The Spider Chronicles, The Invasion

The enemy, I fear, is getting stronger. I was able to hold them off this time, but the affront hit too close to home. I discovered the intruder late in the night, I had finished my business for the evening and was preparing my toilet when I spotted him. He was poised on the edge of my bed. I'm surprised he didn't strike before that moment. I would have been an easy unsuspecting target. We stared at each other for what seemed like hours, the spider and I.

            I searched for a weapon, but there were no good options at my disposal. My trusty bug spray would have soaked into my blankets. Yes, I would have defeated the spider but at the cost of poisoning my own sleeping quarters. I couldn't smash it with a shoe. It was perched on my sweater and could escape in the folds. There left only one option, close hand-to-spider body contact. Therefore, I grabbed a wad of tissue.

            For minutes we stared at each other. We were locked in a stalemate; both poised, neither striking. I tried to attack several times, but on every approach, weapon in hand, I lost my nerve and withdrew. I knew my own limitations and I had no chance. It was time to call in reinforcements in the form of my landlord Zed. He sallied forth bravely, and unflinchingly grabbed the spider with only a small morsel of tissue.

            I did not feel safe in my bed. I had to investigate how the intruder had entered. From where did he come? I turned my mattress up, looking in every corner to find the breach, but no, every corner of the net had been securely fastened under the weight of my mattress. The intruder must have slipped in as a stow-away on my sweater and that thought sickened me. He must have planned to strike in my sleep.

            Although the check of my fortifications hadn't revealed an immediate threat, I was not yet safe. There was another one, this time hanging on the wall of my bug net. Luckily he was on the right side of my fortress, that is, on the outside, not the inside. However, not all the bug net had been re-tucked under the mattress and the question remained; how do I batten down the hatches without alerting him to the weaknesses in my line of defense. Quickly I tucked the rest of the net in, securing the invader out. But not before bringing my shoes inside. With him still perched on the walls of my fortifications, I brought my shoes together. He tumbled down to the floor. Death was instantaneous.

            With two threats removed in the span of only a few minutes, it became clear to me that this was a planned invasion. The spiders initial attack only a few months prior was unsuccessful. I proved too powerful an adversary for a full frontal assault and they had changed their tactics to a covert invasion force.

            Although both spiders of this battle were smaller than the initial attacker, this battle was much harder won. Their powers in psychological warfare are unsettling. I fear that it is only a matter of time before I breakdown and then, at my weakest they will strike and I will be overcome.

            There was one good thing that came from the encounter, the search for where the spider had entered through my defenses revealed where my good anti-itch cream was hiding so . . . there's that.