I used to be somebody I'd go to battle for...

A nickel-sized brown spider clung to a crease in the wall of the shower. The strand of web he'd clung to had been severed by the stream of water now pouring from the showerhead. As the water sprayed against my back the mist created by the rebound was raining down on him making his climb up the smooth slickness of the wall slipperier and more difficult. On he pressed. I washed as I watched his struggle. I could have done something to help, turned the water off cupped my hands and carried him outside, but I got the feeling that he didn't want my help. An all too familiar stubbornness and resolve that seemed to say, "I can do this myself." So, I continued as a spectator. A few times the elements combined to form a force too much and he was separated from  his crease, falling to what I was sure was his doom. However, each time about half way down the wall, before reaching the slanted edge of the tub below, he regained his grip on the crease and started the climb again. The spider did not give up. If anything, he seemed more determined after each subsequent failure and motivated by the increasing hardship. I admired him for this. I didn't know where he was going but I began to hope that he could hold on until the water was turned off and he could continue where he'd left off with his web building in the top corner. He was sure to be discovered and killed by the next occupant of the shower but for the time being I willed and wished for his success. I was proud of this spider. He desesrved a perch atop the shower for however long he could stave off the elemental and external invaders. The truth is, I wanted to see a winner, to be a part of the victory and to know that it was possible to overcome whatever was thrown in your path and survive in spite of it.

Then, as I shampooed my hair, seconds away from stopping the water exiting the shower and securing the spider's salvation, he fell again. This time, all the way down the beveled edge of the tub and into the basin below. Swept away by the current of the water and unable to free himself from the pull of the drain, he got caught in the grate and drown.