I’ll tell you a story about a boy named Fred. Some years ago, on Halloween night, Fred slipped off his Spiderman costume and hung it on the back of his bedroom chair. He sorted the candy collected during trick or treat fun. His mom said he could have one piece, if he brushed his teeth really good. Fred pulled on his pajamas and slowly consumed a Kit Kat bar savoring each tiny bite. He washed his face, brushed and ran to the parlor, grinned widely to show Mom and Dad his gleaming teeth. Mom kissed him and Dad patted his head and told him to sleep well.

Back in his bedroom, Fred opened the window to let in some cool night air. He took a deep breath, as he exhaled he heard a whoosh and then a thud on the roof. Above, in the attic, he thought he heard the patter of footsteps. He reasoned a racoon, or a squirrel had jumped from the sugar maple tree and managed to work his way inside the attic. He’d tell Dad about it in the morning.

Fred climbed into bed. As he was about to turn out his lamp, he spotted a large black spider spinning down from the ceiling. It landed just down from his head. He jumped, throwing off the quilt and flipping the spider onto the floor. Fred grabbed a mason jar he used for collecting fireflies, and captured the mean-looking black thing as it tried to scurry under his bed. He set the jar on the night table, screwed the lid down tight, as eight hateful, black eyes stared at him.  

During the night, Fred dreamed he was swimming in a race. He rotated his arm and knocked the mason jar off the table; it shattered on the floor. Fred awoke, switched on the lamp and gazed at the broken jar. The spider was gone, but from the pieces a green mist swirled, then a green faced witch, draped in black, emerged. She cackled in a rasping voice, “You shall pay now that I’m free. I meant you no harm, yet you locked me in a jar. Death might have come to me.”

Fred fell back paralyzed with fear. She waved her broom three times over him and uttered, “You shall be my food.” He felt his body tighten. He was being sucked into himself. He gasped, “Oh my God, I’m shrinking.” His arms and legs disappeared. His body was segmented into a head, mid-section with three pairs of legs and an abdomen with more legs. He had turned into a caterpillar. The witch transmuted back into a spider. She vomited fluid over him and began to chew with her jagged jaws. Fred lay helpless as she sucked him in piece by piece and digested him until he was no more. In the corner, Fred’s Spiderman costume had slipped from the chair onto the floor.