She was a little spider. From her own thread she had made a web, and she was hungry. Besides, what else could she be doing? Now she was lying motionlessly in her corner, her legs stretched out and all her eyes staring up through the web, waiting for something to happen. She did not think much, for, to be honest, she did not even know what a spider should be thinking about. She was just passing her time, in expectation of this unmistakable event announcing that her hunger would be stilled.
Before long, something crossed her mind. Not a thought, for she still did not know what a spider could be thinking about. From somewhere, she did not know how, she remembered that spiders were sometimes supposed to eat their own, females the males. She shuddered. At least she would be at the winning end. She had grown hungrier, as she realized. She did not know how long she had been lying there, still in her comfortable position. In fact, her feeling for time was not well developed. Although she instinctively know that things changed – her stomach was often empty as the web, but every once in a while there was a feast – she had no concept of time. Was it more boring to lie waiting like this, or when time would not exist at all? What a crazy idea. She almost fell asleep.
At last, her full attention was called upon. She had heard a shrill sound which, as she fancied, had made her web vibrate. This noise, so familiar and yet alien to her little world, had only briefly made her anger boil over about the disruption of her peaceful rest. Then, knowing what this meant, she jumped up in excitement: soon, she would no longer be hungry. Although she did not know, she knew the meaning of the sound, and clearly made out a few distinctly separated words: “Dinner’s ready!” The little spider died, unremembered, and she ran downstairs.
***
Crediti: Spidergirl è un estratto da Once Before Time: a whole story of the universe (Knopf, 2010) di Martin Bojowald. D’accordo con l’autore, abbiamo deciso di isolare il passo e farne un racconto. Ringraziamo l’autore per averci concesso il diritto di riprodurlo in inglese.
L’articolo è parte di Ô Metis V, Invenzione
L’illustrazione è di Diamond
