Said the Spider to the Fly

Their introduction was a meet-cute, kind of, at a Halloween party.

Will Travers, invited by a friend from his accounting firm job, had decided to go at the last minute. Halloween parties weren’t really his thing, but he didn’t have any better plans, so he had stopped at the local drugstore, bought a cheap kids makeup kit, and thrown together a passable Dracula costume.

His first sight of her, from the back, had come when his friend and host Benny had pointed her out, standing behind him.

“Now that’s what I call a sexy spider.”

“There is absolutely nothing that is even remotely sexy about a spider,” Will replied with an obvious shudder.

“Oh, that’s right. You’ve got that fear, what do you call it…”

“Arachnophobia.”

“Yeah, that’s it. Well, take a gander behind you, and you might just be cured,” Benny suggested, gesturing over Will’s shoulder.

Reluctantly, he turned around to see the back of a woman indeed dressed as a spider, but sexy was an understatement. Ignoring the pairs of fake legs radiating out from her waist, her tight body suit plunged in the back down to her waist. High yellow and black striped boots with equally high heels finished what he could see from this vantage.

“Who’s afraid of spiders,” she asked, turning to face Will and Benny.

“I guess that would be me, but… Holy, jeez!” Will cried, staggering backward a few steps into his friend.

“I see you like my mask as well,” came the voice again, this time from the horrifying face of a human-sized spider.

Her mask was impressive, in a creepy and unsettling sort of way. Black with streaks of yellow, with multiple sets of black, glassy eyes, starting with her own and cascading back over her forehead, the pincher jaws somehow actually flexed and moved as she spoke.

“Are you alright”, she asked, quickly understanding his reaction and pulling the mask over her head as she replied.

“Yes, you just startled me. God, where did you get that outfit?”

“Oh this,” she said, trying for casual. “I actually made it.”

“Wow, are you a fashion designer or something?”

“No, I’m a web designer.”

“Really, that sounds fascin…,” he cut himself off, seeing her grin and bob her fake appendages up and down. “Oh, I get it. Very funny.”

“A little slow, but. No, really, I’m actually in the pest control business.”

With his guard up now, he was ready for her backup try. “I’m not falling for that a second time. Next thing you’ll be telling me your name is Charlotte.”

That got a bigger smile and a laugh.

“Good one. I’ll have to remember that. No, my name is Hana. Hana Yoshida. Or Reynolds, if you prefer.”

“Two last names?”

“Japanese-American. Dad, the Reynolds side, died when I was young. Mom, the Yoshida, switched her name back, so I use both. I know it’s odd but…”

“Not that strange.”

Hana asked if he wanted to sit down, admitting that along with being both scary and sexy, her costume was rather bulky, making it difficult to maneuver in a crowd.

They found an empty couch, Will got them drink refills, and over two hours flew by before they knew it.

“So now that I’ve known you all of a couple hours, Will Travers, I feel comfortable asking, is there a backstory to your arachnophobia? It’s not that unusual, but since it’s kind of the subject that brought us together, I was thinking maybe you could share some more about it with me.”

Will had indeed become quite comfortable around Hana in their short time together.

“Just a dream I had as a kid, not really much to tell.”

“Oh, childhood nightmares! Tell me, tell me,” she pleaded giddily. “Is it creepy? I love creepy stories.”

“It’ll bore you.”

“Please? I promise I won’t make fun of you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Even though that had always been a primary reason he had avoided telling this story in the past, and the fact that his older brothers had teased him relentlessly for his fears, the thought that Hana might act similarly hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“OK, here goes. Now, understand, this was… what, twenty years ago, and a dream, so I only remember so much of it.”

“Really? How many times have you replayed this in your head? Now stop stalling.”

“You sure you want to hear this?”

“It’s almost Halloween, and I want to hear a scary story.”

“Ok, I’m not sure how scary it really is, but I was eight years old:

I was playing with some friends out on a farm somewhere. There’re woods just behind this barn, and we are running around on the edge of them, when I run face first into a spider web, complete with a big, ugly spider up in the corner. Well, it scares the hell out of me, so I swat away what I can, then run back towards the barn. I remember wanting to hide for some reason, and there was this old rickety wooden ladder going up to the hayloft. Thinking that would be a great hiding place, I started climbing. Just before I got to the top, I looked down at the ladder, and just above where my hand was holding on, I saw this knot in the wood. No big deal, except that as I looked at it, the center started to move, and this tiny little spider crawled out. The spider headed for my hand, and with every little scurry step it took, it got bigger and bigger. I was frozen with fear and couldn’t move, even as the damn thing crawled onto my hand. But the real horror happened when I looked back at the knot. There was now a steady stream of tiny spiders pouring out of the center of hole, and all of them were headed right up my arm, growing as they moved. In no time, I was almost completely covered. I still couldn’t manage to move or brush them off. All I managed to do was let go of the ladder and start to fall, plummeting to the ground, covered in a writhing mass of spiders…

“…and then I woke up. And the memory of that dream has stayed with me my entire life, sometimes more prominent than others, but always there, ready to pop back up at the least opportune time.”

“Like at a friend’s Halloween party?”

“You must think so highly of me. We’ve known each other, what, not even three hours, and I’ve spent the better part of that time regaling you with my neuroses.”

“Believe it or not, I like a man who isn’t afraid to show his weaknesses, who can be vulnerable.”

“Well, that’s me, although I usually try not to lead with it.”

“I can at least better appreciate my mask freaking you out so much.”

“Yes, I could probably live a calmer life if you promise to never wear that again.”

“I could probably be persuaded,” she cooed. “Anything else you find alarming? Maybe something else you want me to take off?”

Will had met women and had one-night stands a couple times before, but none had ever moved quite this quickly. He was smiling back at her and the implied offer, trying to come up with a witty and charming response, when she beat him to it.

“My hotel room’s only a couple blocks. And you look like you could use some fresh air anyway,” she said, standing and taking him by the hand.

“Lead the way, my little black widow.”

“Actually, I’m a joro spider, but you’ve probably never heard of those, have you.

“No, but I think they might be my favorite kind.”

She laughed, and leaned to whisper in his ear as they left.

“Come to my hotel room?“ said the flirtatious Spider to the handsome Fly,

Take me to bed, make me moan and make me scream, and perhaps end it all with a sigh.”

The sex was unbelievable, easily the best he had ever experienced. The physical part had been special enough, but it was the feeling that he had when he was with Hana that he couldn’t get over. He found her incredibly attractive, and wanted to make love to her again and again, but he also felt so at ease, so much himself in her company.

Laying on her bed and basking in his newfound euphoria, Hana dropped cold reality in his lap.

“I hate to do this to you Will, but I actually have a plane I need to catch in a few hours.”

“You’re leaving. You’re kidding.”

“No. I should have mentioned it sooner, but we were having such a good time, and I didn’t want to spoil it, and… you forgive me?”

“Where to?” he asked, still stunned.

“I’m flying to Japan, to see my mother. She’s just getting over some serious health issues, and I haven’t been able to see her in a long time.”

“So that doesn’t sound like a short trip?”

“No, I was planning on staying 3 or 4 weeks. I actually haven’t even booked the return flight yet.”

“Can I call you?” he almost begged.

“She lives awfully rural. There isn’t much cell coverage there, and she doesn’t even own a phone. We stay in touch by writing old fashioned letters, if you can believe that. Mother doesn’t really stay up on anything very modern.”

“So when will I see you again?”

“Just as soon as I get back, I promise.”

He looked at her dejected, but desperately wanting to trust her.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

He couldn’t answer.

“Why would I do all this, only to make up some lame excuse story?”

“Cause you’re a mean, evil spider witch?” That at least got a chuckle from her and managed to break the tension a bit.

“I’ve got an hour or so,” she said, looking toward the clock on the nightstand for verification. “Let’s see what we can do to put you in a more trusting frame of mind.”

Will was amazed at the new heights of ecstasy they achieved in only that hour, and also how quickly it passed. Hana had dressed, pulled a loaded suitcase from her closet, and was headed for the door before he had even sat himself up in her bed.

“Checkout is 11. Feel free to stay a bit and recover if you need to, you know, come down from your carnal high so it’s safe for you to navigate the streets again.”

She was being playful, but Will did feel like he would need some time before he ventured out in public.

“So you’ll call just as soon as you can?”

She nodded from the doorway, then walked back to the bed, bent down and kissed him on the cheek, whispering in his ear:

“Said the satiated Spider to her Man, no longer just a fly,

I shall not forget this evening soon, but for now I must say goodbye.”

The first week she was gone, the memories of their one night together were enough. The second week, Will started to feel lonely and miss Hana. It took him until the third before he started having doubts that she would return, even though she had said she would be gone this long. By the end of the week, he couldn’t help wondering if he had somehow been played and used, though he couldn’t see the real downside, beyond pining for a woman he barely knew like some teenager with his first crush.

On day twenty-five, he knew because he was counting them, she called just as he was leaving work.

“Guess who, my former little fly?”

“Why it must be the spider witch,” he replied, falling easily into their previous playful banter.

“Now is that any way to great a long-lost lover, even if it is true?”

“So, where are you? Are you here in the city?” he asked, trying to keep the desperation from coming through in his voice.

“Not just yet. I’m at the Tokyo airport. Thought I’d call as soon as I got back to civilization. But that does bring me to a question I have?”

Afraid of what she might be asking, Will waited her out without saying anything.

“How about giving me your address, so I can get a hotel room within walking distance. You know, make it easier on us.”

He almost argued for her to just stay with him, but caught himself in time. No matter how desperately he needed to see her, he had to keep the course of this relationship in perspective.

“Sounds great. I’ll text it to you. So, when are you getting back?”

“Tomorrow, or later today for me. Time zones and date lines always get me confused, but about twenty hours from now, whenever that time is where you are.”

He could listen to her talk on the phone all day, he thought. With just those few sentences, all the doubts and frustrations from the previous weeks vanished.

“But I do have to run if I want to make my next flight.”

“Send me your itinerary, and I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

“Don’t bother, I can get an Uber. Besides, I don’t know if I trust myself to see you again in a public place. We might end up getting arrested for indecent exposure.” she laughed.

“OK, but call me when you land?”

“Just as soon as I can. God, I can’t wait to see you again.”

“I think you know I feel the same.”

“Text me that address, and try to keep it in your pants ‘til I get there,” she said, clicking off.

It took him to well past midnight to fall asleep that night, he was so excited about seeing Hana. Sometime later, he woke up, or thought he did, to that same euphoric, dreamlike feeling that he had experienced in Hana’s hotel room. He had been dreaming of her, and maybe still was. His head slowly clearing, he thought he could see a figure standing at the foot of his bed.

“Hello, lover.” It was unmistakably Hana’s voice coming from the darkness.

“Hana? I thought…”

“I got in early. Thought I’d surprise you.”

“But, my apartment, how did you get in?” he asked, glossing over the part where she had made it from Tokyo to New York in less than 12 hours.

“Well, I came in through the window, silly. After all, I am a spider witch, right.”

As his head continued to try to clear, and his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see that she was wearing her spider outfit again, the extra legs silhouetted just visibly by moonlight coming in through the drapes.

She began to crawl onto the bed with him, all of her arms and legs seeming to move and articulate, the real as well as the costume ones. She crawled right on top of him, but hovered above him on legs that were too long for a normal woman. He could see her face partially, and was relieved to see that at least she hadn’t worn the creepy mask. She did seem to have added what looked like a billowy black boa to the outfit, or maybe a furry collar. It bulged up from her shoulders and high on her back, almost like a furry hump.

“Oh, but you look confused, my randy little mate,” she said, snatching his attention back.

“Did you say mate?”

“Yes, and I suppose you deserve some explanation, dearest.” She bent down to whisper in his ear:

“In Japan, my former Fly, I am Jorogumo, the temptress spider whore,

But here in America, I am unknown as yet, not a part of the culture’s lore.”

Their faces close enough to almost touch now, he saw that what he had thought was a collar or boa on her back appeared to me moving, twitching and skittering just a bit at the edges.

 “A lot has happened while I was away. We’ve started a family, and I’m here tonight to introduce you to your brood. Children, say hello to your father.”

The mass on her back suddenly flattened and began to flow over her shoulders, landing on Will’s face and spreading quickly over his body.

It was his dream revisited, but was it now real! He still felt half asleep and groggy. If this was real, he should be thrashing and fighting, running from the bedroom in a blind panic. But just like a dream, he could barely move. Though he could feel the dozens of tiny spiderlings that had nearly encased his body, he felt oddly relaxed.

“I’m sorry that I can’t simply bite and paralyze you, shield you from the pain, but our children are too young, and the poison I produce is too strong for their delicate systems, so the pheromones I emit will have to suffice. That’s how I chose you, in case you’re curious. Not all men respond to my mating intimations so forcefully, but you! You can’t imagine how thrilled I was when you so obviously reacted to just the simplest of scents that I was offering up at the party.”

She rose up on her two pair of hind legs, a human-spider nightmare.

Will held out some hope that this was all still just some warped and vivid dream, until he felt the first spiderling bite into his neck. He tried to scream, thought maybe he could find the energy for that most primal of reactions at least, only to find his mouth being filled with sticky threads of silk. Before the spiderlings ate into his ears and rendered him deaf, he heard her voice one last time:

“Said the Spider to her chosen Mate, lying captured and lolling upon his bed,

Such a good father to provide for his children, assuring the young ones are all well fed.”