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101 Word Short Stories

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The Spiders

October 1, 2023 11 Comments

By Andrew Corston

It begins in late summer.

We wake to find every streetlight, car, and building entombed in sheets of bone white silk. Dense tangles that run up tree trunks and blanket fields.

No matter how many times we tear them down they always come back. Thicker, and sparkling with morning dew.

Birdsong disappears as webs reduce woodlands to sunless valleys. Some suffocate inside their homes, unable to escape the heavy threads.

An old wives’ tale says that spiders spinning vast webs heralds the coming of a brutal winter.

And when they enter the house, snow is imminent.

Our fingers can almost touch.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rudolph Ferrro says

    October 1, 2023 at 12:59 pm

    Graphically beautiful story from a beautiful mind holding great promise writing poetry as well as verse. I hope indeed he keeps sending me more.

    Reply
    • Andrew Corston says

      October 1, 2023 at 3:22 pm

      Thank you very much for your kind words, Rudolph!

      Reply
  2. Lisa H. Owens says

    October 4, 2023 at 9:59 am

    Yikes! Spiders made poetic. I loved it.

    Reply
    • Andrew Corston says

      October 4, 2023 at 4:47 pm

      Thank you so much, Lisa!

      Reply
    • Andrew Corston says

      October 5, 2023 at 4:51 pm

      Thank you, Jenny!

      Reply
  3. Pamela Cartlidge says

    October 4, 2023 at 2:19 pm

    Thoughtful and evocative. Loved it.

    Reply
    • Andrew Corston says

      October 4, 2023 at 4:49 pm

      Thank you, Pamela!

      Reply
  4. Jenny says

    October 5, 2023 at 4:01 pm

    Love the imagination in this piece.

    Reply
    • Andrew Corston says

      October 5, 2023 at 4:52 pm

      Thank you, Jenny!

      Reply
  5. Michele Cacano says

    October 12, 2023 at 2:56 am

    You must live in the PNW! This story is thrilling in both its naturalness and unnaturalness. Nice!

    Reply
    • Andrew Corston says

      October 15, 2023 at 2:59 pm

      Thank you so much, Michele! I’m actually in the UK, but delighted to know the story travels so well!

      Reply

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