It was the Longest Appendages I’d Ever Seen on a Daddy Longlegs

Writing against a timer - using the title as an opening sentence

Category: Science Fiction / Sci-fi

It was the longest appendages I’d ever seen on a daddy longlegs. Its body stood over a foot above its delicate spindly legs giving it the appearance of a version of H. G. Wells tripods from War of the Worlds. As I approached to get a closer look, it took off at high speed, stepping forwards with incredibly rapid motion. A dozen feet ahead it paused and its body swivelled by bending its knee joints (if a daddy longlegs has knees) looking to see, I suppose, if it had left me sufficiently far behind.

I cautiously moved forward not wanting to startle it. It was pressed up against the side of the foundation of my house, approaching the back corner. As I stepped closer it stood unmoving until I was almost upon it and then with a burst of speed it rounded the corner and moved along the back of the house.

I peered cautiously around the corner and noted that once again it was standing still, its body again rotated as if to look back at me. And that’s when a strange thought entered my mind. Was this delicate creature leading me on. It seemed every dozen or so feet to pause and wait for me to catch up as if it was waiting so I could see what direction it would take next.

And sure enough when I approached it, it moved off at speed onto the grassy path leading to the small grove behind the house. And that’s when I noticed another strange thing. I scanned my eyes over it to make sure I was not making a mistake. But sure enough, I was able to confirm that this daddy longlegs only had four legs. Had it lost some appendages in some accident or battle? But its rapid walking motion seemed as flawless as it was fast. It did not struggle in any manner in its movement, but moved with machine like speed even across uneven terrain.

My curiosity aroused I followed it once again and this time kept up a steady gait as it moved rapidly along the path in front of me, matching my pace, until the path diverted into the grove. The grove was a circle of trees, mostly weeping willows with long shady boughs that hung to the ground filtering the sunlight so that the long grass in the center of the grove was dappled with a constantly shifting mix of shade and sun as the willow branches moved in the warm summer breeze.

I followed my four legged friend, as I now thought of him, into the center of the grove where it stood unmoving, clearly waiting for me. I cautiously edged forward, the daddy longlegs, if that is indeed what it was, did not budge, I squatted down in front of it and was able to get a close look. Its body glinted in the dappled light, shining a bluish purple, almost metallic hue. It was maybe an inch in diameter. I confirmed that it only had four legs. And then waited.

From the belly of the body a sudden light like a fine sharp, intensely bright laser beamed out toward the grass. Startled, I fell over backwards from my squatting position and then scrambled backwards several feet. The creature did not budge from its stance but the laser like beam issuing from its belly swung in a smooth arc, burning away the grass in its path. It inscribed a circle about six feet across and continued to reify it until it had evaporated the soil along the circles’ edge to a depth of approximately five inches. I watched in amazement, convinced now that this was a machine of some kind or else an alien creature equipped with deadly natural defences.

The creature, or machine, moved to one side of the circle and continued to fire its belly laser until all the grass and soil within the circle evaporated away and the circle was a shallow hole some eight to ten inches deep. But why was I here? Why was I led to this spot? I grew a little worried, seeing the powerful weaponry issuing forth from this small but potent “thing”. I knew not how else to refer to it.

As I watched, the creature moved further back from the circle, a good ten feet or so, and waited patiently, its body turned towards me, till I stood and also moved back. Then, the ground shook and cracked and crumbled and something large began to slowly emerge from the earth.

A dome like object began to push its way through the soil in the centre of the circle. It rose through the ground and I could see that the dome was the exact dimensions of the inscribed circle. It rose higher and higher, dirt sliding off its smooth metallic surface, until a large bullet shaped object sat upon the ground. And then it began to rise again as legs emerged and raised it higher and higher, until it stood dozens of feet above me, not a tripod but a quadrapod, although in every other way it sparked reminisces of the tripods.

What strange situation was I in now. This summer day was mutating and my simple curiosity was transforming into dread and a hammering heart.

I tore my eyes away from the massive bulk and mis-proportioned legs of the quadrapod, to look around for the daddy longlegs. I could no longer see it. It had moved from where it had been.

I heard a slight rustling behind me and as I turned I saw the longlegs darting towards me….