Quick Fiction - Arachne Tragedy
because it's time to revive the penny dreadful novel craze
THE SPIDER took a cautious step, then another. Six legs down, two legs up, waving gently in the air.
She knew there was danger nearby. There was no mistaking the rhythmic pulse, the scent - she was passing over the body of a large living creature.
Step, step. Pause. She felt the air; she tasted the air. All eight legs down; a long, meditative pause. Her four right limbs were spread across a broad, open expanse of flesh; her four left limbs were a little more bunched up against a small hillock of flesh - a nose.
She held very still as the air filled with a vibratory noise, and a gust of wind swept by her - it was a snore.
After a moment's pause, she resumed her cautious pace. One step. Another. Three.
She made her slow, delicate way past the nose, gently, fearful of attracting unwanted attention. At the same time, she longed to be out of harm's way.
Another step. This time her delicate, hairy forelimb landed on a patch of moisture. Another pause, then she crept onwards.
Ahead of her was a chasm. She could see across it - from one lip, to another. She drew herself up and gently extended her limbs across the gap. It was only a quarter inch of distance.
Another tremor from deep inside the creature froze her in her tracks yet again, her silken body poised over the gap. The chasm widened, becoming a full inch wide - then an inch and a half. She held herself motionless until the movements of the terrain beneath her ceased.
Gently, slowly, she drew herself forward. Six legs down; two legs up, feeling at the air. Another gust of wind passed by her, but gently enough not to perturb her. The chasm widened yet more, even as her torso passed over the edge of the first lip, but more slowly than it had before. Two inches; two inches and a quarter. She put two legs down, and two others up; she was excercising the utmost caution in her journey.
Another gust of air, a sudden, sharp one, came from directly beneath her. She dropped her two extended legs and froze.
Suddenly the mouth opened a full four inches wide, and sucked in a gust of air. Limbs flailing, she dropped into the chasm and landed on a large, moist, moving monolith - a tongue. She scrambled frantically, biting desperately, filled with insectile adrenaline and terror.
The human grunted, swallowed, and woke up with a cough. The spider died.
Let us bow our heads a moment; this tragedy has played out in many homes across the world. Let us shed a sympathetic tear for the poor spiders who suffer this terrible fate. And blast those human bastards.
- Bill Noble
When being harassed, never forget the Five Words - "Die, piggy piggy, die, die." Or something like that.
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