the spiders give her a last meal to remember

it was still cold
and since she was underground the chill was almost shivering

she waited for the creature to speak,
as it seemed preparing to do,
but it made some chirping sounds
she could neither distinguish
meaning nor music from
and so she began again looking into the deeper earth
for some escape

that is when she saw again
the spider eyes,
this time like before there below
not her creature's benign arrangement
but the many eyed possibly poisonous sort
which she decided was the only thing they could be
with eyes so placed in that manner

and she was right

her new speechless mudbird friend
had barely lept up on her shoulder
as she was slung from spider to spider
in sticky silken felt and sound whispered currents
satiny deadly
into the farther blacknesses

what did they want with her

how would she ever become queen now

she felt herself and her tiny companion
descend thru tunneling earth and
tossed then thru churning air
abuzz with feeler and fuzzbellys and dirt
and she could see nothing
only imagine where she would end up

finally coming to rest
she tipped a bit when set down on her feet
clipped entanglement of web strands
then equilibrium after dizzinesses
now rest
focusing
"solid ground feels so good" she said aloud
to no one in particular
simply because it felt good to say something out loud

what she saw when her eyes adjusted to the candlelight
was a feast grandiose
of things she only dreampt would share a table
all the things delightful to her
embedded in her senses as delectible and lovely
oh the desserts and fruits and steaming plates
and soup toureens and elaborate vegetables with spices so scented
she nearly lost consciousness

it was nothing she had ever seen...

but something was odd
why this, here, and how?
how would anyone know these, dishes some so obscure
things familiar only to rare people
and all here together...
she paused
her spine was electric

all around her the darkness set in a breath over her shoulder

she realized she had failed to even look behind her
so taken by the lavish thing in front of her
but was it even real?

she felt a heavy presence on her shoulder
and turned around

"since you are now the sacrifice, we have given you this
we hope that you are satisfied,
may it give health for your final hours"
and the thing disappeared into the dark

final hours...
hmmmm,
that was not in the plans.

her watch may have broken on that fall into the spider crack
but she knew she didn't have hours to waste here,
neither did she have any intention of dying for some spiders
who had probably tortured her mother to find out
all her favorite things to eat
and this was what almost brought her to another tear,
but her sweet silent creature
now sitting on the edge of her thumb
said to her very tenderly,

"so, the plans for getting out of here?..."
and she nodded her head with resolve
cleared her throat
wiped her face with the edge of her long sleeves
and they began searching the perimeters of the cavernous underground...