Artie's New Ear Muffs

Artie McFinnigan, being a terribly shy anteater, is interested in only one thing. Bugs. He collects big bugs, and small bugs, even bugs that roll themselves up. There are bugs with one hundred legs and some with one thousand. Then there's Sam. Artie's most favorite of all his favorites. Sam is a spider, and he is missing!

    Artie frantically searched under his bed, finding smelly socks and lost toys, but no Sam. He checked in his closet, even in his slippers. He looked on the ceiling and in the corners. Sam was nowhere to be found.

    Poor Artie. He was so upset about his beloved arachnid that he couldn't even enjoy his favorite breakfast of oatmeal with ants. He worried and paced, paced and worried about the runaway spider. He hoped that Sam hadn't gotten outside somehow because it was very cold, and very snowy.

    Artie packed up his aquarium full of bugs and trudged off to Lyons Day School, ears almost numb because he lost his ear muffs the day before. He hadn't noticed, he was still worried about Sam. He was so troubled that he couldn't even enjoy his favorite lunch of ants and mustard on pumpernickel.

    In fact, he couldn't enjoy much of anything that day. Not even Phyllis Phillips's amazing display of paddle ball prowess. There was a slight tickling on his ears that he felt on occasion, he did enjoy that a bit. He didn't even bother to scratch the itches away.

    As Artie moped along down the sidewalk after school, he felt a warming sensation on his ears. He noticed that they were getting warmer and warmer with each step. This puzzled Artie very much, he knew he had lost his earmuffs yesterday. Not being very keen on telling the weather, he decided that a warm breeze must be blowing through despite the wintry season.

    He arrived home, put his bugs away, and went to the restroom to wash his hands before his usual snack of peanut butter and ants on crackers. After he counted to twenty, then rinsed and dried, Artie took a glance at himself in the mirror. He was shocked at what he saw. There on top of his head was Sam, and his ears were covered by a silky new pair of spider-spun ear muffs.