I wrote this little prompt for a writers newsletter at the course I am taking. I was among the winners and I thought I would post it here as a sample of my writing.

                     The Garden Spider

Tall grass poked up from the rain-drenched earth in the backyard garden. It sprouted defiantly beside the overgrown peach and pink variegated rose bushes. A large web with zipper like zigzagging woven into it clung to the ugly brown blades of grass still damp from the spring shower. An enormous garden spider graced the intricate outdoor tapestry hanging head down on the light, wicked strands he designed to perfection. The large spider had a shiny hard exoskeleton. A finely churned buttery yellow abdomen announced his austere presence. Across the center, front to back, a pattern that resembled three stacked skeleton heads with tiny swirly tendrils swept outward around his stomach in a black tattoo. Thin spindly legs, stretched out from his hard shell of a body, as though in supplication of his next meal.

His prayerful demeanor suddenly changed when a floundering fly faltered into his deadly threads. A futile struggle with the gauzy strands of the spiders' cruel domain ensued. The spiders long black thin legs moved his swollen abdomen with surprising ease. The spider caught his prey with dexterity of motion injecting it with venom. He delicately wrapped his meal thread by sticky thread until completely confined. The famished spider gloried in a well sated appetite. The threads of his web would need mending. The fly's escape attempts tore rips into the web. The bottom portion hung in shreds marring its beauty, and destroying its usefulness. The devout spider industriously turned to the maintenance of his home.