“Concealed action does prevent the rabbits from bolting away, for a while anyway. I would’ve enjoyed the ride if they didn’t hop around. That felt like I was in a roller coaster without any straps or seats, not something I'd like to experience again. On the bright side I somehow ‘willed’? Pallesthesia to be less sensitive. I still don’t know how I can control it, but for now I’m not being overwhelmed by vibrations that’s perceived as if the world was ending.

My nightly blackouts are now increasingly lengthy and accompanied by bizarre dreams of my previous life. Random scenarios with no semblance of meaning. One recurring thing within my dreams is a small white spider that’s missing one of it’s legs. Is that supposed to be me? Not sure if that’s good or not. I suppose I’m not forgetting my memories anytime soon. Though which is the best for me now? Forget and leave everything behind and start over again or hold on and hope there’s some way to go back?

That’s something to figure out for another time. A nice thing of my dreams is that I have my human body with arms, hands and legs back. For the amount of short time I’m dreaming. Well it’s hard not to miss them when you’ve had them for years.

I also figured out not to place webs too close to the ground or the giant forest rats or whatever will get caught up in it and just ruin everything for everyone involved. These things are size of a large puppy. Oh and they’ll chew through almost everything. There are also giant ants that if you injure one of them more will show up until they swarm you to death. The rats found that out the hard way, scary. Why does everything in this place just hate everything else? Ugh, another wasp, another web to patch up… Well it isn't going to fix itself…”

It was time for the molt. It was anxious of what may become of them, yet it was also ‘thrilled’ to have had the chance to meet ‘Alicia’ through one of the ‘dreams’. And this was the chance. Though it was one sided, its excitement and tension was soaring…

20:47
He came home from a another long shift. Though his co-workers invited him out for a drink, he refused and headed straight to home. The day was a long one for him. Someone was late for their shift, another showing up hungover who was simply sent home for safety, some others not even being present, another messing up and few others with incomplete personal protective equipment, it was one of those days. He just wanted to go home and have the day be over with. No one seemed to be at home. Uncommon occurrence, but not unusual. His mum was often late when the company came up with a new product or a service. His sister still pursuing her master’s degree was also absent most of the time.
“Guess pops got too into his work. Gotta give him a call to come home before he pulls an all-nighter.”

He changed into comfortable house clothes and made his way to the kitchen.
“Nothing’s in the fridge either. Guess dinner’s on me today, would’ve bought something if had known.”

He hadn’t eaten anything since noon and was starving. Because of that he settled for something simple to make. Beef chopped into cubes, coated with flour and pepper sizzling in a large pot with oil. After all of them were browned, the pot was deglazed with vinegar and cheap wine leftovers. Pouring in a beef broth and adding some herbs with the beef put back in, it was brought to a boil.

“Now just add some potatoes and carrots after a while and dinner should be done…”

A beef stew; normally it would be cooked longer to make the meat tender but hunger didn’t allow for such luxuries. Potatoes quartered, carrots and onions were sliced and dumped into the pot.

“I should have some time till it’s done…”

With such thought he went to his room, to check emails and catch up on anything he missed. Not quite messy, but also not quite pristine, respectably sized room with a single window. A bed for one, clothes drawer, computer and shelves lined with miscellaneous items, reading materials for both academic and leisure time, old video game consoles and cartridges. A laundry basket half filled with worn clothes in the corner. The room is unremarkable if anything. While the computer was booting up, he went to the window to open it to let fresh air in. As he was opening it he noticed something that looked like a small white piece of cotton. Looking closely, it was a small white spider on the windowsill. The most distinctive aspect of it was its missing leg. To check if it was dead or not he tried to make it move by tapping close to it. Its reaction was minimal, so he decided to try and touch it with a mechanical pencil. It wasn’t afraid of the pencil but it was cautious, retracting its legs and balling up. Normally he would’ve either smashed it with a fly swatter or let it out by grabbing it with tweezers. This time he didn’t; for an unknown reason he felt pity. Was it because of its missing leg or it not fleeing even in the face of obvious danger? Aversion replaced with curiosity, he observed the spider for some time before…

• “...ar-... -e...”

Voice almost like a whisper seemed to call for him… He thought it was one of his family members coming home but he would’ve heard the door or the doorbell first. Inadvertently in a low voice he said out loud

• “What was that?”

And looked around his room.

• “...cia- hea-... -e...”

The whisper was unusually close to him, like it was inside his head. Almost as if it was from an internal voice not of his own.
He thought maybe he was too stressed from work and showed signs of schizophrenia but…

• “Alicia…”

With his name being called out a rush of memories came to him…