When I used to collect spiders, I learned a few
hacks how to hunt and prepare them for selling:
When the night strikes, look for the one
your gut tells you is the suitable
for fighting. While that eight-legged insect
spreads her appendages, waiting for food
to press weight in her strings, toss a house
spider into her web, and wait until she defends
her territory. When you sense that they are busy
with their conflict that is the right moment to grab
them both, and put them in a cage. Open it
the next day, and check if she is sucking dry
the bait. Find a stick where she can crawl to expose
her color, size, and tentacles. Examine her,
see if there are missing parts of her
body. If that product is in good condition,
starve her, and inject drugs in her system
to make her hungry for war. By the time
she moves slowly, as if every step
is calculated, and ready to bite
whatever is before her, you can start to think
of a fitting prize that you can place on her head.
Once that, too, is settled, you can pimp her
to a buyer who will make money out of her rage—
That is how easy it is to profit from
snatching someone from their own home.
Laurehl Onyx B. Cabiles is a writer from Cotabato, Province. He has been a fellow of the Sox Writer’s Workshop (2023), NAGMAC-YWS (2024), and Ateneo de Davao Summer Writers Workshop (2024), and Davao Writers Workshop (2025).