The Lady And The Spider

Word Count:258



         All my kin, and I, present ourselves’ before you daily as a warning—a reminder.

Perhaps you don’t notice us, but you should.  We are everywhere, come in all sizes and are feared by many.  And we are here for a reason.  There are some who say we were punished because of my pride.  Others say that it was Minerva who was guilty of that sin.

         But it matters not.  The result was the same.  A boast led to a contest, which led to anger—jealousy.  And in turn, that anger led to revenge.  Revenge led to humiliation, and then to self-loathing and eventually suicide. 

Only then did Minerva see her folly.  She was, after all, a goddess.  She should have risen above the emotions of mere mortals.  And in her shame—her remorse, she sealed our fate, forever.

For even gods and goddesses cannot repair what they destroy in anger.  And after, when the final deed was done, she saw her frailty.  She realized the weakness in her power.  But it was too late.  I had acted, perhaps too quickly—certainly too rashly. 

As she watched me hang before her, she recoiled from the horror of her own wrath, she repented.  She did the best she could do.  She watched, in sadness, at my suspended form and changed me.  And in that moment, changed the world forever.  For from that time forward we’ve been forced to weave. 

Who am I?  Now?  Now I am a spider—the mother of all spiders.  But I was born Arachne.