Wednesday, November 02, 2005


Craig did not believe the rumors about his girlfriend. It was said that she was a spider lady, that she had lived in the forest, woven webs from tree to tree and frightened children who had stumbled upon her tangled abode. In fact, it was ludicrous. A girl, she was a girl. But when she sauntered along with her controlled, steady flow of motion, there was something of the calculated steps of that eight-limbed creature, wasn't there? He drove the doubt from his mind and laughed at himself. Reality, reality. Just a girl. He had felt her skin upon his and never in those moments did spiders crawl in his imagination. A girl. When he looked into her dark eyes, eyes that grew larger with the depth of each breath he took until they loomed before him like black suns, he recalled the silk weavings of a web embracing him, wrapping him, nestling on his warmth, and tensing around him. It was effort, great effort that recalled him, head shaking the morbid thoughts from it. No! She was the flesh and blood of a girl. But again his eyes traced the red pattern of the nets adorning her arms. The fabric a spider weaves is not red! Never is it red! He laughed to himself, but was already dizzy. His eyes rested on the black-beaded armlets, concentric bands hugging the sweet skin above her wrists. They hugged her as he had wanted to hug her, with the eternal poetry of never-ending symmetric rings. He was holding her now. A kiss from her mouth on his stunned him, paralyzed him. He watched as her offspring hatched from the pretty black beads that were her jewelry. His eyes could not blink - his vision blurred. He sensed as they swarmed over him, as his consciousness sank into a deep oblivion of no return.

Story #303

Special Note: This week Indeterminacy is the featured blog at successful-blog.com. Here are links to post 1, post 2, post 3 post 4 and post 5. I couldn't have been any kind of success, if that's what I am, without you who take the time to read these stories and help me with your feedback. Thanks a million!

6 comments:

Doug The Una said...

Good story, classic Indie and reminds me of my favorite. By the way, if you haven't already, look for Bierce's short story "The Eyes of The Panther." I think you'll like it plus, the first section is entitled "One Does Not Always Marry When Insane." I'm thinking of having that inscribed on my tombstone.

Indeterminacy said...

Thanks Doug. I think you were waiting around to see if I'd make a post or not. Well, I got lucky.

I need a collected short stories of Bierce. That's the one thing I'm missing.

Jack's Raging Mommy said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jamie Dawn said...

Creepy, crawly goodness. She had to feed her babies somehow.

Doug The Una said...

You're great interview, by the way. I look forward to the dedication of your star on Hollywood Boulevard.

The Mushroom said...

Dammit, Craig, you were warned. Now you're dinner... or starring in a Cure video.