Katarin wakes up and finds a spider in her mouth.
She gags and swallows reflexively.
Tiny spider legs clutch at her throat all the way down!
She barely makes it to the bathroom before she vomits.
There’s not even time to turn on the lights.

Katarin is brushing her teeth afterward.
She looks awful.
Her hair is sweaty and dark and stuck to her forehead.
Her eyes are sunken and bloodshot.
Her nose is running.
Her mouth tastes chalky, feels stripped.
She can still feel the spider legs, tickling, tickling.
She has to keep clenching her teeth to keep from puking on her toothbrush.

When she’s done brushing out her mouth, she rinses.
The water tastes flat and metallic.
And a little bit like stomach acid.
Katarin reaches for the handle to flush the toilet.
A weird noise is coming from under the lid.
What, says Katarin. What now.
She opens the lid floating in her vomit are hundreds of spiders.
Thousands.
Tiny and black, tiny and white.
And they are all chanting in Greek!