Little Miss Muffet – The Death

My beautiful child… where have you gone…?

Samantha Muffet looked down over the lunch she had packed.  Curds and whey…what had she been thinking this morning?  It was sad to say, but she couldn't really remember.  Her night had been full of twelve-year-old dreams of Luke Riker.  Oh, Luke!  Just the sight of him and his dark russet hair and piercing blue eyes made her melt from the inside out.  Who cared that she had never actually talked to him?  She was almost old enough to marry, and she had picked him.  She would have him, too.  How could he refuse?

Samantha had thought it strange that Sally had acted the way she did when she had said something about Luke.  So what if Sally happened to like him as well?  It was Samantha's mother who had suggested him to her daughter after all.  Besides, Sally was much too chubby to have him anyway.  Samantha might as well shoot for it.  In a year she would pretty much be a woman.  Then she could marry and have Luke all to herself.

Ah… Luke… the sweet name rolled off her lips like honey.  She wondered if he thought the same of her…

She had worn her best dress today.  It was long and pink with lots of ruffles, fitting close to her blossoming figure.  Her hair was done up nicely with a matching bow.  For her lunch, she had ventured off alone into the woods, and despite what Antonia thought, Samantha had planned to come here today.  She knew that Luke had passed through here everyday for the past week.  Sometimes when she was outside, he would wave at her, and everyday she would not be able to speak with him.  This day she would be prepared.

The girl made herself comfortable on a large rock nearby and crossed her legs, just as she had seen the older girls do beneath their long skirts.  Sitting there alone and arranging her food before her, she had imagined herself sitting upon a grand tuffet in a beautiful house.  She would be prim and proper, though really she had no reason to be.  She would sit on this "tuffet" casually until Luke just happened to pass by.  Then she would say the line that she had rehearsed to strenuously until it had become perfect.

Why Luke!  Fancy meeting you out here! 

From there on, it would lead into brilliant conversation, to which she would listen while he talked; it was the proper thing for a lady to do.

Oh, how she waited for him in anticipation!  But she would, of course, act obliviously when she saw him coming towards her.  It was only the…

"Well well," said the voice from behind her.

Her heart jumped in her throat when she heard it and her face became hot.  He was here?  But… he had caught her off guard!  No matter, she would try to improvise.

"Fancy meeting you here, Samantha Muffet," said Luke, titling his head to her and placing his hands on his hips.

All she could do was look up at him without words.  She had nothing to say!  He had stolen her line!  She took a deep breath to calm herself.  She could do this…

"Hello Luke," she said sweetly. "What brings you out here?"

"The weather," he said, approaching as her face became hotter.  She turned away as he continued. "Nice day isn't it?"

"Yeah. I've always thought the forest was really nice when the breeze was just barely blowing through the trees… So, what have you been doing out here all this week?"

"Hoping that you'd get the hint," he said, sitting down on the rock beside her.

"Oh…" she said lowly, taking great care not to look at him.

So… he did feel that way too…

"So, how have you been, Miss Muffet?" he asked her, as though not quite sure what to say.

She could understand that; she was flabbergasted as well.

"I'm fine… except for all those boring lectures Miss Gillcrest gives us in class.  I cannot wait until next year when I can stay at home if I want."

Luke's face lit with laughter. She smiled.

"Nancy always was boring," he commented in thought.

"Nancy? You… know Miss Gillcrest?" she asked, her face growing hot with jealousy; her heart beating faster.

"We pretty much grew up together, you know. We're the same age."

Samantha thought for a moment.  Comparing him with her teacher did make him seem rather old now, but her father was more than ten years older than her mother.  They had married young; there was nothing wrong with it.

"I see," she said, placing her hands in her lap carefully.

"So, what sorts of things do you like?" Luke asked, hearing the voices of children in the background.  The lunchtime lacked not too much longer being done with.

"I like… flowers, dresses,… boys," she said coyly with a smile.

"What else?" he asked, his smooth voice sounding interested.

"Kittens… talking with older women… hmmm… what else?" she asked herself.

"You… like spiders, Miss Muffet?" asked Luke on a whim.

Spiders?  Why would he ask such a thing?  Was he teasing her?

"I don't too much care for spiders," she said simply, not seeing much harm in playing down her real opinion.

"Why not?" Luke asked. "Is it the prickly legs?  The dozens of beady eyes?"

Samantha laugh uncomfortably.  Why had he asked?  Did he know of her fear and was trying to get her to confess?  What did it really matter that she was particularly afraid of spiders?  So what if once, when she had seen a spider in her house, she had frozen and her mother had to pick her up from the spot and carry her to the other end of the house to get her to move again?  So what if she was deathly… allergic?

"I don't suppose any girl really likes spiders," she said quietly.

Luke was silent for a moment, reaching his right hand to his side and picking up something between his index finger and thumb.  Then he turned to Samantha, his blue eyes lighting wildly.

"Sally likes spiders," he commented, raising his fingers up to his face and examining them.

Samantha's breath caught in her throat as she stared at him.  What was he doing?

There, resting between his fingers was… a spider.  A black widow, to be exact.  Samantha knew what those looked like.  Its black shiny form writhed between his fingers, but he held it in such a fashion that it could not escape, nor place its poison in him.

Samantha stared at it wide eyed, pushing herself back away from Luke, as he brought the bug closer to him, and ultimately, closer to her.

"What are you doing with that? Why'd you have a spider in your pocket?" she asked in confusion and fear, though she tried not to let it show much.

"Spiders are… an obsession of mine," he stated, looking over the polished black form. "They're… intriguing." He turned his face to her. "Just like you.  I wanted to know if my two 'current' obsessions could go together well."

"Current obsessions?" she asked, becoming a bit more comfortable, as long as the spider stayed over there with him.

"Yes; spiders… and you," he told her.

"Sally likes you.  Why are you not obsessed with her?" she asked.

Luke shook his head.

"Too chubby," he stated. "She… did respect my fascination with spiders though…" he trailed.

"I mean… I can stand spiders…" said Samantha, trying to sound more confident.   

"Sally… well, never mind.  If you don't like spiders, then you don't like them.  Sorry I asked…"

"What?" Samantha demanded. "Sally what?"

Luke took a deep breath.  Then he directed his crystal gaze toward the girl, who looked on in anticipation.

"Sally let it crawl on her arm," he said.

Samantha's heart jumped.

"And you… liked that?" she asked.

"I thought it was extremely sexy," he said with a heart-melting smile.

Samantha turned red and her face grew hotter than ever before.  This was such a forceful and passionate word for a young girl like her.  He was… serious about this?  Sure, it was a bit strange, but she aimed to please him.  But… let the spider crawl on her arm?  It could have been just about anything but that. She would have done anything else.  But she had to outdo Sally!  This was the boy that she wanted!  This was the one her mother wanted her to have!  She had to please her mother… which meant that she would have to outdo Sally… at whatever cost.

"It won't bite you, if that's what you're worried about," he said. "They only bite if they feel threatened. As long as you're still…"

In that case, perhaps it wouldn't be too bad…

Samantha moved slowly, but her arm extended out before him, her pale skin shining in the sunlight.  He looked down at her arm and then back up into her eyes.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his gaze locked on hers.

She stared at him a moment as her heart began to beat faster.  Slowly, she began to nod.  Very gradually, Luke lowered the spider down to her arm.  The closer it came, the faster Samantha's heart began to beat.  She could almost feel sweat drops forming on her forehead.  Suddenly, she jerked her arm back to his amazement.

"Wait," she said.

"Having second thoughts?" he asked, disappointedly.

"When I ask you to take it off, you will, right?" she asked. She needed assurance. He smiled.

"Of course," he promised.

With a small nod, she again outstretched her arm and the black arachnid was dropped onto her white skin.  She shuttered, her whole body growing tight with anxiety, but she dared not move.  She breathed through her nose carefully, not even considering looking over to Luke, who was watching her closely.  Her attention belonged to the eight-legged creature.

She watched it s it crawled slowly down arm, then stopped short a moment, only to crawl up to her arm and close to her sleeve before it stopped again.  She had almost begun to panic, but then remembered that she mustn't.  Very slowly, she opened her lips.

"You can get it off now," she said.

Luke hesitated for only a slight moment, but soon, his fingers were reaching for the spider, that was almost ready to dart under her sleeve.

Pressing his fingers against it, she watched for him to make his way of removing the spider, which he did not.  What… was he doing?  Instead of pulling the spider from her, ever so slowly, he began to squeeze the creature.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, wanting to flail her arm, but struck with fear not to.

"Just giving it a little… persuasion," he replied, squeezing the thing harder.

Persuasion? What was he…?

The pinch sent a wave of pain through Samantha as tears emitted from her eyes from shock.  Her breathing quickened in panic as she looked down at the large welt already forming on her arm.  She slumped down off the rock and collapsed to her knees on the ground, holding her arm in fear for her life.  She saw the spider fall to the ground before her face, only to have Luke's foot come crushing down upon it, rubbing it into the dirt in a gooey mass.

"Luke!" she cried through her tears. "You must go get Miss Gillcrest!  I have to see a doctor!"

"Whatever for?" he asked, standing.

"I'm… very allergic… to spiders!" she said, already feeling the effects throughout her body as she scratched at the itch that would soon turn to pain.

"Yes," Luke said. "I know.  It's quite the shame.  But it is good for me."

What was he…?

She jerked her head up to him in confusion as he stared down at her with cold eyes.

"Help won't be coming, sweeting," he assured her. "Just die quietly."

She shook her head vigorously.  Die?  He was trying to kill her?  She had never done anything to him before!  How could he want her… dead?  This was too much!  She had to get away!  If she was to die, he would not be present.  Perhaps she could still get help.

Gathering all her strength, she pulled herself from the ground and began to run blindly through the trees, clutching her arm.  If he was running after her, she could not tell.  She just continued on, running as fast as her legs could carry her, which wasn't fast enough to outrun a strapping man of twenty.

Sucking in breath as best she could and stepping over rocks and fallen limbs, Samantha thought she could make her around the back of the school house.  Then, she could tell Miss Gillcrest, or perhaps one of the other children would see her.  Pushing herself to run a little bit faster, though the flowing of her blood was pushing the poison further into her veins, she shot out of the trees and falling over herself onto the ground.

"Samantha?" came the sweet voice nearby.

Raising her heavy head which was perspiring rapidly, the girl's eyes fell on her teacher, Miss Gillcrest, who ran towards her at the edge of the trees. Finally, she would be alright…

"Samantha, what are you doing out here?" she asked, seeming to not even notice the poor girl's skin turning pasty white.

"Miss… Gillcrest…," Samantha began, very much out of breath. "I need a doctor…"

"Yes, Samantha, but what are you doing out here?" she asked, pulling the girl up.

"Luke made a… spider bite me!" she exclaimed.

Nancy raised her hands to her head.

"Exactly," she began. "So… what are you doing out here?"

Samantha stumbled back a few steps.

"Miss Gillcrest…?" she sputtered.

Perhaps, if Samantha tried hard enough, she could get out into the open and the others would see her.  Pressing her foot to take off to the woman's right, she wasn't quick enough.  Nancy jumped into her way, pulling something small and slender from her dress.  Samantha stared down at the knife as it reflected the rays of the sun.  She gasped and choked on her tears.  What was going on?

"Back into the woods, Samantha," Nancy instructed. "Now."

Samantha hesitated.  What to do?  Die now by the hand of her teacher, or try to find another way out of the woods?

"Now, Samantha!" Nancy said, raising her voice, a tone of uncertainty inside. "It won't do for the children to see your bloated dying form.  Is that the way you want them to remember you?"

The girl shook her head in pain and turned away, pushing herself back into the woods, though her run was extremely slow by this time.  Nancy watched her go.  Why?  Why had she done this, she asked herself as she closed her eyes in thought.

Feeling a presence behind her, Miss Gillcrest turned her head to the corner of the school house, where a little girl watched in silence.  The teacher sighed; she had been seen.  But she knew this one… she would never tell.

"Antonia," the teacher addressed with a tear in her eye for what she had done. "Don't you say a word."

Antonia was a fearful and disturbed little girl who believed in the tortures of death.  She would never tell a soul…

Samantha tore through the trees as she ran down the hill, the whole of her arm becoming purple and swelled.  She could fell her face swelling as well, along with her hands and feet.  She continued on, despite the pain that shot through her whole body.

Reaching the bottom of the hill, she was greeted but the Veruka River which ran from the spring north of the town.  She watched as the passing water carried her thoughts away in hypnotism.  Should she try to cross?  She was feeling awfully weak, and if she fell into the water it could simply drag her away.  But what kind of help could she get by waiting here?  Perhaps if she headed back…

Turning around, her weakened gaze was cast upon Luke, who had silently made his way through the bushes.  Her heart jumped at his sight, panic sinking over her.  Now what…

"Took you long enough to get here," he said, taking a few steps towards her.

She stepped back a few steps into the water, feeling the wetness against her ankles.

"Going for a swim?" he asked, pulling a slender knife into her view.

"Why are you doing this?!" she screamed with all she had left.

"Sorry, love," he said. "Daddy's orders."

What? Her father…? She grasped her hands to her head.  This could not be!  Why…?

"I want to tell you that I am really… truly sorry about this, Samantha.  You were a nice enough girl.  It was just… something that had to be done."

Samantha gasped for her last controlled breaths.  Feeling the power fail in her legs, she fell to the ground, staring up at the sky, all the veins in her body visible and purple.  Her eyes rolled back in their bloodshot state, and soon, they closed, and she moved no more.

Luke stared down to her body, unmoving.  Walking down to her body and giving it a light kick, he assured that she was no longer moving.  Good, it was over.

With the push of his foot, the body rolled over into the river as the current took controlled and pulled it downstream.  Luke watched until it was out of sight and then threw the knife in after. He sighed deeply, the deed having finally been done.

No more Little Miss Muffet.  Now, his life could finally carry on without fear.