Dropped

Something that seemed incredible happened to me the other day, or maybe it's rather conceited of me to say that it happened to me. It happened to a spider, but it's fair to say that it happened because of me. I was headed out of the house when I noticed the spider right on the outside of my bedroom door. I thought at first that a roommate had placed a plastic spider as a joke of a joke, but the spider moved, and I was alarmed.

Knowing how beneficial spiders are to the environment, I was determined not to kill it (as I regrettably have others in the past, which is shameful for an Eagle Scout). I rushed to the kitchen for a paper towel section, and returned to the spot of the sighting. The spider had moved on, but I soon enough found him inside my room, further compounding his crimes. I apprehended him in the paper towel and hoped I wasn't applying too much pressure or too little.

I brought the whole bundle over to the balcony, intending to set him free with a stern warning not to return. It occurred to me that simply placing him on the floor of the balcony would be unproductive, as he could too easily get back inside from there and could do harm if I chose to go out there, which is my right. I decided that the best course of action, short of going downstairs with him to set him free outside the building, was to dump him off the balcony.

I thought that a spider could easily handle the fall, and I have no reason to think that he failed to survive. What I known is that I released the pressure I'd been applying to the paper towel, and saw him fall out. He fell very slowly, it seemed, and curled out before being pushed back in by what must have been a slight wind. He then hit the cement of the parking garage. It occurred to me that he could have landed on someone, but I don't think he did, and I don't think he died. However it came out, it was a hell of a thing to watch.