider’s webs.
“Hmm,” thought Fox, cunningly in his mind when Snake finished his tale.
Both Spider and Scorpion wished that their talents could be swapped. A cruel trick light-bulbed inside of Fox’s brain.
“Ahah!” said Fox, and leaned down to Snake so he could whisper his plan.
Snake nodded and grinned, confirming to Fox that he would do his part. With that, both tricksters suddenly parted ways, ready to carry on their plan.
Later that day, Scorpion found an unexpected visitor standing at his door. It was a fox, with stunning, orange fur, and he bowed down in the dirt when Scorpion crawled out from the dead tree from which he lived.
“Why” said Fox, smiling with wonder at Scorpion “ if it isn’t the majestic Scorpion, the sharpest tail in the land, but not the most elegant.”
“What do you mean by that?” asked Scorpion, a little miffed.
“Well clearly you could never be as beautiful as Spider and his magnificent webs,” said Fox. “ He’s much more artistic than you.”
“I can so be artistic!” Scorpion yelled to Fox.
“Then where is your web?” said Fox, and then walked away into the grass.
“I’ll show you,” thought Scorpion, when Fox left, and headed directly for Spider’s home.
The new web Spider had made was still attached to the tree when Scorpion arrived, and his cousin was nowhere in sight. Lashing out a few cuts with his tail, the anchors holding the web snapped, severing it from the tree. He would take this web and prove to Fox that he was artistic too.
However, just at that moment, Snake slithered out to edge of the grass with Spider right beside him, and when Spider saw what his eight-legged relative was doing, all his eyes widened with shock.
“Heh, would look at that” said Snake to Spider “ some friend he turned out to be.”
Angry Spider ran up to Scorpion and pounced on his back, biting to get his cousin away from the web. Scorpion was shocked by the attack, and fought back, matching the bites with a sting from his tail.
While the two bugs battled, Fox came up to Snake, and the two tricksters grinned at each other before they strolled away, proud of the work they achieved.
Later that evening, a large bird landed in the tree that housed Spider’s web, and looked down to see two motionless bodies lying on the ground.
Joined by blood, but fallen by jealousy.
The End