The Temple Unleashed (Book 1) | Updated Weekly

Chapter 2~Tarantulas and Sassy Monkeys

There are many different ways a person gets up in the morning. Some might get up to the annoying beeping of an alarm, others get awakened by a parent, others might have a rooster as a wakeup call. But for Charlie Nite, it's a whole different matter. His wakeup alarm was an annoying little creature called Knips that took the form of a capuchin monkey.

Charlie's mom was a vet and his dad was a zoologist. Consequently, the family decided to move to Kenya where the wildlife was plentiful. The Nite family lived on a reserve where all types of animals made their habitat.

Charlie woke up with a start, partly because Knips jumped on his face and started picking the imaginary bugs out of his hair, but mostly because today was his 15th birthday. He glanced over at the bed to his right and saw his brother Hudson still sound asleep. A devious smirk came across Charlie's face. Though Hudson was only a year younger, Charlie and Hudson acted almost like twins since they were so close.

Hudson let out a small snore as Charlie made his way to a glass cage where a large and hairy tarantula sat peacefully. He lifted the unsuspecting spider out and gently placed it on his brother's face. The arachnid stood placidly on Hudson's nose, all eight of its eyes staring at Charlie. He prodded the spider to get her to move, she complied and walked across Hudson's face and settled herself over his eyebrow. Hudson mumbled something about hairy pillows before suddenly opening up his eyes.

Everything was silent for a second; like the quiet before the storm. Then, the storm broke loose with Hudson yelling at the top of his lungs and jumping out from under the sheets. He grabbed the spider and flung it across the room at Charlie who stood with tears streaming down his face and choking with laughter. Charlie then looked down in surprise at the spider who was flung across the room at him which landed in his unruly blonde hair.

There is a difference between purposely picking up a spider to prank someone and having the venomous arachnid flung in your hair. Charlie screamed in surprise and grabbed the spider and threw it back in its cage, where it retreated under a rock, visibly shaken by the flight lessons it received. The two brothers stood staring at each other before Charlie raced out of the room with Hudson at his heels and Knips following them.

They tumbled down the stairs and past their mom.

"And a good morning to you, too," she said sarcastically before grabbing Knips by his tail as he rushed past and promptly dumped him outside the window.

"We have enough craziness in this house. We don't need another monkey to add to it," she said to the capuchin who glared at her indignantly.

Meanwhile Hudson had chased Charlie out to one of the watering holes where a small herd of impala stood peacefully drinking from the water. Hudson got close enough to his brother and shoved him into the murky water, startling the impala.

"Oops, I'm so sorry," Hudson laughed as Charlie came up sputtering and red. "Oh, and happy Birthday," Hudson smiled before helping his older brother out of the water.

"Thanks, little brother," Charlie smirked before pulling Hudson into the water after him. The two brothers then dried off in the sun for a while, watching the beautiful wildlife around them. After drying off, they made their way to the house where the smell of pancakes wafted through the air.

"Hope that poor spider doesn't die from that little fiasco," Mr. Nite chuckled when his boys told them of the morning.

"Yes, and now Knips is mad at me for calling him a monkey," sighed his wife as she glanced outside to see the monkey sitting on a log like a perfect little gentleman with a very irate facial expression.