Cathy Mellowship

The Wolf Spider's Web

A piercing knife-like pain scratched Obianuju’s thigh jolting her up and out of her haze, the putrid stench stung her nostrils as she inhaled the dirty air around her. She glanced down at her bruised thigh, stained and bloodied, mottled with marks and abrasions of unknown origin. She stroked it carefully, feeling the grittiness and undulations of her skin. Her hand ran further up to the origin of her pain, she jumped abruptly and immediately. Her gasps were sudden - she looked down at her arms; there were red wheels and small pimples from hard contact, she began to fear her condition. She desperately began to run her hands over her limbs; her arms, her legs, her feet, as if to test that they were really hers. Her body felt different and detached, she felt her hair knotted and twisted, matted and wet from sweat and no doubt tears. Her face burned and stung as she gently traced the outline with her fingers, she didn’t remember...she couldn’t remember.