Arachnophobia

Nairobi, Kenya 1988 A young woman carrying a little girl steps off a plane into the airport. The woman looks around, and sees someone she knows. The man is wearing a light cotton polo shirt and safari shorts. He is carrying what looks like the woman's luggage. They hug each other and laugh and the man says "Wow, Helen! You look fantastic. It is so good to see you again." "It's great to see you too, …

…my head. I still wake up sweating in the middle of the night, and see them everywhere. Now if I see any spider, even in a zoo behind thick glass I retch. Boils, or spots, or bites are now always pricked as soon as they are noticed, and the pain is nothing compared to the satisfaction of seeing that I am not home to hundreds of baby spiders. This is no longer an irrational fear.