One Mistake

by Naomi L. | June 7, 2013 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing | 8 comments

I never saw the spider.

I kept telling them on the way to the hospital: I opened the door just for a second to let the cat out, and then I went back to the living room.

I never saw that spider sneaking in.

Yet here we were two hours later, listening to the doctor tell us that my sister was going to be fine. A minor allergic reaction, nothing to worry about. But good news now wasn’t going to keep my parents from looking at me funny for weeks, and it wasn’t going to stop this story from coming up at every Christmas family gathering for years to come. Now my baby sister was going to be arachnophobic for the rest of her life, and I would never be able to open another door without looking straight at my feet first.

All because of one mistake.

That I never even saw.