
Posted by Alyssa DeDominicis (Slippery Rock U.)
“What a beautiful day,” I thought to myself as I wandered along the stream bed idly displacing stones as I sought after caddis flies, mayflies and other small critters of the leggy variety. As I knelt in the stream I felt a slow tingle move up my spine. Someone or something… was watching me. I peered over my shoulder nervously as I stood and started to collect my samples. As I turned to ascend the path I came face to face with a thrashing roaring creature seeming to possess an infinite number of legs, claws, and whirling mandibles. A large claw closed around me and lifted me into the air in victory as I struggled helplessly. Its cold obsidian eyes met mine with an accusing glare as the pincers slowly but inevitably began to close. “You died for science!” I wailed as they pinched tighter and tighter…
I awoke, half-off the bed, and wrapped in a sheet which was doing a remarkable job of resembling a straight jacket. After I extricated myself, I sat up and took a deep breath; maybe somebody else should preserve the specimens tomorrow.
“What a beautiful day,” I thought to myself as I wandered along the stream bed idly displacing stones as I sought after caddis flies, mayflies and other small critters of the leggy variety. As I knelt in the stream I felt a slow tingle move up my spine. Someone or something… was watching me. I peered over my shoulder nervously as I stood and started to collect my samples. As I turned to ascend the path I came face to face with a thrashing roaring creature seeming to possess an infinite number of legs, claws, and whirling mandibles. A large claw closed around me and lifted me into the air in victory as I struggled helplessly. Its cold obsidian eyes met mine with an accusing glare as the pincers slowly but inevitably began to close. “You died for science!” I wailed as they pinched tighter and tighter…
I awoke, half-off the bed, and wrapped in a sheet which was doing a remarkable job of resembling a straight jacket. After I extricated myself, I sat up and took a deep breath; maybe somebody else should preserve the specimens tomorrow.