Itsy Bitsy Spider

The sky is grey, full of fast moving clouds. On the ground there are dead leaves. They rustle the air, a skittering static discharge. Pressed against a window is a black cardboard cat, wearing a witch's hat, sat beside a perfect pumpkin. Wrapped around the door a flattened Frankenstein holds a sign that says danger, beware. Telephone lines whip in the wind and it howls as it moves between them. For hours it's looked like rain. The sidewalks are littered with evidence of adolescent mischief; broken eggs, splattered shaving cream, silly string.

Excitement and quick, hurried words. A small thumb gnashes a button. Panting, hushed laughter, exhilaration. The pair thunder down the stairs and race toward tall hedges opposite the house. They duck behind a rusted car and peer out over the bumper.

Across the street a doorknob turns. The door opens. An old, haggard looking man stands in the doorway, staring down at the flaming bag. His eyes dart from the bag to the street and slide from side to side as they scan for whoever is responsible. A disgusted sigh and he disappears inside to find something to put the fire out with. Giddy, the laughing children cackle and hold their hands to their mouths while they watch for the old man's next move. Out of sight, on the roof of the car is a toy spider, inching toward the children every time the wind blows. The man is back with a pot of water which he pours onto the fire. The bag sizzles and stinks as the water hits it, leaving a brown muddy puddle on the man's doorstep. He curses and grumbles, muttering as he looks out into the evening, knowing somewhere they are watching him.

"You think this is funny, don't you," the man asks the wind.

From behind the car they laugh to themselves in disbelief, proud of their havoc. The wind edges the spider closer.

"If I find you rotten kids, I'll kill you, I swear!" He throws the pan against the stairs.

A bus stops at the end of the road and a middle aged woman gets off. She's dressed professionally, in a beige skirt and blazer. She looks tired, like she's put in a full days work. She roots through her pocketbook looking for her cigarettes. The bus takes off down the street. The wind gusts over the roof of the car, sending the toy spider onto the nearest boy's shoulder. He cries out in shock and leaps into the air as he slaps the spider away, onto the other boy. The old man hears the commotion and spots the boys across the street and begins to yell. The abruptness of the first boy's movement, and the sudden sight of the spider send the other boy recoiling from behind the car out into the street, into the bus, under its wheels.

The woman screams. The bus stops. The old man stares.