My Father's Universe

by Mitch

  "O’ little Yesuah in Bethlehem, we will see you soon. As each day goes by, I know the angels are watching over you lying in the manger. I will sing to God, our King, because you bring true peace to people on Earth. Let every person glorify the newborn King, the Prince of Peace."

  The water was calm and smooth, moving at a fairly good speed, keeping the canoe gliding through the water. Kedar stated, "I should have brought my pan flute, then I could have played some songs to serenade you. Since I didn’t bring it, I’ll try singing. You are the one and only one I love. You are in my thoughts all day long, my sweet little honeybee."

  She smirked, “If I’m the only one for you, why were you watching that frowzy last week? Don’t deny it, others saw you looking too.”

  He gave a stifled laugh and answered, “She was kind of cute but not as cute and pretty as you, my sweet spice. Just remember, I may look, but I don’t touch. Sometimes, I look at other women to see how lucky I am to be married to you. No one can, or ever will, take your place beside me.”

  Sadly, she touched his back with her opened hand, trying to hide watery eyes, “It still hurts me when you look at other women, and I feel you want someone else. I wish you wouldn’t do it at all.”

  Kedar’s face flushed, “I’m very sorry. I promise I’ll not do it anymore. I should know better. I know how I would feel if you did that to me.”

  She knew in her heart he always kept his promises.

  Devil’s Darning Needle

  Coming to a narrow part of the river, the current was relatively swift, forcing them to go through rough rapids. Getting through without tipping over, they passed a small stream flowing into the river. With the increase of water, the current became swifter, helping the canoe to navigate faster. As the little vessel came out of a tight bend in the river, a terrifying sight directly in front of them made them wish it was midnight. Their hearts pulsated into throbbing chest pains. The horrifying sight rocketed their imagination. Nothing would be more frightening, not even being tied to a post, fire burning at their feet while drummers were pounding drums for a stomping war dance, cheering their execution.

  It seemed time wasn’t moving fast enough; they froze hoping it was just their imagination. In real dreams, before awaking, something always drives the demonic monster into oblivion. But this fiendish demon was still there and alive. Without a doubt, it was the largest dragonfly they had ever seen. Four long narrow wings lay close to its slender body as it sat sunning itself on a huge rock. Its enormous eyes were closed. They hoped it was asleep.

  There was not a chance stopping the canoe to avoid getting close to the terrifying creature. Kedar whispered, “Don’t make a sound or breathe. Maybe we’ll be able to drift by that sleeping nightmare without it waking and spotting us. Keep your eyes on it in case it awakens.”

  Silently, the canoe glided past the rock without a sound. The dragonfly didn’t move. Careah mumbled, “I hope we will be able to get out of sight before it awakens.”

  They drifted on by without a sound nor making a ripple in the water. With a sigh of relief, they headed downstream, their backs to a dangerous enemy. Kedar should have known how sly most dragonflies are. This one was the champion of the sly ones. It wasn’t sleeping as he had thought. No other creature is a greater actor than a dragonfly pretending to be profoundly asleep. This dragonfly did not need a runway to take off. With its jet propulsion and speed, it became nearly invisible on the way to the target. Dragonflies can fly faster than any insect. In fact, they can catch them in flight. Without any interference and with the speed at which it was flying, in seconds, it would head for the nearest target, Careah’s head.

  Kedar turned around to say something to Careah. His eyes bulged as he realized the dragonfly was close to striking her head. In a flash, his adrenalin and instinct kicked in. The oar was in motion, sailing through the air so fast that it made a whizzing sound. But the oar hit lower than what he aimed at. What should have been a death blow to its head only grazed its lower jaw, splitting the skin.

  Careah, having her eyes closed, didn’t realize what had happened. She felt the oar brush the top of her hat. Jumping to conclusions, she thought Kedar had lost his senses, swinging the oar at her because she had her eyes closed. Getting a bit angry, she was about to scold him when she heard the dragonfly’s scream. She turned, seeing it shake itself and looking at her as if to say, “Now it’s your turn!” Blood dripping from the wounded jaw, it streaked at them with a vengeance.

  Kedar stood up in the canoe, preparing to battle the dragonfly. This time he’d be ready and try for one of its wings. Kedar yelled for Careah to get to the bottom of the canoe. The dragonfly spun around and headed for Kedar, its large eyes ablaze with hot anger! Although wounded, its jaw was still lethal and powerful enough to inflict a great deal of pain. Its enormous red eyes blazed with feverous hate, wanting Kedar more than anything it had ever wanted before.

  Kedar bent over and positioned the oar like a bat, spit through his teeth, and taunted, “I bet you have never been clobbered before! Come and get it.” Without slowing down, the dragonfly suddenly changed course, veering to the right, then flying straight up, nearly out of sight. Without reducing speed, it made two right-angle turns, then a couple of spins while diving. An arrow shot from a bow would have had to take a backseat compared to its speed.

  Kedar realized its lightning speed was shortening the distance between them faster than anything he had ever came up against. He knew if the nasty monster hit him in his face or head, it would be curtains for him; then Careah would likely be next. He was frantically trying to come up with a new plan of defense or attack, but what was he to do? It is nearly impossible for anyone to defend against a dragonfly nose-diving nearly at the speed of light. This one was cunning. Would it veer off again to throw Kedar off guard? No, it kept coming straight down, faster and faster. Just as the dragonfly was close enough, the oar was in motion, swinging as hard as he could. The oar impacted its wing, proving two solid objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. The dragonfly’s buzzing turned into a piercing shrill cry. The force of the blow knocked it for a loop into the water not far from the canoe.

  Kedar’s hand felt numb from the solid impact and he thought the oar had cracked when it hit the varmint’s wing. Checking the oar, he found that it was still in one solid piece. The breaking noise had to have been the wing of the dragonfly. He headed for the dragonfly to finish it off. Now the wounded critter was flopping frantically, trying to get out of the water. The devil’s darning needle looked at Kedar with contempt, screaming, buzzing all kinds of vicious foul words, and desperately trying to get to Kedar. Several times it rose a few inches but fell back because the badly broken wing kept the other wings from working as they normally would.

  Blood, oozing from the joint of its wing and jaw, began flowing downriver. The scent of blood caught the attention of a large catfish. Kedar spotted it coming upstream and estimated it was a little overweight. Its dorsal and pectoral fins were edged with very poisonous, razor-sharp spines. At first, the dragonfly tried swimming away. But at the last moment, it turned and tried to fight the catfish. But it certainly was no match for the big fish. This catfish had dragonflies before for its dinner. It knew just how to grab it and grind it up with its needle-sharp teeth. Other catfish picked up the scent of the blood, wasted no time, and jetted to the area to get what they believed to be their share of the morsel. But nothing was to be found. Picking up the scent of the blood from the oar streaked to the canoe, the first ones there used their heads as ramrods and tried to smash holes into it. Kedar swung the oar at their heads, but it wasn’t doing any good. Catfish heads are hard and there were just too many of them. Staying there was too dangerous. These catfish could punch a hole in the canoe or tip it over. Either way, they both would be finished. Kedar propelled the canoe toward shore.

  There was no need to remind Careah to keep her hands off the edge of the canoe. She knew all too well that if she had them there, she would
be missing a hand or two and possibly even be pulled into the water. Reaching shore safely, Careah suddenly turned pointing downriver, gasping and uttering a prayer. “Glory be! Do you see what I see?”

  Kedar looked in the direction she was pointing. He turned looking at her…a mask of fright covered his face. “Yowl! Those catfish actually saved our lives. That is the biggest whirlpool I have ever seen. I know one thing for sure, if we had even gotten close to its violent, whirling pulling force, we would have been inhaled into history…lost in eternity.”

  In wonderment, Careah added, "The Lord is always watching over us and turns things which seem bad to us to be for the good of those who love the Lord; if we would just remember this.

  Leaving the river, they headed north on foot. It began to drizzle just enough to make the grass sparkling wet and slippery. Kedar wasn’t sure how far they had come. Looking around, questioning and doubting himself as to where he was, he spoke, “There should be a white sandstone arch somewhere ahead; what it was used for, no one knew.”

  It finally stopped drizzling and when the clouds moved away, the sun shined brightly. There was quite a glare ahead, and he realized that the rays of the sun were bouncing off the arch. He remembered there was a path leading from the arch, twisting down a steep hill, leading to a village of robust Black Nano people. Evidently, the path had not been used in quite a long time as it had grown over with grass and weeds. Even though the grass was still damp, they unwisely decided to go down the steep hill. Holding hands, they ventured down the dangerous, slick grassy path. Suddenly, one or the other slipped, pulling the other along. At first, they thought it was fun: sliding, tumbling, and bouncing. Gaining momentum, the humor left after they hit an oversize anthill.

  A whelming sense of panic flushed over them all the way to the bottom. Slipping, sliding, and flipping end-over-end, unable to stop the murderous fall. Each bounce began to get higher and longer, which meant their bones were in jeopardy. Both, unable to stop, uttered a prayer asking for help. Careah was able to slip her knapsack around to shield her face and head. They slid several hundred feet, slammed into another ant mound, bounced high into the air, finally landing in a large net. On the other side of the net was a cliff. Fog hid the thousand-foot drop to a rock-laden bottom, home of every known viper in the world. If not for the net, they knew they would be ancient history. Both inhaled a deep sigh of relief.

  Katipo

  “What in the world?” Careah hoped someone was playing a practical joke on them; her common sense told her otherwise. There was something very sticky on the ropes which held them so secure neither one could move. The knapsack kept her head from sticking to it. Unfortunately, this was no joke, and it sure wasn’t funny. They had bounced into a huge spider web. If one could call it luck, then lucky for them, the spider was nowhere in sight.

  Glancing around, they saw a beautiful greenish-yellow crane fly also caught in the web. Its translucent wings of the same colors were sparkling in the sun light. Something moved higher up on the web. A praying mantis was also stuck. Its entire body was bright green, a triangular head with large red eyes which appeared ready to pop out of its head. Careah wondered if he had been crying, then remembered seeing another praying mantis and realized that the eyes were naturally red.

  The crane fly finally spoke, pleading with Kedar, “Please, will you help get me free. As sure as we are stuck here, the spider will be back and will kill all of us, guaranteed!”

  “Amen,” answered the mantis.

  The crane fly continued, “I saw it heading over the hill, that’s why I came this way. I thought this would be a safe way to come.”

  Teary eyed, the praying mantis added, “Yes, he is right, I also saw it. It’s definitely a katipo, the deadliest poisonous spider in the world. The katipos are a weird bunch, one minute they love each other, then the next second, if the female is hungry, she will kill her mate and eat him. It can kill birds, rats, and animals the size of a fox, some larger.”

  “How do you know it is a katipo?” inquired Careah.

  “I saw it had eight beady eyes, a short fuzzy tail and stripes all over its body. It is rather curious though, it may have eight eyes, but it really cannot see very far, maybe a few inches. Another feature it has is a small mouth with two good-sized fangs which it uses for killing its prey by injecting poison fed from glands. It hates anything that moves, making it one of the meanest creatures in the world. One thing I should mention, it has the most acute hearing of any in the animal kingdom.”

  Hearing all of the vicious things about the spider, Careah became hysterical and began crying.

  “Please, lady, do not cry or talk loud. Be very quiet. As sure as we are stuck here, that thing will come running, and believe me, it won’t be to help get us free.”

  “You can say that again,” assured the crane fly.

  The mantis continued, “They are very cunning in choosing a well-hidden spot for the web to snare and entangle victims. Both male and female spiders spin sticky webs, and once caught in one of their webs, there is no getting off of it without help.”

  The crane fly broke in, “Yeah, I saw a bat caught in a katipo web, even the wind of a hurricane couldn’t pull it off the web.”

  Careah whispered, “How in the world can we get free before that cannibal gets here? I do not want to be its meal.” Then she implored, “Lord, you know we don’t want to end up this way!”

  The Crane Fly whispered, “We do not want to be a meal for that creepy spider either and that’s for sure!”

  “Amen,” added the praying mantis.

  Again, the crane fly pleaded with Kedar, “Will you please help get me free, if I can get you free first.”

  “Of course, I would get you free, but how? We are all glued to this web and I can barely move my little finger, let alone get off of this thing.”

  The Crane Fly piped up, "I have one leg free. At the back of my heel there’s a sharp spur. I can’t reach any of my other legs or my hands, but I can reach you with it and cut you free, guaranteed. I’m lucky my wings are not stuck to this web. If they were, you would have to cut them off.

  By the way, my name is Spike Crane, I prefer Spike. What are your names?"

  “I’m Kedar Wee and this is my wife, Careah.”

  The mantis added, “I’m Marty Mantis, just call me Mart. I’ll keep a lookout for that katipo while you all get free. By then, you can get me off of this wretched, ungodly trap.”

  Spike responded, “Okay, that’s a guarantee.”

  It was amazing how fast he cut the web ropes around Kedar, telling him not to touch the other part of the web or he would stick to it again. “When I cut your last hand free, use your other hand to hang onto my leg. I’ll pull you from the web, then you can drop to the ground.”

  “All right, that’s a guarantee,” said Kedar. Spike looked at him and smiled. As soon as Kedar was cut loose, Spike pulled him from the web and dropped Kedar to the ground. Without hesitating, he rubbed and scratched, trying to get the sticky goo off his arms.

  Frustrated, Spike clipped, “You can do that later. I know it itches, but first things first, start cutting me loose.”

  “How can I cut those web ropes? I have nothing to cut with or is there something here, I do not see?” he asked.

  “There are sharp flints behind you. Get one and start cutting quickly. That katipo will soon be coming back over the hill, that’s a guarantee, and I mean now,” said Spike.

  “If I get too close and touch that web, won’t I stick to it again?”

  “Yes, guaranteed. See those tall reeds? They are full of slippery oil. Nothing will stick to it. Break it open and oil will come out. After you put some on yourself and on me, stick your right hand in that blue dust to get the oil off; otherwise, you will not be able to hold the flint. The oil is that slippery.”

  Mart warned, “Don’t get any oil in your eyes, it will cover them with a thin film, and you will not see for a couple of days.”

  “That is a gu
arantee,” added Spike. After putting oil on Spike’s hands and four feet, he cleaned his right hand and began cutting the web ropes around Spike’s other legs, then around his right short arm.

  Although Careah was scared and shivering, she watched intently, noticing Spike was calm through the whole ordeal. As soon as the freed parts were useable, Spike told Kedar to get his wife off the blasted web. Kedar rubbed oil on her, cleaned his right hand again, then began cutting the web. It was a tossup of what was moving faster, his hands cutting the web ropes or Careah’s chattering. She was jabbering a mile a minute, he knew she was more than upset, nearer to hysteria.

  Being very angry and gritting her teeth, she said, “Give me two drinks of fig juice and I’ll kill that Katipo with my bare hands.”

  Kedar chuckled and had her off the web and on the ground with no interference. She was shivering, as if freezing, because of the itch.

  “Go ahead, rub more oil on and the itching will stop by the time we are all off of here,” explained Mart. Spike, now free, jumped to the ground and put oil on his hands. He and Kedar went up to get Mart off the web. Not only were Mart’s feet and legs glued to the web, most of his body was stuck fast.

  While Kedar was putting oil on Mart, loud screams ending with a crocking sound got their attention. Spike saw the Katipo coming as fast as its eight legs could carry it.

  “I’ll guarantee one thing for certain, it’s not planning any courtships,” remarked Spike.

  “Amen,” snapped Mart, then added anxiously, “I have nothing in common with it.”

  The spider gave a guffaw howl.

  Careah cried, “I’ve never heard a spider give a loud cursing burst of laughter before.”

  “Yeah, they do that when they think their victim is trapped and will never get off its sticky web. After the sticky goo touches flesh, it hardens like glue as soon as the sun is away from it,” informed Mart.