Spiders: the Spookiest of Halloween's Tricks

                Even while hearing childhood's rhyme about Miss Muffet enjoying her curds and whey, minding her own business, I've thought spiders to be most rude.
                Hiding, sneaking out when you least expect them, they drop in uninvited.  They are bold and move rapidly in aggressive mode.
                Their housekeeping skills are questionable. Webs are vile.  Where there is a web, there is a spider, rather like the combination of smoke and fire.
                Once I brushed a web from my car door as I seated myself behind the steering wheel.  I brushed away the web, but somehow the occupant flipped inside the car. Something moved, so I brushed my hair, glancing into the rear view mirror in time to see the "tarantula from the black lagoon" scurry onto the visor. Still in the neighborhood, I screeched the car to a halt, threw open the door, jumped out, jumped up and down and screamed.  Recognizing that would not kill the monster, I calmed a moment. I took off my shoe, leaned inside the car, flipped down the visor and watched the arachnid fall onto the seat. There I took his life with great pleasure and abandon, wailing away at his fragmented body with the entire shoe's surface.
             Perhaps spiders in general seek revenge for the death of their leader at my hands, for spiders show up to scare me, behaving like mischief-making boys who run away after chunking their dirt clods at dressed up girls.
             I've written a story that combines several elements that make me nervous:  spiders, self-centered women with black hair, Miss Haversham, and guys named Jake.  I hope you'll enjoy "Black Ice." It's located in the Pages section to the right of this BlogPost.