\u2018Wait, stop\u2026\u2019 she screamed, chasing me down the corridor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Don\u2019t open the door.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I opened the door and almost lost my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the most unexpected sight imaginable. Beautiful, but frightening at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Shut the door!\u2019 my sister screamed, as she ran into me. I fell into the room and she shut the door behind me, locking me inside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now what am I going to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Why are you so afraid? It wouldn\u2019t have appeared if it was going to harm us. Aren\u2019t you curious about its motive?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I don\u2019t normally spend time worrying about the motives of arachnids, I just squash them.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I headed back towards the door with a shoe –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Wait, stop, don\u2019t, you can\u2019t!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I paused, the shoe dangling uselessly from my hand. The enormous, spider-like creature reached down with its pedipalps, ghosting the shape of my face. I shivered, a sensation between fear and pleasure travelling the length of my spine.
It did seem a little larger than usual. It gave a whole new meaning to the saying, \u2018We\u2019re not here to fuck spiders.\u2019 This one was not exactly amorous though and I felt afraid as it lunged at me with the full force of a tractor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My head shot back, and it felt like my brain rattled in its skull. I let out an unearthly sound that emptied my lungs as I slumped to the ground. In my barely conscious state I heard the piercing, scratching noises it made as it moved away from me and toward my sister. Through the haze of concussion, it sounded like a low murmur of discussion was happening behind me. Raised voices, but with the tenderness of familiarity, urgency and definitely debating some serious problem. My head woozed with a wave of weirdness, the prick of a small scratch and I drifted off, away from the sounds, and feeling a tug on my now crooked leg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The spider\u2019s mandibles clacked together over my face, like the maracas of doom. I could feel its many eyes glaring at me. \u2018It\u2019s your,\u2019 it hissed. \u2018Not you\u2019re<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018I \u2026 I\u2019m sorry,\u2019 I stammered. Just my luck, it was a grammar monster. \u2018I was in a hurry and I just \u2026 \u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018And always capitalise the beginning of your sentences,\u2019 it slurred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018But it was just a text \u2026 \u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018nooooo!\u2019 the spider\u2019s legs flexed in anger. \u2018That\u2019s a poor excuse.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything was becoming dimmer, changing. Words were blending each to the other and time was disappearing. And I woke up. Sometimes I remember my dreams, sometimes not, but this was a nightmare and the relief of waking up was immense\u2026 until I looked around at my bedroom\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lights were out. I could\u2019ve sworn I\u2019d left them on. The monitor before me provided the only light, the words on the screen ending in the obligatory row of nonsense where my head had hit the keyboard. How many hours earlier?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Are you okay?\u2019 my sister called from the doorway. \u2018I heard screaming, I think? Are you still writing at three am?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n I blinked. \u2018I think?\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ll be fine,\u2019 I said, as I went back to that last paragraph, and checked my spelling. The spider had been right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018Wait, stop\u2026\u2019 she screamed, chasing me down the corridor. \u2018Don\u2019t open the door.\u2019 I opened the door and almost lost my breath. It was the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[8,467,11,10],"class_list":["post-3820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-mountain-ash-chapter","tag-serial-story","tag-story","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pff1uY-ZC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":668,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=668","url_meta":{"origin":3820,"position":0},"title":"Song of My Husband After Encountering an Unspecified Animal During His Night-time Run","author":"Elissa McKay","date":"April 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Verse:I\u2019d never even heard of wildPanthersIn the hills before, I grew up in CanberraSo how could I have imagined itWhen I didn\u2019t know theStories? 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Then I saw it, just to the left of the keyboard. It was much smaller than in my dream, barely three inches across. The spider, I swear, winked at me, before slowly climbing the wall. I shuddered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n