Encounter

He stretched his long legs and moved toward her seductively- like a predator eying his prey. His long black lashes covered his eyes and served as a shield to the true meaning of his approach.  She recoiled from his scrutiny. An involuntary spasm gripped her momentarily as he leveled his steady gaze directly at her face.

She felt heat creep up her neck and slowly spread across her face and hair. She looked to each side but realized that she could not escape. Perhaps if she did not look directly at him, he would retreat from whence he came. Anxiety welled up inside her as she realized that he was continuing to walk directly to her. The taste of it was bitter as she swallowed hard.

Seductively, he advanced. She scolded her frantic heart but it would not obey and return to an even pace. Her body reacted without her permission. In a child-like movement, she lifted her arm across her brow covering her eyes as she did. Her trembling hand imparted more information than she had hoped.

He would not retreat. He seemed oblivious to her distress. Like a line of soldiers, legs marching onward to a distant rhythm, he moved until he was a mere inch from her face. He could see several hundred reflections of himself in her large green eyes. He had been called sinister looking once- he mused that she must think it now.

He was so intent on his reflection, that he only dimly registered the sound of gushing wind somewhere behind him. Cool air rushed across his back and he caused his concentration to falter for an instant. In the way that one summons the courage to face an inner demon or musters the strength to defeat an oppressor, she imposed a fleeting grip on her emotions. As she depressed the lever to activate the car window, it began to lower and the coolness of fresh air rushed inside to greet her gasping breaths. With an acumen that she did not know she possessed, Khris reached her hand up and flicked the inky black spider out of the window.

Khris

The above is a (mostly) true story.  I'm not afraid of spiders or bugs in general but this one seemed intent on staring me down. The missing piece of the story is that I was driving 55 miles/hour on a somewhat curvy road during the Encounter. Ugh.