Behind the Leaves

One of the agreeable things about our third floor flat is that we look out on the tall trees that line the quiet street. In early spring, teams from the Council prune them and seem to amuse themselves by carving grotesque faces at the bends and twists of the bare branches. Then the leaves sprout, the faces disappear and a fresh covering of green fills all our windows.

The other day I was luxuriating in this when I saw a face, a real, little face, peering at me out of the panoply. The window was open and the creature sprung across and into our drawing room, a lively little monkey. We were both very wary of him at first, but he was friendly, made no attempt to nip us but was interested in food. He hopped off for a little while but returned quite often. We learned from the local paper that he had escaped from the zoo, but it seemed mean to give him up and lose him his liberty.

One day our window was shut, but he emerged from the greenery and swung himself frantically against the glass. I opened it and he jumped in, a gigantic spider, the biggest such beast I have ever seen, clinging to his back. The monkey’s body stiffened and lay dead. The spider turned towards me, hissing, but I managed to chase him out with a broom. I saw that there were several other similar arachnids in the trees. This time there was no hesitation in reporting the creatures but it was the beginning of the terrible infestation. None of the experts was able to identify the creatures, and they filled all the trees. One of them bit – or stung – our neighbour’s baby, who only just survived.

At two o’clock one morning the biggest tree burst into flames. The enquiry which followed established that somebody had poured petrol onto the base of the tree and ignited it. I had a strong suspicion that it was our neighbour, but I did not voice it because I was rather on his side. Anyhow, the combustion spread from tree to tree and hundreds of spiders, squealing, hissing, ablaze could be seen scuttling down the street. However, it was not the fire that really did for the horrid creatures. It was the water from the firemen’s hoses.