She had been born in that theatre. The blinking lights and colors of the enormous screen had been the first thing she ever saw. The flash and glow of the lights washed over her, painting her slender black legs in luminous color.
She started watching and she never looked away, sitting rapt in her little corner of the theatre, up near the roof, where the view was best. She spun her web beneath the glow of the screen, feeling the roar of the audience’s laughter as it shook the delicate threads. She watched movie after movie, perched quietly in her beautiful web. She sat through action movies, watching the humans fight. She sat through horror movies, although she really didn’t understand them. Why were humans so upset when they lost a limb? Wouldn’t they just grow back anyway?
Humans worried about silly things, she thought as she munched on a tart little fly and watched the screen.
The romantic comedies were her favorites. No blood. No mess. Everyone ends neatly and comically together and the credits roll. She perched in the center of her web, laughing at the right times. Her favorite part was watching the human male as he bent down on one knee and pulled the sparkly ring out of his pocket. He held it out like an offering, or a prayer, as though the idea of spending his life with this one woman was all he could wish for, as though she was bestowing a gift by gracing him with her presence.
She only regretted that she would never get treated like that or be loved that way. Spiders, you know, are not a particularly affectionate species. So she contented herself with the lights on the screen and the life she had to live.
Another Friday night came and another movie premier. This one was about another single girl in the city… but the plot wasn’t really important. She smiled to herself as the lights dimmed and music began to play. Just a few minutes for the previews and then the main show would begin. She took a moment to glance down at the audience. As usual, the theatre was packed full of people, rows and rows of dark heads… and then she saw it. There, they were sitting in the front row.
It was a young couple. From where she sat she could see his blonde crew cut and her long dark hair. But most of all, she saw the way the dim light sparkled off of the diamond ring on her hand. And the moment she saw it, she knew she must have it. She imagined the whole scene in her mind, the way he’d knelt down on in a beautiful park, surrounded by flowers, or maybe in a fancy restaurant, hiding the ring in the dessert. She couldn’t see their faces, but she imagined the look of joy when the woman had accepted him, saw him scooping her up in his arms and twirling her around. That ring was more than just a shiny bauble. It was a symbol of their love. And for once, that symbol would belong to her.
Slowly, she spun another thread of silk and used it to lower herself to the theatre floor. Inching her way down, she held her breath. It was the farthest she’d ever gone and it was a long way down. She was relieved when she finally got to the floor. She crept forward. It was shocking, she thought to herself, how unclean these humans were up close. The dirt on their shoes was simply revolting. Down the aisle she went. She tried her best to rush, after all, she was no big spider and she only had an hour and a half.
The movie cast a spell over the audience. Everywhere she looked, feet were still and faces were upturned toward the glowing screen. No one noticed her as she legged her way across carpet and footlights. She wasn’t really one for exercise, but finally, huffing and puffing, she reached that first aisle, where she’d seen the glitter of silver and stone.
Right in the middle of the aisle, she found the pointy toed-shoe she’d been seeking. For some reason, these young women always wore those stupid shoes. Personally, she didn’t see the need for shoes in the first place, much less the painful contraptions that human females tortured themselves with.
But she decided as she crawled north on the shoe leather and made her way onto the jean-leg, it really wasn’t her place to judge. From the jean leg, she hopped north to the armrest. She heaved a sigh of relief that everyone was still focused on the screen.
Carefully, she edged towards her destination, landing lightly on the couple’s entwined hands. The stone sparkled enticingly, mere inches away. Slowly, painstakingly, she wrapped her pincers around the ring, dancing around the young woman’s hand as she pulled off her prize. She was aware of every muscle, every twitch of the fingers she sat on. More than once, she sat still, holding her breath as the surface moved beneath her.
Finally, she was safe and sound on the floor, pulling her prize behind her on a gossamer thread. The stone was even more beautiful than she could imagine, its facets reflecting her own beautiful face back at her, shimmering with her own beauty. She dragged it back to her web, feeling its satisfying weight as she crept. She clambered up the wall, eight legs scurrying and wove her gem into her web.
It was her centerpiece. Finally, her life was complete. Admittedly, there was no guy standing on bended knee, begging for her company, but she didn’t need one. With the gem reflecting back her own shimmering dark beauty, she didn’t need to pretend that she was loved. She loved herself and it was enough.
She sat with her furry black body perched on that silvery hoop and watched as the movie ended in yet another fairy-tale ending. And she smirked as the couple ransacked the theatre, crawling on the floors and rooting through the garbages. They didn’t need the ring, she knew. They had each other.
And she had her prize.
This is cute, albeit somewhat unusual for you. Don't get me wrong; I quite like it, I do, but I expected the spider to get squashed, to be honest. It's completely unreasonable to assume that a spider (which weighs about a gram) could ever get or move a ring. Also, why would she want it? I definitely think this story would be more believable if you could find a motive for the spider that would be something other than the ring as a symbol of love.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I actually really like the writing, I just feel like something isn't quite reconciled with the plot. Love the part where you talk about the shoes.