Tucker and the Monster

First off, this is Tucker. He's pretty much the best gecko a girl could ask for. He came free with my new place, and so far he's the only gecko I've seen living here. He differs from the others I've met in that he's very young, walks around on the floor instead of the ceiling, and is just way stinking cute. I find him completely charming.

Then last night, something very strange happened. For the first time in my life, I saw a spider in my living room and felt... fear. I've never been afraid of spiders. I've always been an advocate of catch and release, fully aware about the important role spiders play in the ecosystem, and I've been grateful even for the demosquitoing they do around here. But this one was different. Now I have no idea if this spider was poisonous or not, but one look at it sent chills up my spine and pitched me into sweats. I even whimpered. This spider could have eaten little Tucker for breakfast, and I'm not yet sure that it didn't. The first time I saw a palm-sized spider here in the Philippines I was a little surprised, but they have since become commonplace. However, it seems the a spider the size of an entire hand is the threshold for me. After a lifetime of being a friend to the eight-legged, I hit a wall.

I know there's not much in the way of a reference point in either of these pictures, but I wasn't feeling up to holding a dollar bill up next to it. So you're going to have to trust me.

Chills I say, chills.