As things go, Shilo had a decent day. The hours at school with the children had worn him down some, but not so that he couldn't enjoy the ride to his sister's house. Shilo's new 4x4 Chevy seemed to run best when the cruise was set at 75 mph. Quick enough to make good time, and slow enough to keep the West Virginia State troopers off his case.
With the shades on and classic rock-n-roll on the radio, Shilo had life by the gabonzos. His mind wandered from the daily events at Bear Creek High, at which he taught Physical Education, to the time when he would arrive at Palynn's house, his sister. Traffic was light on I 79, and the sun was now setting quickly to his left. There was still enough juice left in the sun's rays to slightly burn his left forearm. But putting the window up was not an option, the wind felt too relaxing blowing through Shilo's hair, even if it was the length of what used to be called a G.I. cut. The school lunch was beginning to fade, and the first twinges of hunger pains broke Shilo's daydreaming. A quick check of the gas gauge let Shilo know that his stomach wasn't the only thing running low. Shilo filled out his 6'3" frame rather well, although over the past several years gravity had become a force to be dealt with. He had always heard that muscle weighed more than fat, and that was little comfort since lately be was carrying around more fat than muscle. Could you count that as a weight loss? Probably not. At the 99 mile exit was a Burger king and an Exxon station, an all purpose stop. Shilo found it rather odd that when driving the 6 hour journey to Palyn's, his bladder could be held in check, but when watching a movie with Carrie, his wife, 4 quick trips to the John always seemed the rule. After a quick run through Exxon, a drive thru at Burger King was in order. By now dusk was setting in, and with the turning on of the headlights, moths and bugs seemed to be ever present. As Shilo was popping in th remainder of a french fry, he felt something working it's way up his leg. Something light, and something that seemed to tickle the hair on his legs. setting the cruise, Shilo lifted his leg to put an end to whatever it was...A spider, black and brown, and hairy as the dickens! Shilo's traveling companion was about the size of a dime! Not wanting to mash it between his fingers, Shilo managed to lower the window with one hand and flip the spider out the window with the other. Something sticky was left on Shilo's finger tips, a residue left from the spider. A tacky substance, and with a slight odor, an odor he couldn't place. Losing his desire to devour the remainder of his double cheese, Shilo placed the sandwich on the seat next to him. The spider was not to be disposed of so easily. Wedging himself in the door trim, the spider began to spin and manufacture more and more of the potent ooze that was so sticky. With every inch of web spun, the greater the appetite the spider developed. How convenient that the bugs and moths came at an alarming rate. With each passing insect, the spider worked harder and faster. Soon it was almost a blur, was the spider eating to spin, or spinning to eat? Shilo was just taking the 148 exit on to I 68 East, when he noticed a scraping noise which seemed to be coming from the roof of the 96 Chevy pickup. Passing it off as a result of the uneven pavement, construction seemed to be everywhere, he again placed the 4x4 in fifth gear and hit the seek button on the radio. It was now dark and the head lights picked up the flicks of insects of the night as they passed over the truck. Shilo didn't have a bug shield on his truck, but the flow of insects seemed to drat over the windshield as if being sucked up by a separate wind force. Traffic was light, but those whom Shlo shared the road mush have thought it odd for a truck with an empty bed to be carrying it's load upon the roof of the cab. By now the spider could spread it's legs and grasp the edging of the roof, while inhaling the vast quantities of food at his disposal. The webbing had encased the doors of the truck, and an even layer of the sticky substance ws creeping over the medium blue finish of the truck. Shilo passsed off the film over the vehicle as dew that had fallen, and didn't give it a second thought. As Shilo pulled from I 81 onto King Street, the second Martinsburg exit, the speed of the truck decreased as well as the steady supply of food for the spider. The Chevy followed the path to Palyn's when Shilo realized the split window behind him had been opened and a revolting odor entered the cab along with a black/brown hairy arm. Slamming on the brakes and turning the truck sideways through the parking lot of the small town Dairy Queen, Shilo realized that the arm invading the truck was after the remainder of the double cheese on the seat beside him! Within seconds the arm, and the sandwich disappeared through the split glass! Shilo's attempts to open the doors were useless! Realizing that the spider would only be satisfied when it was eating, he streaked the 4x4 through the lot and into the car wash by the Dupont plant. Parking under the bright lights brought the spider a vast supply of insects, insects straight from the cooling pond of Dupont Chemical. As the spider was devouring the supply of food, Shilo quickly slid from the truck by way of the split glass. Slowly, very slowly the end came to the spider, as Shilo knew it would. poison taken in large quantities will kill anything.....including a mammoth spider. Using the power wash available, Shilo scrubbed the Chevy down. With dawn came an end to the last remaining web and slim of the spider. Palyn will never believe this was Shilo's thoughts as he pulled out of the car wash lot heading towards her house. Somewhere in the storm drain below the car wash, the scraping sound of hundreds of little legs was rising. The spider, was a She.....