Chapter 11
Aurelio’s Beginning
Aurelio found in the forest
Bonito was glad to be following Oliver. It had seemed unnecessary when they were still on the paved road, but here in the D’Angular National Park, on this road restricted to four wheel drive only, it was a relief to him. They had come up from the city into the park, but once they were past the Gantry there were no helpful signs. The only sign that Bonito saw that seemed to indicate that they were going the right direction was the one that said “four wheel drive vehicles and motorcycles allowed”, though there was also a sign that said “National Park” indicating that they were still inside the almost 8 square mile park. The dirt road had started out smooth enough, but there were places where large rocks blocked the way, and the path driven around them had been dug out by numerous tires and were now deep gullies. The road was still soft from the recent rain, and Bonito was afraid of getting stuck.
Bonito was not used to driving a four wheel vehicle. They bounced along while Jordi in the back laughed and cried out, “More bumps, Daddy! More bumps!” There was a moment when Boninto was sure they would be stuck. Oliver had swerved quickly, but Bonito was following too close behind to see the hazard and went right into a deep mud hole. The passengers lurched forward as the wheel hit the far side of the hole, then were vaulted up as the front tire was forced up and out by the other three. They were thrown into their seatbelts, then the vehicle rose up to catch them, and then people and SUV together crashed back down and they sunk deep into their seats. Jordi was laughing even louder now, but Carmela still reached back to check on him and pull his seatbelt tighter. They arrived at the car park feeling physically and mentally shaken, but laughing at the adventure.
They all emerged with shaky sea legs. Carmela dusted herself off even though she wasn’t dusty, while rolling her head to readjust her neck. Bonito rolled his shoulders and twisted his back left and right. Jordi jumped out, saw the mud splattered on the side of their SUV and instantly started running his hands back and forth through the muck.
“That was so much fun!” he shouted while skipping and dancing around. Carmela jumped back to avoid his muddy hands.
They had been invited on this bushwalk by Oliver, Bonito’s local business partner. Bonito’s had been introduced to Australian bushwalks from tv and advertisements, so he donned his heavy hiking boots, safari pants, vest with many extra pockets, and a Panama hat. Carmela covered Jordi’s head with a floppy cotton hat which kept falling down over his eyes, while she was more practical with light shorts, runners, and a breezy long sleeve shirt.
“Here we ah, ah you guys ready?” called Oliver, then looking at Bonito said, “Well, Mate, where ah you going?”
Bonito was confused by this, “I’m here going on this walk with you.”
“You’re looking a little over cooked there, though where are your sunnies?” he tried to conceal his smirk.
“Sunnies? Oh, my sunglasses, yes thank you. Can’t be prepared enough,” replied Bonito.
“Fair enough,” smiled Oliver.
“Oh, darling, you do look a little over cooked there, don’t you,” Carmela patted his shoulder.
Jordi pranced over to see what they were talking about, He rubbed his hands down Bonito’s pants, leaving parallel streaks of mud on each leg, and said, “I think you look cool, Daddy! Like an adventurer!”
“Yeah, no, yeah, we’re gonna be doin’ the Aussie salute if you don’t put on this mozzie spray.” Then into his wife’s ear, “This dag looks like he’s nevah been on a bushwalk before. I think those boots ah meant for the Arctic.”
“I am really hoping that we will find a platypus! Do you think we might see one?” Bonito squawked, then cleared his throat to cover his excitement.
“We’ll do our best, mate. Heading down to the creeks, keep your eye out there. And if not, we’ll stop by the nature center. Mind you, you wouldn’t wanna get pricked by one of those things.”
“What do you mean?” asked Cecelia.
“Yeah, they’re venomous,” he poked at Jordi, “they have spurs in the back and that’ll getcha.”
Jordi looked up at his mother with eyes that asked if this were true; Carmela shrugged.
They followed the level hard packed trail from the car park towards the 2km rainforest walk. As they went along Carmela reached over, tilting Jordi’s hat back and sweetly said, “There now, can you see better?” Bonito looked quite out of place compared to the others, and felt rather silly in his gear as they entered the well developed, smooth trail.
Along the raised boardwalk, littered with golden leaves, Bonito kept a steady eye out. Lush growth was all around them: tall spotted gum, cabbage tree palms that reached over the path, large ferns that brushed by you, with saplings sprouting amongst the spongy forest litter. Only small dabs of sky were visible above, the rest was deep greens and browns in the dim filtered light.
“Look here,” pointed Oliver at a web of branches woven around a tree trunk, “this here is the Strangler Fig. It’ll kill this tree, strangle it right to death.”
They all oohed.
“This is such a lovely path to be walking on,” said Carmela, “Quite the contrast from the bumpy road it took to get here.” She smirked and looked down at Bonito’s boots, then up at Oliver, who was squeezing his lips to cover up a smile.
“Indeed. Australia is a land of contrasts,” smiled Oliver genuinely.
“Will we see koalas?” asked Jordi.
“Yah, no, yeah, maybe,” Oliver leaned over Jordi, “but cha gotta watch out for them drop bears. Me mate got bit real bad by one of those bugga’s once. Nearly tore off his leg.”
“Wow!” replied Jordi with wide eyes. He grabbed his mother’s hand.
Frowning at Oliver, Cecelia squeezed Jordi’s hand, “It’s fine sweetie. You’re as likely to see one as the Man of the Noses, as likely as a poisonous platypus.”
“Oh, no, that’s real. They are poisonous, and they glow blue-green undah florescent light.”
Carmela scowled at him.
Looking at Jordi, Oliver said, “Best listen to your mum, there, nothing’s going to get you here.”
The air was moist and heavy, and no breeze broke through the thick growth, thus muffling all the noises except their voices and the racket of the birds. The many birds were calling out with twittles, tweets, squawks and whistles. A loud call rang out: a very fast laughter that sounded like whoo-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka ending in a trill that repeated.
“What’s that?” ask Carmela?
“The kookaburra,” replied Oliver’s wife.
“Kookaburra! I know Kookaburra! Kookaburra sits in the old gum twee, merry merry king of the bwush is he,” sang Jordi, “Waugh kookaburra, waugh kookaburra, gway your wife must be.” He skipped as he continued the song.
When they stepped off the boardwalk onto the path a bunch of small pink trumpet shaped flowers caught Bonito’s attention. And then among them there was a shiny speck. The creature wasn’t much more than a drop of water sitting on a curled leaf, but it shimmered with a pink and green iridescence, reflecting its surroundings.
“What is this?” Bonito asked Oliver.
Oliver came close and put on his reading glasses. “A mirrah,” he said translating as best as he could into Spanish. “Un espejo de una cosa,” he repeated, then added, “a rainbow”. He waved his hand in a dramatic arc.
“A mirror of one thing?” Bonito translated back into English. “What does that mean, and is it dangerous?”
“It’s such a wee thing. Crikey, how could it be dangerous? This is our mirrah spidah. You wanted to see the platypus, but this is a bettah prize. They’re hard to find, and if it were raining we wouldn’t have seen him at all. He would have blended in with all the drops of watah.”
“May I touch it?” Bonito said as he reached out his hand slowly and cautiously.
“Of course.”
Bonito extended his reach, placing the tip of his pinky in front of the little speck of mirror. It reached forward with its glassy front legs, tentatively touching and tapping before climbing up. Bonito could barely feel it; he slowly lifted his hand to his face for a closer look. “Does anyone have a magnifying glass?”
No one answered.
“A container? Does anyone have a small container?”
Carmela searched her pack, and found a little thin plastic candy box with a few candies still left in it. She handed out the candies, then handed the box to Bonito.
“Perfect!” said Bonito. “Here you go, my little shiny friend. I wonder what you eat.” He slipped the lid back on and looking at Oliver asked, “What does it eat.”
“Very small things, I guess,” he replied with a shrug and a flattened lip smile.
“May I,” Bonito stopped himself from putting the container in his bag, “May I keep him? I’m sorry, I should have asked first. He’s just so beautiful, in my excitement…”
“No wukkas, I don’t think anyone will notice that a tiny spidah is gone. ”
“Keep him carefully, my dear. I think he’ll be fine in your bag while we walk,” Bonito handed the box to Carmela.
They continued their leisurely walk, Bonito forgetting that he was over dressed for this simple stroll.
“Yeah yeah yeah, this has been me best walk here to date,” commented Oliver.
Brought back to the Castle
Now, please, my dear reader: I need you to suspend your disbelief at this next point in our story. I must ask you to overlook the fact that Bonito brought a spider from Australia to Spain, which is highly illegal in Australia and carries hefty fines and/or jail time. I remind you that this story is fiction, and so I have taken some liberties with the export of this spider for the purposes of the narrative. Please give me this indulgence, and don’t write me nasty letters about the preservation of species.
Bonito, Carmela, and Jordi lived in the old family castle. It was a small castle along the coast of Catalan that had been passed down through the generations. North of Barcelona, it was in a small town that needed only a little protection back in the medieval times as it was too small to be of consequence. The castle had been built on the foundations of a Roman villa, and through the years had been added onto and remodeled into an eclectic building. The size of a small mansion, their home had a grand presence on top of the hill.
Carved lions greeted guests at the large double door entrance to the courtyard. Heading through this shaded passageway brought them into a grassy area surrounded by walls on all sides. There were gothic arches around the balconies on the 2nd and 3rd floors, and a mix of gothic and clover windows along with simpler arched windows that had stained glass. A grand stone staircase flanked by bas relief carved dragons led to the main living area which was on the second floor.
In the main living area, a large room with a high arched ceiling of carved wood, Bonito gave Aurelio his own little terrarium. It was a hand made cage made with a frame of golden oak and perfectly cut sheets of glass that slid down into channels. Bonito had collected seedlings of fern and mat-rush that he planted in the shallow soil along with two potted bonsais: a bay fig and a glossy-leafed Lilly Pilly. Bonito arranged the plants, then looked at them from the side and rearranged them again, then again from the other side and the front making little adjustments each time. He wanted Aurelio to have a safe place to build his web, but for there to be a good view of this little jewel of a spider. On top went a fine silk netting stretched over the oak frame, which would let in air, but not let the smallest fly in or out.
Aurelio felt right at home with these native plants, not even understanding that he had not been returned to his home. From his diminutive view, this miniature forest was his home. He happily built his web in the corner behind the miniature Lilly Pilly tree. Bonito was not happy about this, and when ever he brought a supply of fruit flies netted from the compost pile, he tried to let them free on the far side. This made no difference, as the flies instantly filled the whole space in a poof of erratic flight. Aurelio would catch five or six of these, and make a nice meal of it. He grew quickly.
Soon Bonito was releasing small house flies, which were a challenge for Aurelio at first. He was smaller than them, but soon realized they were defenseless when their legs were firmly tangled in the web. A fly could last him a day or two at first. Then he needed more, and the household staff were setting bottle traps inside and out trying to catch more flies. Bonito enticed Aurelio to come out from the corner by carefully super-gluing the flies wings together, and placing it in the center of the terrarium. The fly would walk around a bit, but if Aurelio wanted to catch it he would have to build his web strategically from the dirt up to the side of the bonsai. The fly would wander this way and that until it found itself on a gentle slope that soon became sticky. Each time Aurelio would move the web a little further out across the open area in the middle, until he was building his nest right where Bonito wanted him to.
In a matter of months, Aurelio had grown larger than any of his kind ever had and was threatening to outgrow his little terrarium. His web stretched from one side to the other, making it impossible to clean up the discarded fly mummies without destroying the web. Aurelio himself would deconstruct old sections and rebuild them, but never leave enough time or space for a hand to reach in to clean up. Clever Bonito attached a length of clear vinyl tubing to his hand vacuum, and would carefully thread it down to the mossy floor and vacuum up the bug carcasses. He would hum and sing to his little spider, cooing and telling Aurelio how beautiful he was.
Little Jordi would peer with his big brown eyes over the edge of the table, chirping, “One, two, twee, four, fife, sis, seffin…” as he watched each little white pill shape get sucked up. He did not understand the carnage that he was looking at, nor how this carnage would become a horror in his own home, and then beyond his home and then become the home of the love of his life. For now Jordi was delighted by the sparkling spider and the sound of the pop-whoosh of each dead fly traveling through the vacuum tube.
Aurelio could now look through the glass and see the hands that moved the tube, the little brown eyes that from his view also squeaked with delight. He watched as the big hand would rest on top of the little head of brown curly hair, then tousle it was a chuckle. He watched as these two entities would leave together, and it would grow quiet.
-
Being in captivity he grows and grows
“Oh, no! Oh, no! Aurelio, what happened?” Bonito came to Aurelio’s terrarium with a small net bag full of crawling flies. He was startled to see his beloved pet dead, a dim shell of himself stiff and hanging awkwardly from the web. He pulled back the whole screen, not just the corner, and reached in to lift out the lifeless body. He did not see that Aurelio himself clung to the inside corner of the lid. Lifting the body, one of the legs broke off, making Bonito jump. He turned over the body to see that it was cracked along the abdomen and was actually hollow.
Bonito knew that spiders molt, but this was the first that he had found the shed skin. Then Bonito leaned in to find Aurelio. He gently lifted leaves and pulled back grass. He noticed movement in the corner of his eye, and turned to see Aurlio climbing down the outside of the lid. Quick, went a candle jar over the top of the spider.
“My little friend, I’m afraid there is nowhere for you to go today. Ha ha, you little sneak, I don’t think you will be able to go exploring. But this will be the perfect opportunity to give your home a good cleaning.” And with that, Bonito pulled out his mini clippers and started trimming up the bonsai, humming while he pulled out the fly carcases, and he swept away all the webs.
“You’ll get to build a nice new bed for yourself tonight, all clean and beautiful. Don’t you worry. I know you are a fast builder. I’ll just glue a couple of wings together here, so a few flies will be easy catching for you.”
Aurelio watched and listened. Like a dog’s understanding, he was starting to pick up his name, recognize the fly bag, and know Bonito’s face.
His gaze was suddenly interrupted when young Jordi came and laid hold of the jar. Bonito quickly placed his hand on top of it before Jordi could pick it up.
“No no, young man, don’t set him free.”
“I want to see him close!”
“Ah, but to see him close might also mean that we may never see him again.”
“Why?”
“He might get away, and possibly get eaten.”
“Ohhhh,” Jordi said staring up at his father, then back down leaning in close to the jar. The soot from the candle obscured his view.
“Wait just a moment, and I will clean the glass of the terrarium, then you will see him clearly when I put him back in his home.”
“K, daddy!” but Jordi skipped off at that moment, forgetting his desire to see closely.
Bonito slid a card under that jar, lifting Aurelio up and carefully pulled the card off and shook Aurelio onto the bottom of the terrarium. He then misted the plants and even Aurelio. Stretching the net back on, he left the corner loose for the flies and shook them all in.
“Oh, Aurelio, I’m so sorry, I forgot to glue some wings together. Will you be fine?”
Aurelio was already busy building a web
Jordi, now a lanky 10 year old, liked to help his father with feeding the spider. He delighted in the musical buzz of the flies that were trapped in the honey bated jar; it was the thought of them being eaten after how irritating they were. Jordi carefully lifted the bell of the jar while slipping the mesh fabric underneath it. Lifting up the extra fabric, he carefully tied it off of the top, and while pulling the string taut he slipped the jar out leaving the flies caught in a neat little drawstring net bag. Jordi skipped back to his father’s office, shaking the flies as he bounced.
The flies were suitably stunned by the shaking when he arrived at Aurelio’s cage, so Jordi was able to open the top of the cage without worrying about them flying away when he dropped them in. One at a time he picked them up, gave them an extra shake and dropped them down. Some landed in the dirt, some on the web. One landed on the edge of the tree trunk and had one leg stuck in the web. Jordi watched as it started to regain consciousness and pull at the web. The last few flies in his net back came back to themselves and started flying in and out of the cage.
Bonito came over to watch, “You really don’t like those flies, do you?”
“No, daddy, they buzz around leaderless, careless of where they walk with their disgusting feet. One moment they’re on the dog poop, then they’re in the kitchen on our food.”
Jordi swatted at the flies that started to get loose, then reached in to push the fly into the web. As he reached down Aurelio also came over to inspect the fly. Jordi put his hand out to let Aurelio walk onto his fingers. It tickled, and he jerked his hand. Aurelio held on, but his leg got caught between two of Jordi’s fingers.
“Careful!” Shouted Bonito. “You’ll hurt Aurelio.”
“Sorry daddy! I didn’t mean to.” Jordi quickly flipped his hand over, dumping Aurelio back into the cage. “I’m sorry, Aurelio. Are you OK?”
Aurelio held out his one leg straight, dragging it along the rough dirt where he had plunged.
“My, it looks like his leg is hurt. We’ll have to see, young man, give him a few minutes and hopefully he’ll be OK,” said Bonito.
“I hope so, daddy.”
They both leaned down and looked through the glass. Bonito put the lid back on before more flies escaped.
Aurelio studied their reaction to this injury. He watched their furrowed brows as he dragged himself back to the web on the bonsai. He heard their cooing and encouragement. As he stepped up on the low pot that the bonsai was in he lifted up his hurt leg, and they smiled. Then that claw slipped on the pot’s smooth glaze, and they frowned and gasped, so he continued to drag his leg.
Bonito shook his head and grabbing Jordi, turning his son to face him, “You really should be more careful. I don’t want you to lift Aurelio out of the cage again. What if you had dropped him?”
“I’m sorry daddy, I’m really sorry.”
Aurelio studied this interaction, then turned his hurt leg towards the humans, making sure that it was stretched out straight and limp.
“I’ll check on him in a little while,” said Bonito as he turned back to his desk.
“Ok daddy,” Jordi’s tear filled eyes followed Bonito as he walked away.
Jordi sat and watched Aurelio for a long time, there was no change. After he had his lunch he came back to the cage to see Aurelio sitting normally, the hurt leg pulled back up. “Daddy, he’s better.” Jordi called as he ran to his father’s desk.
They walked back together and found that Aurelio’s leg was outstretched and limp. They both frowned, Bonito in irritation, Jordi in confusion.
“Really, daddy, he was holding his leg up.”
“Clearly not, Jordi. Go on now. I’ll check on Aurelio later.”
Jordi left his father’s office, looking back to the cage, but he couldn’t see around his father’s girth as he was being led out of the rooms by Bonito’s large hand on his shoulder.
For days Aurelio kept up the show of his injured leg when Bonito was around, but not for Jordi. He pranced around as usual when Jordi was around, catching flies and and enjoying the dinners that Jordi brought him. He was amused by the interaction between Bonito and Jordi, as Bonito was increasingly irritated by Jordi’s insistence that Aurelio was fine. But every time that Bonito came to look, Aurelio’s leg still hung pathetically.
The ruse came to an end when Bonito walked by unexpectedly and found Aurelio sitting with his leg held up. Aurelio was busy spinning a new web and was balancing between the tangled threads, using all his appendages to navigate.
“I say! Looks like you’re feeling better,” Bonito exclaimed with a clap. “I think Jordi will be glad to hear this.” Bonito shared the good news with Jordi and he tucked him into be that night, but Jordi was not relieved to hear this as Bonito had hoped.
“I know daddy,” he said quietly. “He’s been better for days. I told you so.”
Bonito was silent, kissed his son, then walked back to his office to watch Aurelio on his web. “Are you a scamp?”
He escapes from the cage and bites Jordi
Aurelio had no predators, no stress of danger, ample food, the perfect climate. He was able to keep growing through the years. He was more like a tortoise than a spider as he grew and aged slowly. Albeit smaller than Jordi, his growth and maturity seemed to mirror that of the boy.
Aurelio eventually outgrew his terrarium, and was big enough to be put in a bird cage. This let flies in and out freely, but they still supplemented his diet. Then he eventually outgrew this cage. He looked like he still fit, but they had to clean up the messes often.
Jordi was helping Bonito clean the cage. Bonito lifted Aurelio out; his legs curled back in from the knees so that he could fit on bonito’s hand. “Hold out both your hands,” Bonito told Jordi, “Hold him for a moment while I vacuum.”
Jordi held out his hands and squeezed his lower arms together to make a bigger platform for Aurelio to sit on. Bonito tipped his hand up, and gently shook Aurelio off into Jordi’s hand.
Aurelio watched intently as Bonito cleaned and talked to Jordi about their day, and life, and the weather.
“You’re doing a great job, so gentle with Aurelio,” Bonito said as he ruffled Jordi’s dark curly hair. Bonito wrapped his arm around Jordi’s shoulder and squeezed while he gave him a peck on the check, with his other hand he started to reach toward Aurelio to pick him up.
Aurelio bit down hard into Jordi’s forearm, then jumped onto the table with the cage on it. From the table he jumped to the wall, and up to the corbel. The polished wood pillar on top of that had a space behind it, so Aurelio wedged himself as much as he could into that space.
“Why did you throw him?” Bonito yelled as he chase Aurelio.
“He just bit me,” explained Jordi, “I didn’t throw him. He bit. He jumped.”
Bonito reached out and looked at Jordi’s arm. There was no lump rising yet, just a small red spot that Bonito rubbed lightly. “Now how are we going to get him down?”
They spent the afternoon moving their ladder from one spot to another, then getting their tallest step stool and a broom. Aurelio was too fast for them, and kept moving higher and higher out of their reach.
“Maybe a trap will work,” said Bonito.
Aurelio thought about the traps they placed out for the flies, and wondered what kind of trap they might place for him. He was understanding more and more of their language and decided to follow them as they built the trap for him. If he could hear them talk as they made it then he would be able to avoid it.
At the workbench where they were assembling a large bowl with a cake platter lid in a haphazard trap, Jordi looked up at his father and said, “He bit me right when you hugged and kissed me.”
Bonito picked up Jordi’s arm to look at it again, and saw that it was swelling up from the wrist to the elbow. He stroked his fingertips across it lightly, but Jordi still pulled his arm away in pain. “I’m sorry, my boy. Lets get some ice on that.”
They abandoned the trap, and walked back up to the main house. Aurelio followed behind without them seeing or hearing him. He climbed back in through the window and was back on the corbel where they thought he’d been the whole time.
“Well, he’s still there. I guess he’s not going to go anywhere at this point. I don’t think there’s any chance we’ll catch him,” Bonito sat on the sofa looking up at Aurelio with Jordi. “Still, sure is a pretty sight. Look at how the light reflects off of him onto the wall, like little dapples of rainbow. We wouldn’t have seen that if he were still in the cage.”
“No, I guess not, daddy,” said Jordi as he lightly rested his arm on the ice.
His arm was getting quite itchy. Then, as the deep red bruise rose, he found that that muscle would cramp up and pull his hand down at a sharp angle. Bonito stayed with him that night and the next day as Jordi fell sick to sweats with cramping and pain up his arm and into his shoulder.
They never caught him, but let him live in a cleaned out corner of the main living room. Aurelio grew quite nicely in this newest home. No longer restricted by the cage he was able to move around more freely and therefore find more food. He had a window between two pillars, a high wall with an arched ceiling, and a chandelier. The chandelier was a particular treat for Aurelio, because many bugs were attracted to the light, and subsequently got caught in it’s bowl. Aurelio was able to build a small web across part of the bowl so as to catch the moths and beetles. Bonito left the windows open to let in the insects, much to everyone else’s irritation. Carmela would often close the windows just to find them open again no matter the weather.
Aurelio only went into the chandelier bowl to pull out the fresh flies before they were baked by the light bulb. He would have to wrap them quickly, and cut them from the web to pull them up to his guide line from the pillar. On top of the ledge above the carved figures of the fireplace he would feast. The rest of the time, Aurelio preferred to sit by the window. Not only for the warmth of the sunlight, but he also enjoyed reflecting the light that came in. With a slight turn of his abdomen he could make the light dance across the wall, or with a little puffing up of his abdomen the mirrored plates would enlarge and blobs of light would also grow in size and spread into the corners and over the floor.
Aurelio played this game for his own delight, not caring or paying attention if anyone else was noticing. Bonito did, and would often stop his work to look up at the play of light as he worked through solutions to this problem or that. There was solace for him in the dance of sparkles.