Two Widows

Having secured the thread she started her descent. Beneath her the evil one slept peacefully. His appearance surprised her.

'Why is it,' she asked herself,' that even the most evil monster looks innocent when they are sleeping?'

The man below her lay on his back snoring. He looked like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. She thought how much fun it would be to drop something into that open mouth. As she pictured him coughing and choking she knew it didn't suit her plan; she wanted him asleep, oblivious of what was in store. His look of innocence might have dissuaded her but she could still hear the screams of her children as the flames engulfed them, flames that he, the evil one beneath her had brought down upon them.

Suddenly there was movement below her. The man's wife jabbed her finger into his ribs and he obediently rolled onto his side. It took only a few moments for him to settle back into a deep sleep. The snoring stopped and the only sound in the room was of the two people rhythmically breathing in an out. She waited for him to settle before continuing her descent

'How,' she asked herself, 'could he sleep so soundly knowing what he'd done?'

She had no doubt it was deliberate. One of the children had tried to make a break for it and she'd watched in horror as he chased it down with the flaming torch. Now it was her turn. Inch by inch he lowered herself until she was in just the right position, then silently, painlessly, she injected all of her poison into his neck. The man didn't even flinch but she waited to be sure he didn't wake. Happy with her work she started her climb.

A few feet up she stopped and looked down at him; still sleeping like a baby, his wife beside him. She knew the poison would work its way into his body before the pain woke him. It occurred to her that by morning, she wouldn't be the only widow in these parts, not the only one wearing black. Climbing to the top she broke the thread off and scuttled across the ceiling.

The hunger started to gnaw away at her, but there were other priorities. First she wanted to start a new family, followed by a good meal.