Spiders in Silence

None of the students at my high school ever spoke to each other. We would be silent, talking only when teachers forced us to do group projects.

But there was one kid in school who loved to talk. He was known as the most sociable kid in school-which didn’t say much. Fascinated by our school’s art programs, he could always be found in the ceramics room during lunch, though no one ever stopped to see what he was creating.

I found a small figurine of a spider on my desk one morning. It was painted purple, with white polka-dots and a goofy smile on its face. Throughout the morning, more spider figurines appeared on people’s desks until everyone in the class had their own unique spider, all made from fired clay.At first, no one bothered to talk about the mysterious spiders. But then, a small murmur began to stir. Soon everyone was talking about the figurines. Where had they come from? Who made them?

After school that day, everyone gathered in the courtyard, holding their spider figurines. The entire class was abuzz, asking each other questions on who they thought had created the spiders. Students started to form groups and connect with each other by imagining funny theories about the spiders’ origins.

And in the distance was the kid who loved to talk, smiling before heading to the ceramics room.