Crawling Around Outside

Writober 2025: Day Thirteen Giant Insects>Response Post

🔗Links in the Table of Contents are Jump links to my responses to each of the challenges
🐦‍⬛This is original work created by Maria L. Berg and this post counts as copyright. All rights reserved.

🎃OctPoWriMo 🦇Writober Flash Fiction 👻Halloween Photography Challenge

Today’s Theme: Giant Insects

These are my responses to the prompt post for Day 13 of Writober: When the Tiny Become Giant

OctPoWriMo

Millipede

It was called giant before it was huge
uncoiling from every corner
and scurrying over everything
all of those legs, those millions of legs
under its hard, black segments
and its horrible hiss
Now it rears up and its antennae 
pull planes from the sky
buildings quiver in its segments
while those legs
those millions of legs 
with their millions of feet
stomp and smash and crush and splat
the unseen little people
millions at a time

Writober Flash Fiction Challenge

Dreams of The Great White Spider

Ariadne was impatient to change to her spider form. They were free to wander the earth, and she was here stuck in this pond. The giant white spider visited every day. She was promised to him, but he was getting impatient. Not a single spiny hair, not a hint of an extra limb. No special senses, regular vision.

After the white spider left, after another day of a flirty nibble but disappointment that she hadn’t yet changed, her friend, Trout, swam up to her and joined her leaning against the shore and watching giant spindly legs disappear into the forest. 

“Why are you always letting that spider bite you like that?” Trout asked.

“He promised that I’ll change into a spider like him, and he’ll be my mate.”

“He what?” Trout shook his head then laughed. “Oh girl, you got played.”

“What do you mean? Trout, don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

“No. It’s not that. Have you noticed him getting bigger? Stronger?”

“I have. He says his love for me makes him strong.”

“Oh, he’s got you hooked. Don’t you get it? You’re a mermaid. Mermaids’ blood is what makes those spiders giant. You’re not going to turn into a spider, that would defeat the purpose. He’s just going to keep drinking a little more and a little more until you’re drained.”

“But I wanted to be a great white spider.”

“Really? You’d be dry all the time, and have to spin your own sticky web to sleep in. I’d choose pond life any day.”

Halloween Photography Challenge

Though at first I wasn’t happy with my cuts for my filter, I think I captured the fear of the attack of the giant millipedes.