Killing Jar

Their sneakers shuffled on the aging wood. “You asked where I got ‘em,” said Elias, brandishing the mayonnaise jar. “They live in here. It’s where I’d live, if I was a spider.” He pointed to a crevice between the stairs. “There’s one in there. Go get her.”

Billy stepped forward. Elias’ smile was wide and thin-lipped. Billy swallowed and unscrewed his own jar.

“Be careful,” Elias said. “She’s poisonous.”

Billy thought he could see movement. Upstairs, there was a thump. Both boys looked up. Strands of web drifted down, rope-thick, and something bulky and angular dragged onto the landing overhead…

The First Step to Acceptance is Understanding

“I used to be afraid of them,” Vitari said. “Something in the mind just… recoils. Too many legs, moving too many directions.” He scratched at his ear. “They’re not like us. They’re alien. We can’t understand how that kind of brain can work, and so we fear them.”

Mari kept her back to the wall, watching wide-eyed.

“You have to open to the possibility. Once you understand them, the fear goes away. I know you’ll see. You only have to let them in.”

His eyelid twitched, then bulged, as something with too many legs began to push its way out…