Wilbur had never felt so _. The days in the barn were and long. He had no one to talk to and nothing to look forward to except his next meal. Then one night a voice spoke to him from the darkness. The next morning he searched the barn but found nothing. That evening the voice returned, and this time Wilbur saw her — a small grey spider of skill, hanging at the centre of a perfectly constructed web. She told him her name was Charlotte, and that she was his friend. Wilbur was ; he could not understand why such a and creature would wish to be his friend at all.