Late in the season, most of the bugs that can still be found around my house are dead. Having withdrawn into some corner just before their death, they are lying on their backs, their legs clutched close to their bodies. Most of the spiders that can still be spotted here and there are dead, as well. Nearly all of them have long, thin legs and tiny bodies. Holding onto their nets, they appear alive long after their demise. Just to be sure, I sometimes touch them ever so gently. If they are out of reach, I blow at them, instead. On rare occasion, there is some movement, albeit rather sluggish and lacking in conviction. If this is the case, I let them carry on with their hunt, for a few tiny flies still appear out of nowhere every now and then. But I am quite amazed by the dead spiders around the house. They die without any fuss. There is no spinning or gripping or twitching. In fact, there is no sign of it whatsoever. Holding onto their nets, they just let out the ghost. If I do not remove them together with their nets at some point, they can stay in the same spot indefinitely. Forever hunting, as it were. As deaths go, this strikes me as an enviable one. Just like an ellipsis at the end of a long-awaited sentence…