“I love spiders…..”
I spoke aloud to convince myself and failed….
Shoo…shooo….. I cringed in horror….
Three hairy brown arachnids crawled over my blood soaked thigh. Each was roughly the size of an adult’s hand.
The most corpulent of the trio, settled over my open wound. It had eight onynx like eyes and two fangs. I almost passed out again.
The downpour outside was relentless. I had no more ardour left to scream and doubted if I would be heard anyways.
How much time had passed?
My hands were jammed under the twisted car door……A herculean effort to free my legs from the debris had failed. My pelvis was twisted. I could not feel my shins and feet; had no orientation of my lower limbs.
My car had skidded along the broken pavement and plummeted down trapping me inside my car.
Click Click Click…The spiders conversed in some secret code with their pincers.
“Do you eat humans?” I asked them like a moron.
The three critters scuttled around my thigh weaving a reticulate pattern over my oozing wound…
Were they garnishing their snack?
I wanted to run away but was hapless..
Up-Down, Criss-Cross.
Soon, the wound was firmly enmeshed in cobwebs.
Surprisingly, it felt better.
Hmm, did three spiders just dress my wound?
Would anyone believe this?
I raised my head.
The rain had receded.
The car was wedged in a cavernous part of slope just below the road; hidden from the top view.
The thigh wound had stopped bleeding but I needed doctors if I were to survive.
Despair filled me.… Was I going to die like this, alone and covered in spider spit?
****
Gradually it grew dark.
Thirsty and exhausted, I almost slipped into a stupor; I jerked awake when they started crawling all over my face……
Uurrrggghhhh!!
Just then, lights reflected in my broken rearview mirror. A car was speeding this way. I had to shout for help….. how????
Click click click…
Spidey climbed the steering wheel and settled on the horn.
” My hands…can’t move….”
The three were clicking madly. What were they telling me??
Suddenly, they hopped down on the car floor. Something bit my great toe. The right foot twitched in reflex.
My foot was near the steering wheel, I realised.
Ignoring the stabbing pain along my pelvis, I raised my right foot and threw it over the horn.It honked shrill and loud. Incessantly.
The approaching car heard it.
*****
I woke up in a hospital. They had found me disoriented and covered in cobwebs in the car. The Doctor said I was lucky. Some spiders’ secretions were known to contain chemicals that slowed wound bleeding and infections. My wounds would heal.
I told doctors about the Great Spider Rescue Squad.
They used words like Delusional……Shock…..Head trauma……..
*****
Months later…..
“This is disgusting, Ria…your room is full of spiders…call an exterminator…”
“Leave them alone Mum..…”
“What?”
I blew a kiss to an escaping critter.
“I love spiders…”
****
Photo by : Stephan Hocking
References :
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276925251
Wikipedia
***
This is an entry for Five00-7, a writing event hosted by ArtoonsInn. Check out the event prompt and guidelines here: https://writers.artoonsinn.com/five00-7/
Use the tracker to record your rulfy progress: https://1drv.ms/x/s!ApiLwn00sMcLgw25_MChxGCrua9_
