Come into my parlor, make yourself comfortable, sit with me while I spin you a tale of two lost souls.
Silvie, sipping her Summer wine, brooding on life’s injustices.
Freddie, buzzing around, frantically searching for an elusive goal.
Silvie, quietly scheming, La Revolution.
Freddie, unable to relax, craving excitement.
Silvie, scurrying forth in search of a victim.
Freddie, roaming the city streets, zooming in on Silvie.
Silvie, relaxed, pondering the ‘Rise Up’ sign attached to a lamp post.
Freddie, rushing to make contact.
Silvie, waiting, calculating.
Freddie, buzzing, full of eager anticipation.
Sylvie, slyly enticing, offering forbidden fruit.
Freddie, besotted, eager, accepting.
Sylvie, offering a brick, and call to action.
Freddie, adrenaline pumping, accepting her token.
Sylvie and Freddie, turning the corner into an explosive chemical reaction.
The mob, all colours,shapes,sizes,egos pressed into a maelstrom of seething fury.
Chaos, hysterical laughter, broken windows, trampling crowds, smash and grab.
Freddie, running with his trophy.
Sylvie, satiated, smugly looking on from the shadows.
Freddie, the buzz abating, bewilderment, abandons trophy.
So ends another day in a ” State of Nature”.
————————————————-
“Will you walk into my parlor?” said a spider to a fly;
” it’s the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to show when you are there.”
“Oh no, no!” said the little fly, “to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can never come down again.”
—————————–
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlor—but she never came out again!
—And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you never give heed:
Unto an evil counselor, close heart, and ear, and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.
Mary Howitt (1829) First and last verse.
Can’t thank you enough for this 🙂
Today I was in a storywriting class, where certainbasics were discussed – like creating characters, conflict, triggers etc. You have kind of executed all that I learnt today, and it becomes a lesson for me.
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Thank you for the compliment, Reena. I wrote this the old fashioned way. I was sitting on the porch last Saturday night after three beers and working on my fourth. It was a hot and muggy night and I had a pen and notebook in hand. The poem The Spider and the Fly flashed into my head for some reason.
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Good to know the atmospherics which inspire writers 😊
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Earlier that evening, I had watched your six-minute video and in addition to seeing colour like most people I just saw a number of shapes dashing across the screen, mostly creatures, I also saw a spider web. I tried to approximate the colour in the header image. The reason for carrying my notebook and pen to the porch was to process the images and write. The beer definitely made me mellow and aided the free form writing.
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Reblogged this on Reena Saxena and commented:
A tangled web …. by Len
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Thanks for the inspiration, as always, Reena.
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I like your version of the story more than the original. S and F for characters–only one of many clever parts. The gift of the brick adds a timely element. Turns out there’s been a fly buzzing in the room today. I can’t remember when I saw one before in here. Synchronicity.
This is a delight to read, and I heartily agree with Reena’s assessment. Congratulations, Len!
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Thank you, Christopher. I read somewhere that meditation skills are best enhanced when there is a fly in the room. I have been watching videos of George Orwell on YouTube and want to try my hand at social commentary in story form. Perhaps, because of the current political environment. Oh well, at least WordPress, gives me a hobby. I am not a handyman.
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What a delightful story. I really enjoyed this, Len.
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Thank you, Eugenia. Glad you enjoyed my little story.
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You’re welcome, Len.
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A timely warning and nicely spun. To follow flattery is certainly a terrible waste of time at least and a mortal blow to integrity at worst. So I shan’t flatter here 😊
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Thank you, Kate…..you know you can flatter me any time. I think flattering with evil intent is the course to be avoided.
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I think flattery with evil intent is certainly to be avoided but I think also that following flattery to the point of losing your own path is sad. Poor little fly.
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I spied a like from someone new,
Thought to hike my story through. They ticked and left without a word,
Now I will never know if the moral was heard.
So I visit sat down to have a read to see where your tale would lead.
But I did not run and leave you masticating,
The words your mind was generating.
I stop to say you placed them good because I would not leave misunderstood.
Thank you I enjoyed the read.
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Thank you for visiting and commenting in such a delightful way, Ellen. I’m way behind in reading blogs I follow. It’s Summer and I am outside more than in……also my 16-year-old grandson is in the middle of a chess craze and I am his main opponent. We very evenly matched so it is fun for both. I’ll get around to commenting soon.
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Reminds of that great Rolling Stones tune, Spider and the Fly. Great stuff Len.
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I just looked it up, Gary. I was into Mario Lanza rather than the Rolling Stones. The spider and the fly seems a perennial theme.
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I only knew because it was on one of my first albums as a kid which means I listened to it one million times!
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Great write, Len. When I read how the fly was led along, I remembered Robert Frost’s, “knowing how way leads on to way.” I think a lot of motivations are purring/growling just under consciousness as you describe. The spider is not the villain here, as a spider does what a spider does. It is against the nature of the fly to kill the spider, so in that sense, your tale is twisted 😉
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Thanks, JadeLi. We make our decisions and hope we choose the right options. In the end, we alone are responsible for the decisions we make and have to accept the consequences. No use blaming someone else, As you say the spider does what it does best, spinning its web for prey.
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You’re welcome. I enjoy your thought-provoking posts, Len. Reena comes up with excellent prompts!
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