Yet more silliness...

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The Haunting.
A Short Story.
Part Five.
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Ross dropped into space and began to fall. The training he had done for a charity parachute jump came to him and he adopted the best position to freefall in.

He plummeted towards the ground at terminal velocity. Bob Dylan began singing in his ear. "Oh momma, could this really be the end?"

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Ross was fast approaching the ground. He watched it as it loomed large in his field of vision and closed his eyes. He was about to smash into the ground and be killed but he certainly didn't want to see it.

Suddenly he felt something grab onto him. Eight hairy legs had wrapped themselves around his torso and W shouted in his ear. "I told you to stay away from the edge!" It said.
"There's very little point in arguing about it now. We're about to be killed." Ross replied.
"No we aren't. Brace yourself, this might hurt a bit." W said.

There was a sudden jerk and their speed slowed. "What just happened?" Ross asked.
"Remember I told you that General Bitsy used to freejump?" W Replied.
"Yes." Ross said.
"Well, you and I just freejumped. I've shot some silk into the air and we should float to the ground." W said.

When they hit the ground Ross and W rolled into a heap and came to a halt in the grass. Ross stood up and looked up at how far that had fell. He reckoned it to be the equivalent of a 40,000 foot parachute jump. Then the adrenalin rush hit him. He ran around in the grass whooping and screaming like a child in a candystore.

"Can we do that again? Can we? Please? Whoo hoo! What a rush!" He yelled.
W looked somewhat shaken. "Are you Ok?" Ross asked.
"I'll be fine. It's just that I have never freejumped before." W replied.
"What? When you get that kind of buzz from it? I'd do that all day everyday if I could." Ross stated. W stood up on shaky legs. "We must make our way to the spider Kingdom. The council expect us." It said.

W began walking towards the bottom of Ross' apartment block. Ross followed.

It was a long way to the bottom of the apartment block and after a few hours of walking they had got halfway there. Ross asked W if they could stop for a break and W remembered that Ross was at a disadvantage in the leg department. They stopped and Ross sat down on the ground exhausted.

The adrenalin had worn off and Ross was getting tired. They must have walked the equivalent of ten miles and Ross wasn't used to covering such distances.

"I can't go on much longer W." Ross said. "I'm in need of some sleep."
"We have a long way to go Ross. Are you sure you cannot continue?" W asked.
"Not unless you want to carry me." Ross said, yawning.
"Very well then, Stand up." W said.

Ross stood up and W turned around. Ross began walking towards W so that he could climb onto its back. Suddenly W began shooting silk at Ross. In a fraction of a second Ross was covered from his shoulders to his feet in spider silk. The only part of his body that he could move was his head.

"What did you do that for?" Ross asked.
"It will make it easier for you to sleep while I carry you." W said, as it picked Ross up in his silk cocoon and lifted him onto its back. W set off at a fast pace and Ross feel asleep on the back of the spider.

A few hours later Ross awoke. He was no longer wrapped in spider silk and could move around freely. He sat up and discovered he was in something resembling a small cave. He stood up and walked towards the exit of the cave. As he stepped out of the small cave he saw that he was inside an even larger cave and that there were thousands of spiders swinging from caves that were similar to the one he had awoken in.

The view was fantastic. The main part of the cave itself was almost a mile across and there were at least a few hundred thousand other small caves similar to the one he was standing in. There was spider webs covering the entrances of most of them but a few were open to the main cave and spiders of all sizes were walking in and out of them.

Spider silk hung from the roof of the large cave and spiders were climbing up and down them with ease. Ross put out his hand and grabbed the silk rope that hung outside his cave. His hand gripped the silk and he pulled on it to see if it would take his weight. Just as he was about to climb out of the cave and slide down the silk rope W appeared just below him.

W climbed up the last few feet of silk and told Ross that it was time to go and see the spider council. Ross looked down to see that he was still only wearing the piece of t-shirt he had made into a sort of kilt and asked W if there was anything he could change into. W said it would be back as soon as possible and that Ross should wait until it returned.

Ross walked back into the small cave and looked around. In one corner there was the bottom of an acorn that was filled with water. He had a wash and dried himself off with the piece of t-shirt that he was wearing.

W came back a few minutes later and gave Ross a waistcoat that was made from a couple of clover leafs, a pair of trousers made of the same material and a pair of shoes that were made from the skin of some kind of berry. Ross put them on and he and W set off to meet the spider council.

They grabbed the silk that hung outside the small cave and slid to the floor of the cave. W walked ahead and Ross followed. They came to a cave entrance and stepped inside. Instead of a small cave as Ross had expected the cave was huge. The ceiling was at least five feet away and there was spider silk hanging on the walls.

The silk hanging from the walls had been colored somehow and they looked like the tapestries that you can see in medieval castles. They showed great scenes of battles between spiders, wasps and daddy long legs. On one of the tapestries Ross spotted a spider that looked familiar.

He recognized General Bitsy. General bitsy was pictured fighting a wasp twice the size of himself and a daddy long legs that looked very nasty indeed. Then Ross noticed the large raised platform at the end of the room. A dozen spiders sat facing him.

The spider council was waiting...