Elwin J. Owens

“ No hair, no ears, no nose, no mouth. Simply a dark ball for a head and a face form that resembled a small, old copper funnel. Through this funnel they drank freely of a boiling hot liquid. Their eyes were large and green. Their arms were nothing but bare bones and, at the end, were cupped hands with the fingers webbed together.
They were boiling metals and precious stones in the fissures of the rocks. Silently, he watched them. One would dip up diamonds in his cupped hands and sail away; another would dip platinum and float off in another direction. ”

“ He tried to turn his head so that he could see the objects but found that the spider's web had bound his head. A slimy, crawling thing passed over his body. It began to chew at his toes. Such pain. He tried to call out, but could make no sound.
Then, a strange, small bird with four wings flew over his face and began to peck at his fingers. Others came and he was being besieged on all sides. One became more greedy than the rest and in the struggle broke the thread that bound his head. He could now turn his eyes in the direction of his attackers. ”

“ Great rocks stood out, the only landmarks in the vast expanse of seemingly barren waste. Far back, he saw pigmies of dark complexion floating about, their feet just skimming the surface. Close to them, from out of the fissures in the rocky bed, floated up gases of many colored hues. ”

“ A huge muscular body, the color of an oyster lay almost buried in the sand. It expanded and then contracted. When it contracted, it forced the water from an opening in its side.
The sight of this caused Pilot Nelson to grow weak, so weak that he could not stand. He dropped down to rest.
Almost immediately, a large, grass-green spider spun a thread across his chest and attached the end to the vegetation on the other side. Back across his legs, the spider spun another thread. He tried to rise but found that he was tightly bound. Soon, numerous threads completely bound his struggling form. ”

“ He could now see plainly that its back was covered with mossy vegetation, its belly was covered with scales. Its teeth or fangs consisted of two sharp protruding teeth on the lower jaw and a sort of broad flat tooth on the upper jaw. The lower jaw it kept on moving up and down as if anticipating a feast of human flesh. ”