"Guess who's coming to dinner?"

"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

The silken strands of the web glistened in the morning
sunlight. The dew filled in sections of the web with a
silver pane of moisture as artfully crafted as if inserted with a glazier's deft touch.

In the upper periphery of the web a small body wriggled
at the sticky bonds that held it imprisoned. The
vibrations from that struggle shook the web like an
alarm bell. The master of the web knew that he had a
visitor that would stay for dinner, his in fact.

Slowly the furred, multi legged creature climbed the
narrow silken walk way. It was in no hurry. Dinner would
wait until it arrived. Along the way, a mend here and a
darn there strengthened the web. It was his custom to
explore its breadth daily looking for food and needed
repairs.

Like scavengers on a beach, each day brought something
different to his table. One day the cuisine was air borne,
another of the crawling variety. All who came here
remained to dine with him. It wasn't cruel or malicious,
it was just the way that nature had designed things.

Now, the creature could see the struggling victim. The
small, winged being was pulling mightily against its
bonds. It saw its fate approaching and the struggle
intensified. The spider waited patiently. Dinner would
soon grow tired and relent. It always did. And there
were no other pressing appointments jangling the web at
present.

The captured avian at last drew free one of its legs,
then another. It was winning the battle. The spider,
belatedly realizing the imminent escape of its dinner,
sprang into action. It scurried along the silken ladder
lickedy split. He who tarried went hungry. Just as it
neared the imprisoned avian, the small body broke free
and flapped its small wings into flight. The spider was
quick, but it could not fly and the avian just barely
escaped its already salivating jaws. It would live
another day.

The spider was philosophical. It was not the first
dinner that had managed to elude him. There would always
be others. And many of these were either too tired or
too timid to break free of their bonds. These would
become dinner. He would enjoy them more because of the
loss of this one. And, after all, he had nothing else to
do but wait for his guests to arrive. He could be
patient. Dinner always arrived sooner or later.

-30-

(424 words)

Joseph Xavier Martin