The Life and Times of Dexter: A Tale of Spider Webs and Self-Discovery

By Hal McFarland and Barbara McFarland

Self-acceptance is a critical element of self-esteem, particularly in today's culture where we are more valued by what we do and what we have as opposed to who we are. So, we chase after some notion of what is going to make us happy with ourselves never finding a truly satisfying answer. The Life and Times of Dexter: A Tale of Spider Webs and Self-Discovery, speaks to everyone children, teens and adults. No matter what stage of life we are in, we need to love and value ourselves just because and that can only happen if we challenge ourselves to reach our highest potential as human beings.
Through his struggles to be more self-accepting, Dexter serves to help readers examine their own self-worth. He travels far and wide to quell his inner dissatisfaction. Along the way he meets other characters who challenge him to take a deeper look inside himself. These relationships teach him humility, trust, perseverance and self-sacrifice. They help him realize that by caring for others, he is able to feel the kind of peace and joy that only true self-acceptance can bring.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491870501

Hal McFarland

Hal McFarland is a Burlington, Kentucky native, a graduate of Georgetown and Xavier Universities. He has also attended Butler University and, in Germany, the Goethe Institute. Connections is his seventh attempt at what he calls electronic immortality: some of his other works include A Dream Within a Dream, Fear the Moonlight, Farewell to Rosegate, Braving the Shadows, and The Life and Times of Dexter. Hal, with his wife, Barbara, (who is also an author and playwright) lives on a Western Boone County, Kentucky, farm, in a nineteenth-century barn which, over the course of a decade, has converted into their home.

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© 2014 Barbara and Hal McFarland. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/22/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-9903-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-9904-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-7050-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905660

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

BOOK I DEXTER

BOOK II LILLY

BOOK III THE RAINCROW

EPILOGUE

BONUS BOOK

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

ABOUT THE AUTHORS… .

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR… .

Dedicated to

our son,

Casey,

who has brought us great joy

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.

Mary Dunbar

Introduction

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DEXTER:

A STORY OF SPIDER WEBS AND SELF-DISCOVERY

Deficits in self-worth are the cornerstone of the vast majority of psychological problems—anxiety, depression, impaired work or academic performance, eating disorders, and crimes of violence. Since it is generally accepted that the human being cannot realize his or her potential without healthy self-regard, educators and psychologists alike emphasize its importance in a child’s development. Self-worth is generally defined as believing in one’s own ability to face life’s challenges and believing in one’s right to be happy and successful.

It’s my view that self-acceptance is a critical element of self-worth, particularly in today’s culture where we are more valued by what we do and what we have as opposed to who we are. In the last 10 years or so, I have noticed that we compare ourselves to others, asking ourselves, Am I as successful as… ? Am I as attractive as… ? Am I a better parent than… ? Am I as good as . . ? And of course, the answer is always No, I’m not. Facebook and our obsession with celebrities have fueled this problem. So, we chase after some notion of what is going to make us happy with ourselves, never finding the answer. In the Bonus Book, the main character, Irma, reflects this search.

Self-acceptance is the major theme of The LIFE AND TIMES OF DEXTER… . This book is intended for children but, given the universality of its theme, can be read by adolescents and adults alike. The storyline is light and enjoyable, yet subtly powerful. Dexter, the central character, who is quite self-absorbed with being special, struggles with his ability not only to accept himself but to accept others as well.

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BOOK I

DEXTER

I wish you’d stop wasting your time and do something worthwhile, Dexter’s father often complained.

But his oldest son’s reply was just a slight shrug of his shoulders; and if you listened closely, you could hear him say, just under his breath, What can any spider do that’s worthwhile?

His father would turn red with rage upon hearing these words. It was at this time that Dexter would sneak out of the house, because his ears were extremely sensitive; his whole body would vibrate from the shouting.

And so he would go out to the garden, plop on his favorite blade of grass and proceed to imagine what things he wished he could be. In the midst of his reveries, he could hear the squealing laughter of the other spiders.

How dumb they all are, he thought. Dumb and mean! I may be smaller than they are, but that’s no reason to pick on me. Besides, I’m really a very adventurous spider!

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One day, as he was pondering this, he heard a loud call for help. Dexter, also being rather courageous by nature, jumped from his blade and scurried toward the sound of the screams. There was a spider dodging the rather large feet of a human. Dexter rushed in, grabbed the slumping body and dragged it out of danger.

But now he was not alone. The silence was broken by deep gasps for air.

Dexter finally caught his breath. Those dumb humans! Why don’t they leave us alone? We certainly don’t do them any harm.

Thanks ever so much for saving my life, the victim said, breathlessly.

Surprised by the sound of a familiar female voice, Dexter jerked his head toward her.

Oh, my gosh! He knew this spider—she was the one who stood up to the other spiders when they were taunting him at school a few weeks ago. Three of them cornered him and began shoving him up against his locker. One of the bullies knocked his books out of his arms while the other two got right up in his face and started yelling at him.

Well if it isn’t Dexter… pee-wee Dexter. So what’s going on, Dexter? A few other spiders walked up and started chanting, Dexter, dumb, dizzy, daydreamer Dexter!

Oh, that’s very funny, Dexter replied. As he bent down to pick up his books, he said, rather under his breath, Go get a life.

What was that? Oh, I think dumb, dizzy Dexter said, get a life. And with that, one of the spiders kicked him in the rear. Dumb Dexter… pee wee Dexter . . .

Their mocking tones made Dexter want to shrivel up and disappear. As he regained his balance, he desperately wanted to punch them