The Magic of the White Spider

The second time, about half an hour later, was slower, but ended with the same shattering climax for both of us. Mandy was still panting when she pulled me down on top of her. She stroked my back and whispered, "promise me we'll be like this always."

I kissed her, then looked into her sparkling eyes.

"I can't imagine not being with you forever."

}|{

A lot has happened since that day in 1978. Dale finished his analysis of the yellow powder. Together we wrote a paper about Mandy's great uncle and the effect of the powder on his health along with some theories about how the powder worked.

That paper was read by one of the chemists at a pharmaceutical company who was working on a cure for a disease that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. We know it now as AIDS, but at the time, no one knew what it was or what caused it. All doctors knew was it caused organ deterioration and some types of cancer.

The chemist reasoned that if the powder had kept the man's organs healthy even though he was over a hundred it might at least postpone some of the effects of AIDS. He proposed a study and his proposal was accepted.

The samasama tree was identified as a species considered endangered, so killing trees for the purpose of obtaining the resulting fungus was not possible. It took two years, but the chemistry was finally understood and the powder synthesized. The required series of trials are underway and have shown some promise, but it will likely be several years before it can be approved. I find it odd that the FDA is concerned about a new drug injuring or killing someone who is certain to die without it.

The anthropology department at the university was very interested in the fact that the natives in the village spoke Samoan. They theorized that over the decades, a few of the Polynesians who sailed to South America ventured over the Andes. Their manner of dress and their tattoos seem to confirm this theory. They wrote a paper and it was published.

Of course, as always, there was another paper written by another school of thought. That school says the tribe is just another undiscovered tribe and the manner of dress and tattoos are original to that tribe. If they ever get tired of arguing about it, perhaps they'll try to find them.

I married Mandy three months after that night and we spent our honeymoon in Manaus. The reason was twofold. First of all, we had both fallen in love with each other and with the Amazon there, and we wanted to start our lives together in the same place.

Second, we wanted to find Biabo again. I still had questions about the white spider and wanted to talk to the healer again. We found Biabo working on the docks and he was happy to see us again.

He wasn't quite so happy when we proposed going back to the village. He said it would be better to wait a year or so. His logic made sense. For a people so primitive in their beliefs, it was certain another incident would take place to anger their gods and we wouldn't be blamed if we'd been gone for a while.

A year after that, we did go back, but the communal house had rotted away and the entire site of the village was overgrown with vegetation. We spent a week looking for some sign of them, but didn't find anything. They could have been anywhere in the thousands of square miles of rain forest and we had only one week to look.

Mandy hasn't changed in the last ten years, so we're assuming whatever the spider venom did is permanent. It would be nice to know for certain what that something was, but we have a son and two daughters now, and we decided against going back until they're in college.

We know we will go back one day, if only to experience the Amazon again. It's where Mandy changed to the woman she wanted to be and where she became the woman I couldn't live without. We owe some of that to the Amazon. We owe some to the white spider and we hope we can learn more about how the venom works. Mandy says the white spider should have a legacy too.