When my son was eight years old, he loved to play practical jokes on me. Every time I walked into a room, a shower of stuffed animal toys（毛绒玩具） 1 on my head. He put fake flies in the ice-cube trays（制冰盒）, and ants in my purse. You never knew when or where he would strike. I admired his 2 , but I have to admit there were days when his jokes got 3 .
One weekend, when we got home after a long day at the beach, I put the blanket in the wash. I'd throw it in the dryer the next morning. When I pulled the 4 out of the washer the next morning, a（an） 5 , brown tarantula（蜘蛛） fell at my 6 . I figured my son had 7 again. I picked it up and was 8 at how lifelike it looked. It was as big as the palm of my hand. Whoever made this toy spider really went all-out for detail.
It even had hair on it like a real tarantula. I took it inside and found my son watching television. I 9 it in his face and said, "Very funny, Adam."
His face turned pale 10 . He backed up and said, "Mom, I didn't do that. It's real. "At first, I didn't 11 him, but then I saw the 12 on his face. I screamed, he screamed, and the tarantula went flying across the room. We both ran out of the house. When we got the 13 to go back inside, it was still lying where it had landed, dead. We both started 14 so hard that we were in tears. That day cured him of his practical jokes; he knew he could never 15 that one.
