Chapter Five
A spider had formed its web in the corner, up by the ceiling, near where the cross hung. I couldn’t see the spider anywhere, but the web was positively alive with movement. A fly had wound up in the webbing, and with nothing else for me to do, I watched as it struggled. What was going through its mind, I wondered? Did it know that it was going to die, just as soon as the spider returned? Or had it deluded itself into thinking it still had a chance? That if it just wriggled enough, then the web might break? That the spider might be a nice spider, or that it was so full up from other flies that it would release this one without a thought? That all it had to do was remain strong and patient?
Or maybe it didn’t think anything at all. Maybe it was just a stupid fly.
Jonathan ret
