An uneasy thought

I returned from work hungry. I skipped lunch. There are few vegan options in Midwood, Brooklyn. Cuisine choices are glat kosher pizza or jerk chicken. Usually I eat Thai when getting home late, but I spent the previous evening investigating a mice infested yogurt shop on the Upper East Side, so I was inclined to eat in.

I heated a can of black beans and some tortillas. I heard a sound coming from the corner. I thought it was a drip. I investigated. It was not.

It was a small beetle caught in the web of a spider. What produced the clicking sound I don't know for sure. It was some act of force by the aggressor or aggressed. It kept happening. Kept clicking. I turned on my radio to forget the sound and finish cooking.

My dinner complete, I went upstairs to eat and discuss the day with my cousins. Between 27 and 52 minutes later, I returned my then empty plate to the kitchen. Still clicking were the spider and beetle.

That's when the uneasy thought came to mind. "How can I help the spider?"

This shook me. Why the spider? The one who set the trap? The one trying to kill? I tend to regard myself as someone who pulls for the other guy. The victim. The underdog.

Yet there I was. Trying to help a spider.