he woke one morning five years ago yah easily five years ago he
laid there beside his girlfriend and noticed a spider working its way across
the white textured wall at his feet about
an inch an a half down from where the ceiling joined the wall if the house had crown moulding itd be
negotiating it instead but nobody fashioned
houses with crown moulding these daysrarely
the last carpentry gig he worked he did
but that was better than twenty years ago and he worked for wealthy
clients craftsmen still get those gigs carpenterson the other hand pneumatic hammers throw up slaptraps were bitched one could argue it was an unnecessary expense a
waste of material that modernity is made up of clean precise lines the litany of excuses had crown moulding suddenly appeared it would
crush his little bughis little transverser
he or she moseyed across the wall
deftly defying gravity nearly seven
eight feet then stopped
she or he started up hesitated
began again he thought to himself staggered he tried to imagine eight legs
staggering what would that loss of coordination look like up close
they stopped again
he listened to his girlfriend
breathing she pursed her lips pouted her look made him want to kiss her she probably gnawed at her mouthguard she grind her teeth stress her doctor said her dentist said stress
maybe
just being a woman was stressful
she wasnt the only woman he knew
who wore a mouthguard to bed his
daughters huh maybe he was their commonalitytheir
criminal they shared intimate relations with him nah
he was chill he steered
clear of stressful situations stress was a killer he enjoyed life too much when his eyes popped open in the morning he smiled
he was elated he was granted another day of livinganother day to enjoy the adventure he was nearly ridiculous about it
they never moved again the spider died before his very
eyes
he felt bad
he reverse-engineered its life
emerging from its gauzy egg sac amid a myriad of siblings all out for the same
thing food tiny mighty mites falling on prey becoming prey then somehow she or he found their way inside
his house how long did that take how old or young were they
they were going to stay there pat
until their carapace broke free
Are you ever going to brush that
spider down off the wall?
he turned left took an elbow Good morning beautiful
Good morning. I’ve been watching
you. You’ve been watching the spider.
I have
You seemed lost in thought.
You know me Im always looking to get lost
So?
So
The spider.
No
It’s beenwhat four years?
Five years They died early winter of the fall we moved in
Is its remains some kind of
edifice?
No
Why haven’t you taken it down?
Reminds me of she or he he or she that I cant walk on walls or subsist entirely on my wiles kill to survive
Jesus, Joe. That’s a tall order.
Aint it
0958, Saturday,
21 4. 18
