Patty’s children drew pen-mark arachnids amid the branching network of varicose veins that covered their mothers’ thick legs from hip to ankle.

The children were bored, and Patty was sleeping, so it seemed no harm to bring a few spiders into the world, if only to pass the time.

Sadly, when Patty awoke and resumed her more-or-less upright stance, gravity went to work. Loose folds of flesh drooped downward, blanketing the spiders in cocoons of fat.

That day in the living room, with pens still in hand, the children learned in countless ways that life is short. Much to their dismay, the spiders would not be seen again.