conversation with a spider

was getting ready to brush my teeth when discovered the sink was stopped. The stopper was in the sink and I was about to unplug it when I noticed a lovely corpse lying on the water. It was diamond shaped - a spider with long spindy legs slightly bent to form a cage-like cavity with it's small round body positioned like a handle to hold the cage with. I was deciding whether to pick it to take a closer look under my lamp when it twitched. I was glad then that I hadn't pulled the stopper or it would have irrevocably spiraled away into the mysterious abyss of Kaohsiung city plumbing which would have no doubt meant its death. Trusting the spider's survival instincts, I took a tissue and touched the surface of the water where the spider lay on it's side. Immediately the long spindy legs responded, unfolding with amazing reflexes, it touched the tissue and arranged itself rapidly so that it could adequately climb onto the tissue. With alertness that contrasted with its earlier 'play-dead' state the spider scrambled up white tissue. I was so surprised by its speed (the speed with which it becoming proximate with my hand, that is) that I suddenly pulled the tissue sideways. The lightweight creature certainly wasn't holding on to the fibers with hooks, for it swayed and was flying in the air straight for its watery grave once more. With adeptness that astonished myself (and a great deal of dumb luck) I recaptured the spider on the tissue and immediately touched the tissue towards the comparatively dry shore of the cream colored ceramic. The spider landed gently and with graceful stride glided into a dark corner where it was lost to sight.