The smell of sweat filled my nose as soon as I opened the doors to the crowded gym. On my right, almost all of the treadmills were taken up by a range of people. I spotted a skinny girl jogging softly. She had her earphones in and looked focused. Just near her, there was also an older man with sweat running down his face.

As I walked towards the reception area, I shuddered slightly as the sweaty smell got more intense. The lady at the counter greeted me with a pleasant attitude as I signed in. I noticed that she was reading the newspaper. In big bold letters the title read:

WHERE IS SPIDERMAN?

I found it hard to swallow as I gave the lady a quick smile and moved towards the changing rooms. I felt like I was going to be sick.

Everything and everyone seemed so normal. I recognised the same hot buff dude lifting the same weights as he did every other day. I am pretty sure I saw that older man on the treadmill here last week. Everything was the same. Everyone was the same.

Everyone but me.

I got to the change rooms and started to change.

My father. There could be no possible way that he could have been him. It was already too much to deal with and then I found myself if his suit? Was this some sort of joke? A way to rub my father's sudden death in my face?

I remember I was in my room when I opened it. It was the day of his funeral and I remembered some guy suddenly handing me this plain white box. He told me it was from my dad and to wait until I was alone to open it. Then he disappeared, and I never saw him again.

Of course, this made me nervous, but it also made me extremely curious. So, I opened the box when I got home. Through puffy red eyes, I remember gasping as soon as I saw what was inside. The logo that I had seen a thousand times before was what I saw first. As I pulled it out of the box remember taking in the reds and blues. It felt expensive. Like the fabric or whatever it was made out of felt like nothing I had ever felt before.

It was the actual real Spiderman suit. There was no way it could be fake.

So of course, I tried it on.

I finished getting changed and wandered back to the treadmill area, hoping a run will ease my mind. Instead, I only thought more.

After locking my bedroom door, I put the suit on. I expected it to be massive on me but it fitted me perfectly. As soon as I put the headpiece on, this might be weird, but I felt suddenly stronger. I stood up straighter as I felt I slight tingling all over my body. I could see perfectly in the suit. I knew without looking what was behind me and I felt more aware than ever.

I lifted up my hand to look at it. The tingling was greatest in my hands. More specially, my fingertips.

I wonder... I thought as I made the well-known Spiderman gesture with my hands. I jumped as I shot of white web shot straight out of my hands. It hit my bedside lamp and knocked it off my bedside table.

'Oh. My. Gosh.' I said aloud to myself. Then, I started to cry, again. I took the headpiece off and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. It had been such a horrible day already and this only made it worse. As from that moment on, I knew what I had to do. I was going to be the new Spiderman.

Which means that he was Spiderman. My father was Spiderman.

Thinking this had made me burst into tears again. All those times I had seen Spiderman on the news. All those times he had saved the city. That was him. Dad was always so quiet. Everyone used to joke about how quiet he was. Maybe I didn't know him as well as I thought. He had this whole other life that no one even knew about and it cost him his life. Which means that that is how he died.

I remember only hours before we heard the news of his passing watching the news on TV. It had shown live footage of Spiderman protecting the city against some villain or something. I remember that towards the end of the fight, the reporters started to not know what was going on. They didn't dare go any closer to the fight then where they were. But they said that there was just too my dust to see clearly. Finally, I remember the reporters saying that the battle was over, Spiderman had won. After that, Spiderman went MIA.

An hour after the report, two policemen came to the door. They told us that dad had died during the fight and that they were truly sorry.

Reflecting back even further as I ran on the treadmill, I remember I used to love the idea of being Spiderman when I was a little girl. I used to always say to my father that I wanted to be Spiderman when I grew up. That would be so cool to do everything he did. It always made father smile.

I suppose even up until I opened that box, deep down, I felt the same way. Maybe I still do.

But the problem is, I am a girl.

Spiderman cannot be a girl. Even though Spiderwoman does have a nice ring to it, Spiderman has to be a guy.

Anyway, I couldn't. I couldn't fill my father's shoes and in reality, I couldn't do all that saving people's lives. I couldn't face death every day. I can't even sit through an entire horror movie! Besides, I am in my final years of school. I need to focus so I can get into the best college possible.

Back on the day of my father's funeral. I remember taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down and once I felt better, I took the suit off. I folded it neatly and put it on the highest shelve in my wardrobe.

Just out of interest, I tried doing the web thing again and sure enough, a shot of white web shot out of my hand and rocked my painting on my wall.

I took a deep breath. Had I inherited these powers from my dad? Or did the suit magically give me these powers? Either way, I was stuck with this now. Even with the suit off I still had these Spiderman abilities. I have no choice. I have to become Spiderman.

My dad wanted me to take his place. He wouldn't have given me the suit if he didn't think I was not capable enough. But on the other hand, I couldn't imagine myself saving the city every night at the same time as going to school and earning good grades.

Which is why I find myself in this gym. I needed to think, and I've heard the best way to think is to do exercise.

As the famous saying goes, 'to be or not to be, that is the question'. To be or not to be Spiderman.

I looked up from the treadmill and jumped as I saw a man standing in front of me. I looked around quickly, no one else seemed to notice him. I turned the treadmill off.

I recognised him. He was the strange man that gave me the suit.

'I see you are struggling with your decision, Miss Parker. Do you mind if I have a word?' He said.