@Ozzyy 26 December 2021 more from that month

The Eight Legs of Love THEN My feet barely grip the hard rock floor as I take the next corner, arrhythmic tapping following fast behind me. Run. I have to run. The strands of web trail behind me like streamers as I half stumble through the cave. My heart jumps in place as I hear a wet clicking sound ahead of me. *She's caught me*. I take out my torch; if I'm to die, I will look my death in the eye. Eyes, even. I don't realize the horrible clicking taps are still coming from behind me until I flick the torch on, to see a swarm of cocker spaniel-sized spiderlings around my legs. Choking back the scream, I very carefully start to move through them, but they make it very difficult. Interminable minutes pass as I move forward until I suddenly realize that the sounds have changed. Behind me comes the labored breath of a very large creature, and from around my legs comes ... "*daddy"*? "Human, what have you done?" "Holy crap, you talk?!" "I am older than this mountain. I could speak in Latin if I wanted; yes, I talk. My voice will be the last thing you hear once you release my brood from your spell, magician," she hissed. It was a strange sound, a spider hissing. I blink, slowly. Then I look down. The small spiders aren't trying to stop me moving, they're trying to cuddle me. "Um, I don't know magic, miss, ah..?" I've never been given a death stare by a spider before. Not fun. "I came through here trying to avoid being eaten and they hatched." I can see her considering in the dark. "My children appear to think you are their father. Possibly because you were in the room as they hatched, and I was not." "Oh my God. I am so, so sorry. I didn't mean to get in between you and your family. I just didn't want to be eaten." "That has been achieved, at least." Below her chin, several of her own brood have reared up. I hadn't noticed before, but the crowd around me is thicker towards her, like a barrier. They were protecting me. "If you let me go, I will never come back. You and your children can live in peace." "And I'll be known as the harridan who kicked their father out of the house? No. I need you to be a father to these children so they don't hate me." "I ... sorry, come again?" "I won't eat you if you raise this brood with me." It was a strange arrangement, but an arrangement that preserved my life nonetheless. NOW "Dad! Look what I caught." "Alice, that's great honey! The rabbit's even intact this time! Do you know where your mother is?" "She's in the den. Come play with us after?" As weird as it sounds, in the three years I've been raising prepubescent spiders as my own kids, they've become my own kids. Just with chitin. Which is surprisingly warm. I lean down and give Alice a quick hug. "Of course sweetheart, I'll be right back" The cave is a lot less complicated when you aren't sprinting for your life through it, although the NVG goggles help with it a lot. The den is the room Sheila and I stopped seeing each other as hunter and prey but as co-parents. She set up some web sofas in there, and we often talk there, usually about the kids, over some coffee and fermented blood (free-range deer blood, no humans on my watch. I didn't get many ground rules but that was an important one). She looks up as I enter. Spider expressions are hard to read, but with practice, you can see the smaller chitin plates move. She's pensive today. "Morning. Matt." "Sheila" I set down my Starbucks on my side of the table. She shifts her head slightly. "Really? That trash again? You know it's not even decent coffee. At least get a Costa." "But this is cheaper. And I like having pumpkin spice, it makes winters easier." "Because it was the season you got roped into this." In three years, I've never seen Sheila sad. I've seen her angry, proud, and even happy. For something I once saw as a monster, I now see her as the very real person she is; spider or not. But sad is new. "No Sheila, winters are hard because I'm a mammal, so I feel the cold a lot more than you do. Warm drinks help me cope with that." Then I pause before I say the next bit. "I really like doing this. Raising the kids I mean. I still feel guilty that they imprinted on me, but it's honestly been a privilege. And you've been a great mother, better than mine was by a long shot. I didn't know what motherhood should be until I met you." I didn't know spiders could cry until today, but it turns out they can if they're very moved "Matt, you're my only friend. We're not raised for companionship. We are taught to hunt, kill, and create art. But after our siblings go their separate ways, we are alone, until we find a brood mate. They usually leave, because we are so used to being solitary we do not want to learn how to co-exist. But you've made the last few years fun. You challenge me, make me laugh, and you're a good dad. And I was worried that friendship was built on a threat." One moment, for both of us, to reflect. "I was going to say if you wanted to leave, I would not stop you, or eat you. I don't want to hold you back for my sake. But you sound like you want to stay. And that makes me happy." A spider smile is subtle, and the rarest kind of smile. And for that, probably my favorite smile of all. "We'll be through in a sec Alice!" ***** THE END.