The Spider

Surely, the spider that spun that web did not actually make the kill? What spider would attack a rat and live to tell about it? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? He decided the rat must have already been dead when the spider found it, not wanting to think about what kind of spider was living in his backyard that is capable of bringing down such a huge rat.

Laughing a bit shakily, he held onto the stick, picked up the bucket with his free hand, and walked over to the well. Setting the bucket down, he reached for the lowering Handle to attach to the bucket, and jumped in surprise and horror as something dark scuttled quickly towards him from the other side of the well. It was the spider, and it had been hiding on the far side of the well where he couldn’t see it.

Calvin dropped the bucket and it clattered loudly as it banged its way down the interior of the well to splash into the water many feet below, and he backed up in revulsion as the spider continued to advance towards him. It stopped when it reached the edge of the well as if the only thing it wanted was to warn him away. Its first two legs were elevated in an aggressive stance, giving it the appearance of some hairy, horribly mutated crab that had been turned out of its hiding place and was trying to defend itself. Calvin got the impression it was daring him to come any closer.

It was big, really big. It wasn’t a Tarantula--those show up in his backyard sometimes--this one looked similar but was a bit smaller and had different markings. It was a dark brown color that he had never seen before on a spider, the back half of it mottled with grayish-green spots that reminded Calvin of mold on a loaf of stale bread. Its bulbous abdomen was pulsating slightly--whether in anxiety or anticipation, he couldn’t tell--and he could see long hairs covering its entire body. It had mandibles that were almost too big for it, and as they slowly opened and closed, he could make out some clear liquid glistening wetly on them. But the most repulsive thing about the spider was its eyes…its many eyes. Even at several feet away he could see them clearly, and they were staring back at him with no fear, instead giving him the idea that it was sizing him up, as if calculating the potential risk and reward of attacking such large prey.

Slowly--keeping one eye on the nightmarish creature in front of him--Calvin raised the stick that was still in his hand. He raised it above his head, watching the spider to see if it would recognize what he was going to do and run for it, but it just stood there…staring at him. The spider was still on the edge of the well and before he realized what he was doing, Calvin had swept the stick in a looping arc and knocked it over the side. It disappeared from view as it tumbled into the blackness of the well hole.

"Goddammit!" He hadn’t meant to knock it into the well, now he would have to wait until he was certain it had drowned and then fish it out. There was no way he was going to leave that thing down there and continue to drink out of the well, who knows what kind of poison it had or how potent it was. Calvin peered over the edge, knowing it was much to dark at the bottom to be able to see it, and decided to head back to the house and come back with a flashlight.