Anne Shirley

Once upon a time, in a sunny, warm village, lived a little girl named Arachne. Arachne loved to weave. Weave, weave, weave all day long. She used bright, colorful threads to make pictures of big yellow suns and pretty red flowers. Her fingers went tap, tap, tap on her big wooden loom. Everyone in the village loved her pictures. 'So beautiful!' they would say. Arachne was very proud of her weaving. This is the story of Arachne, the amazing weaver.

One day, a special visitor came to the village. It was the goddess Athena. Athena was a wonderful weaver, too. Arachne was so excited, she said, 'I can weave better than anyone!' Athena heard her and smiled a big smile. 'Let's have a contest!' she said. They both sat at their big looms. Their fingers were so fast. Fast like busy bees. Zoom, zoom, went the colorful threads. Arachne wove a picture of happy people and cute animals. Athena wove a picture of the amazing gods and goddesses. The pictures were so shiny. They shimmered and glowed in the sun.

Athena looked at Arachne's beautiful picture. She saw how much Arachne loved to weave. So, Athena gave her a special gift, a gift to weave forever and ever. Poof. Athena turned Arachne into a tiny spider. Now, Arachne didn't need a big loom. She could make her own silky thread. She spins pretty, sparkly webs. Webs in the garden. Webs in the window. The webs shine in the sun. When you see a spider's web, you can think of Arachne. She is the little weaver who weaves forever.