friendly neighborhood spider-man

Instinctively, he reached out to the spot beside him, expecting to roll over and be embraced with a warm hug, only to frown when the sheets were cold and his girlfriend out of sight.

With a few bleary blinks, muddled with faint memories of his dream, Peter’s eyes momentarily clenched shut as stretched his limbs, hearing the popping of joints and unravelling knots before he got up with an exasperated sigh.

It was a Saturday morning, and he had no intention of waking up that early, but the bed was cold and empty.

“Peter!”

A strangled plea, desperation, a familiar voice.

A hot flash struck Peter’s body — contrasting with the chill sensation that ran down his spine and collected and pooled deep in his gut.

Jumping out of bed, he grabbed his web-shooters with shaky hands but it felt as if his vision had been disfigured — as if he were staring through a fish-eye lens while attaching them to his wrist.

His chest grew tight and thundered as bile rushed to his throat. Blood rushed into his ears that muffled and encased his head in static noise.

He breathed hard, rushing up to the bedroom door and nearly ripping it off its hinges. Uncertainty bled through every action — the panic coursing through him only amplified the accompanying scream of her name.

Barreling into the living room, his eyes darted to find his girlfriend standing in the centre of the room. Without thought, webs shot out and grabbed her, pulling her back into Peter’s chest before shoving her behind him.

“Where is it? Are you hurt? What happened?” He fired rapidly, arms outstretched wide to broaden his coverage to shield her. His mind reeled into overdrive.

But a second came and went, and the silence prevailed, only for Peter's ragged breath, becoming shorter, sharper, to fill the room.

Hesitantly examining for any trace of the intruder, Peter tossed a look to her, staring into her eyes wide with panic.

“I know you’re scared but you have to tell me. Where did it go?”

Her arm shot up, finger waving mid-air. “Up there!”

About to shoot out another web, Peter paused, blinking in utter disbelief.

Adjacent to them, seated in the far right corner of the wall, unmoving and unthreatening, was a spider — a relatively small one at that. It remained motionless, biding its time in the uncharted territory as its beady eyes leered at them, standing on eight legs.

“Please get it!”

Relaxing and slumping his shoulders, he sighed, licked his lips and burst into a fit of laughter. Peter spun around to cup her face in his hands, slightly shaking her in timing with his speech. “You — argh! I thought something bad happened to you! Don’t. You. Ever. Scare. Me. Like. That!”

But she was preoccupied, focus still stuck on the spider that was now scuffling towards them at a menacing speed that had her wiggling out of his grasp.

“Pete, please!”

He shook his head with a smile and breathless laugh. “You’re scared of the itsy bitsy spider?”

“It’s huge!”

Peter rolled his eyes, gesturing to himself. “You sleep with one every night!”

“Well, my Spidey doesn’t have eight legs and a hundred eyes!” She scoffed as if he was the ridiculous one while pushing him further to the spider. “They’re so ugly! And disgusting — atrocious little creatures!”

“I’m trying really hard not to get offended right now.”

“Can you just kill it already?”

“Kill it?” He exclaimed. “That’s self-murder — suicide!”

Her whining ensued, cowering away as Peter climbed the wall, letting the spider crawl into his hands despite her protest to use a napkin and cup instead.

It was a small common house spider with black and brown fuzz. She no longer bothered with words, only gagging as Peter observed the creature in the palm of his hand. Either way, he found the situation becoming increasingly hilarious as he cracked open the window and let the spider free.

With a yawn, he held out his hand to lead her to the bedroom, yet she refused, sputtering about washing them first.

“Oh come on! You didn’t mind a certain spider’s hands on you last night.”

And with the flattening of her mouth, she rolled her eyes and took his hand. Although reluctantly and with a grimace on her face.

Who knew the beauty of mornings also included capturing spiders?