Spider in the Shower

“Oh shit” Sarah yelled “fuck, fuck, NO” her eyes scanned the bathroom wildly. “Frankie, where are you, Frankie?!” her voice growing more panicked by the second. Then she spotted him, at the bottom of the bathtub, completely submerged under the water. “Oh my god, hold on, hold on” she quickly shut off the tap and reached into the tub, carefully grabbing his small, delicate body. He was limp. She yanked the shower curtain to one side, and gently laid him over the edge of the tub. “Please be okay Frankie” she whispered, near tears, she stood over him, unsure what to do next. Kneeling down next to him she watched him lying there, so still. Then suddenly she remembered, Annie! She shot back up looking frantically for her. Thank goodness, there she was cowering in the corner! “Oh Annie” Sarah said gently, trying to mask the shaking of her voice “it’s okay, I know, Frankie will be okay, you just stay there, your safe there, I will take care of him.”

Sarah turned her attention back to Frankie’s motionless body, still lying draped over the side of the tub. She knelt down again and lifted her hand to gently caress him while singing softly under her breath.  She felt like she was crouched there for hours, though really it had only been a few minutes, when she heard a voice calling out to her, breaking through her trance.

“Sarah, Sarah, SARAH” the voice bellowed, “Sarah, are you okay?” It was her husband.

She heard his footsteps coming down the hall.

“Sarah, hello? I heard the water stop running and then I thought I heard yelling. Is everything all right? Do you need help?” he called, with worry in his voice. His footsteps were drawing closer.

Sarah snapped to attention, standing up quickly she replied, “yes, yes, everything is fine in here.” She couldn’t let him see what had happened. She grabbed a Kleenex from the box on the back of the toilet and gently reached down and scooped up Frankie’s body. She checked one last time, but no, Frankie was definitely gone. Carefully she folded up the Kleenex, dropped it in the toilet, and flushed. A tear rolled down her cheek and joined the swirl of water in the bowl. She turned back to Annie, still cowering in the corner of the shower. “I’m so sorry Annie; there was nothing else I could do.”

“What did you say, who are you talking to in there?” Her husband asked. He was right on the other side of the bathroom door now.

“Nothing, dear, “Sarah replied calmly.

“Okay, I thought you might have been talking to those damn spiders again. When are you going to clean up those webs anyway, it’s unsanitary!”

“I don’t know” Sarah said softly, and after making sure Annie was still safely perched in her web in the corner of the room, Sarah turned the water back on, and stepped in the tub to finish her shower.