Edwin lay still, getting his breath back and thanking his lucky stars that he had avoided injury. He had been falling for what seemed ages, before eventually landing in something soft and yielding, like a net.
His head was still spinning and his vision swam, so Edwin couldn’t make out where he was. He tried to stand, but couldn’t move his arms or legs. He closed his eyes and waited for the world to stop turning. Then he tried to stand again, but still couldn’t move so much as a muscle.
It seemed as though he was stuck. Stuck to the net.
Only, he realised after closer inspection, it wasn’t really a net. The silvery strands were thick and fibrous, and clung to him as if coated with glue.
Edwin spotted a shape moving high above him: a bulbous shape with spindly legs. Eight spindly legs, to be precise.
A spider. Edwin now realised what had happened. He had fallen into a spider’s web!
The spider shape loomed closer, and Edwin heard that horrible scratchy-scuttling noise. And there was the smell, that stench of old garden sheds, musty kitchen cupboards and dead insects. He kicked his legs and waved his arms in an attempt to dislodge himself from the sticky web, and with some effort he managed to free his right leg.
Suspended on a thread of glistening silver, the spider hung directly above him. Its body was the size of a beach ball, and its legs as thick as broom handles. One of those thick broom handle legs reached down and brushed Edwin’s cheek.
Edwin screamed, and his right knee jerked up instinctively to connect with the spider’s abdomen. The spider emitted a startled yelp, before the impact sent it hurtling upwards.
Edwin’s scream became a chuckle as he watched the spider fade into the gloom above, but the chuckle became a scream again when he saw it falling back down.
The plummeting spider hit Edwin in the stomach. There were twanging noises as web strands snapped, and suddenly Edwin was falling again.
The spider jumped away, but Edwin kept falling, through another layer of web, and another, the sticky strands clinging to his tumbling body and slowing his descent. Edwin rolled onto solid ground and lay stunned, but unharmed, wrapped from neck to ankles in a cocoon of silver thread.
As he lay there, waiting for his head to stop spinning again, Edwin heard that scratchy-scuttling sound. Looking up, he saw the spider squatting next to his feet, its eight beady eyes glinting with malice. With some considerable effort, Edwin edged away from the spider, squirming like a maggot as he made his tortuous escape.
That scratchy-scuttling noise sounded again, but this time from in front of him. The spider dropped to the ground, blocking his route. Grunting from the effort, Edwin managed to change direction, only to see the spider barring his path again.
That smell of old garden sheds, musty kitchen cupboards and dead insects was now more intense than ever. More scratchy-scuttling noises sounded. From the right. And the left. And behind him. And it was only then that Edwin realised…
It wasn’t just the one spider anymore. Tilting his head, Edwin counted one, two, three, four of the things. Hang on, there was another one. And another one. And three more over there. And…
As Edwin’s eyes adjusted to the dim light, the full extent of his predicament was revealed. He was surrounded by spiders, a sea of eight legged bulbous bodies stretching in all directions as far as he could tell. And the sea was seeping inwards, threatening to engulf him…