You have to believe me, Doctor! I`m not crazy! This is real!`

　　Dr Riley Tyler leaned back in her comfortable office chair and regarded the anxious young man sitting in the chair on the other side of her desk.

　　Why don`t you tell me about it, Xander, in your own words. I`ll listen.`

　　Okay. Well, as everyone knows, each of us swallows, on average, about eight spiders every year, while we`re sleeping. But what most people don`t know is that those spiders don`t die. They live on, inside us. And eventually, when there are enough of them inside us, they take over. They colonize us. We become giant spiders!`

　　I`ve never seen a giant spider, Xander.`

　　They disguise themselves! They look just like the person they took over. But it`s just an illusion. They`re really giant spiders!`

　　And why would they do that, Xander?`

　　So they can take over the world! They`re weaving a giant web. One day it will cover the whole world, and then they`ll control everything!`

　　You`ve been under a great deal of stress lately, haven`t you, Xander?` Dr Tyler glanced at the notes in front of her on her desk. You lost your job.`If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

　　My boss is one of them! He`s been taken over by the spiders. He had to get rid of me because I was getting too close to the truth!`

　　And your wife left you.`

　　She`s one of them too!`

　　Dr Tyler leaned forward, clasped her hands lightly on her desk, and looked into Xander`s eyes.

　　Xander, this story about people swallowing spiders in their sleep, it`s not true. It`s just an urban legend.` She picked up a copy of Scientific American that lay on her desk, turned it over, and pushed it across the desk toward Xander. The headline read Fact or Fiction? People Swallow 8 Spiders a Year While They Sleep` and the article explained in detail that this was not true. Read that, Xander, perhaps it will help.`

　　Xander pushed the magazine away. The spiders have got to them too! The journalists, the editors, they`re all spiders!`

　　Xander, I know this all seems very real to you, but try to understand, you`ve been under a great deal of pressure recently, and that`s made it difficult for you to think logically. This idea about people turning into spiders, it`s not real. It`s the stress that`s making you think this way.`

　　Oh my God! You`re one of them too!` Xander stood up, pushing his chair away from the desk. You`re a spider!` He backed away, turned, and ran out the door.

　　Dr Tyler sighed, made a few notes in her thin, cursive, elegant handwriting, then gathered her papers, put them in a desk drawer, and locked it. She picked up the phone on her desk and hit one of the speed-dial keys.

　　Hi Honey. I`ve just seen my last patient for the day. Heat the oven and open a bottle of wine, would you? I`ll be home soon. How`s the weaving going?`

　　The End