Catacomb Palace

Photo by J Yeo on Unsplash

The whispers of the assembly awoke me from my nap. I hurried into the shadowed crevices of the edge of the cave. They would crush me if they saw me. I can’t really blame them for being afraid of me. Some of my kind would bite them. I wouldn’t, but they don’t know that.

One by one, they came into view, giants they look to my small size. Cautiously they peer inside, then hurry into the tunneling catacomb where they meet. Soon, the sound of song drifted faintly from deep inside the cave. I began to sing my own little song as I worked.

She taketh hold with her hands,

In all the King’s lands,

In his palaces makes her home,

Or through the forest roam.

The flies were particularly plentiful today. I did what I could to catch them before they made it into the catacomb to bother the King’s children. I knew they hated my thick, sticky web, but I started it as high as I could over the door, hoping to keep it out of the way of their heads, while still catching flies.

“Ah ha!” A different voice caught my attention.

I froze. That was not one of the King’s children. That was one of the soldiers. Suddenly, I had an idea. As quickly as I could, I spun my web across the whole opening of the cave. That’ll stop those pesky flies from getting in, I thought. And keep someone else out too, I chuckled to myself.

The work didn’t take me long, me being large for my kind. Soon, the web stretched across the the door like a king’s seal forbidding entry.

I curled up for a nap in the center of my web, tired from the work. My body, the color of Aspen leaves in the wind, adorned the middle of the web like a jewel on a seal. The web, though not organized like some little spiders’, was woven between the rock textured like a letter in a language foreign to man’s eyes.

It didn’t take long before my feet tingled with the vibrations coming through the web of the pounding footsteps of the Roman soldiers. I tensed, hoping my work was enough.

“Ah! Crazy spider web got me right in the neck!” I heard one shout.

“Quit worrying about spider webs and stay on task, soldier!” That must have been their captain, I guessed.

I couldn’t help but laugh, though it isn’t polite to laugh at other’s misfortune. Some of the smaller spiders have that pesky habit of using long single strings to travel between trees and buildings, then leave that spider trail hanging in mid air to annoy people as they walk through the area. Thankfully, I don’t do that. I stay in one place to build my web. Good thing too. My webbing is extra thick and tough.

“Which way did they go?” the captain shouted.

“I thought I saw them go this way,” replied the voice I had heard spying on the King’s children earlier.

“Well, they didn’t go in that cave.” Another soldier waved his sword in my direction.

I stifled a chuckle, pretending to be asleep.

“Yuck! Look at the size of that spider!”

“Don’t tell me you’ve been seein’ things again and dragged us out here for nothing.” The captain growled.

“Let’s get outta here.”

My web shook again as they all marched away into the distance.

I slept peacefully for some time while the King’s children continued their meeting deep inside the caves halls. Songs drifted towards me again, breaking my slumber. I mussed again over the words from Proverbs from which I had composed my song. “The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in the kings’ palaces.” Now, I was too big to hide in a palace. Not being a regular little house spider, I couldn’t just hide in any little crevice and be forgotten by those who hunted me.

Thus, I was stuck out here, spinning my web over the entry of the cave where they buried their dead. Yet the King’s children came here to pray and worship the Creator. In the place where they laid their dead, they celebrated the One who gave new life. It was here that the church, the Bride of Christ, met in secret, in a place the heathen were afraid to go. It was His house where His children met to praise Him. It was like a palace of sorts; His palace. Indeed, I wouldn’t trade my place here for the grandest palace on earth.

I take hold with my hand,

Here in the King’s land.

In His palace make my home,

Ne’er through the world roam.

The sound of foot steps disturbed my mussing. I hurried out of sight. The King’s children were coming, and they wouldn’t like me to be in their way as they left. Too bad I couldn’t pull my web out of the way. They would have to contend with that.

“Look at that giant web! It’s covering the whole entrance!” one of them exclaimed.

“That was fast.” A little boy commented.

“Hey, look out there. That looks like…”

“Soldiers!”

“They must have seen the web and thought no one could be in here!”

“The spider saved us!” a little child exclaimed.

“Our Savior can use even the smallest creatures to do His mighty work, dear child,” on of the elders said. “Indeed, the small and weak are often His very choice.”

(Historical fiction)