"Spiders on Mrs. Higurashi" by Abraxas (06-07-19)
Sun sets, skies darken and cool, and day dies into night. The world retreats through oblivion. The temple, too, sleeps quiet and still like a web awaiting its victim.
Mrs. Higurashi, by the window, inhales cleome fragrance. The flowers she keeps by the bed. Its blossoms, sent from him, she treasures though they were jewels. She pets them, guilty-like, wishing she were caressing him instead.
Sighing, she withdraws into the bath. The tub is full of water. She disrobes and sinks deep amid suds and lather. Everything is soft and warm. It lulls her into asleep.
Tapping. It comes. She ignores it.
Water, dripping away, reveals skin inch by inch. She does not feel the night only the prickling. As if a thousand spiders crawled about her. She does not fear the sensation. It transforms from a million pinpricks to a singular touch, like blanket of flesh enveloping her body.
She cries content to be loved.
Awakening.
The cleome is by the tub.
Smiling.
She sees the window opening, the stars shining – the eyes of the night, eerie and distant, suggest of the infinite.
"We yearn for them, don't we, Master Onigumo?"
Winds stir, branches rustle as if to answer.
(200)
A/N: Awarded 3rd Place for the Stars Theme at the IY Issekiwa