Right after his bath, she dries him and then gets a Q-tip so there’s wax in his ear canal to stop her, Sophie, a brown recluse spider, as she climbs down his left ear because he sleeps on his right. Sophie finds his ear canal much warmer than the cardboard in the basement, and it’s so much cleaner thanks to Mom.
Sophie left her messy web to kill a cockroach behind the radiator in James’ room. She sought him before her lunch coma…ah… just resting my eyes, all six, she thinks.
After midnight she starts to crawl out. James screams. Jumps out smacking the left side of his head. Mom rushes into his room, “I told you not to go under the water.”
Mom has the solution — more Q-tips. She pushes the Q-tip against Sophies’ soft body; her eight legs flail across James’ eardrum. He doesn’t know that brown recluses are one of two deadly spiders in the US. James cries relentlessly.
Sophie remembers when Mom was singing him to sleep. What was it …the words…ugh, the Q-tip keeps lunging, and she’s bloated from eating that cockroach…that tune… Sweet Baby James. That’s it — “deep greens and blues, James.” Her soft vibrations relax James and Mom happy with cleanliness.
Sophie waits to climb out after he goes back to sleep, but he doesn’t. James fidgets until Sophie calms her beating heart with deep breaths and relaxes each leg at a time and that…ah…makes her sleepy. Yeah…talk to James in the morning…uh-huh.
James is hopping downstairs before Sophie wakes. Mom is telling him to eat his pancakes before Sophie can climb out. And James is out the door just like that. Mom holds his hand in the crosswalk. Maybe James will bring her someplace with more insects. She’s heard that kids like James go to a place called School.
After the school bell rings, she’s reminded she’s nocturnal and a recluse. And while there’s lots of cockroaches hiding in the boy’s room, it’s too bright and too busy for her.
For a while, Sophie finds refuge in James. He becomes quieter. Sophie learns to leave before bath time but always comes back after midnight. James keeps his room messy, his mom yells at him to clean it up, but he only half listens. Sophie talks to him in the evening about school. He learns to crouch down when threatened. He does this until one day Tommy, the neighborhood bully, pushes him to the edge. James strikes back with venomous anger.
“Once bitten, twice shy,” his mom says when Tommy’s mom complains. James always wanted a brother or a best friend, but he’ll settle for a voice in his head. Sophie learns to sing James asleep, “There is a young cowboy…”
One night, Sophie discovers a new crew in the basement. It might be her time, she realizes. Either mom will call terminators, or the new spiders will overwhelm her. Sophie is caught between the proverbial Q-tip and an eardrum.
The next night she talks to James between lullabies, “Take me to the Berkshires before the snow comes.”
James convinces Mom to take them for a hike in the mountains. James notices all the insects: aphids, beetles, moths, and mosquitoes. Towards the end of the day, they sit on top of the sunbaked cliffs, with dry leaves, browns and reds, rustling below. James puts his head on Mom’s shoulder. Sophie knows it was hard for him to take her out here. She whispers in his ear, “Goodbye, sweet baby James.”
About the Author:
Dave Nash (he/him) is writing, revising, and redrafting his stories about commuting to New York, running, and guzzling coffee. He is a slush pile reader, book club joiner, and positively positive workshop commentator. You can learn more about Dave and his writing at https://davenashwrites.substack.com/.
