3 Deadly Drabbles - Into the Woods

What hides in the forests and jungles of the world?

I decided to let the Word of the Day website guide me with a prompt. Today’s word is “Paragon.” which somehow led me to the 3 drabbles in this collection. It started with the idea of the perfect spider and the other two simply came to me in a similar setting. Enjoy…

Arachnid

It was never meant to be discovered, never meant to be removed from the spot in the Amazon jungle it called home. Science decreed otherwise, hailing the spider a miracle.

Its poison was lethal, but it contained properties that could be used to heal all manner of human ills, or so they thought.

Had the scientists that discovered the thing moved a little deeper into the jungle, they would have found dead civilizations, all wiped out by an eight-legged creature that wanted the space to itself. The new medicines gave the toxins room to roam, roam to destroy something bigger.

Snake

The bite should have killed her instantly. Instead, it killed the snake that attacked her. She had always felt different, feared even, but she never knew why. Past partners called her toxic, and it appeared they were right.

The solo trip to the jungle was an escape from reality, but it was fast becoming the creation of something new. Her movements were now fast and fluid, unnatural. They felt right to her, though, as did the fangs and elongated tongue.

Slipping silently between the trees, she fed on small creatures, growing stronger with each kill. Time now for something bigger.

Dark Red

Things felt different along the forest trail today. Lilly ceased her skipping and listened, pulling down the hood of her red jacket so as to hear more clearly.

In the near distance, twigs snapped and groans of pain called out, silencing the birds and creatures that normally echoed out by day.

Lilly reached into her basket and slid out the blade just as the first of the creatures arrived. Like a ballerina, she spun, flicked the blade left and right, slicing and dicing with all her might. She grinned, knowing nothing would stop her from delivering a meal to grandma.