The Jokes Don't Land

You realize very quickly that whatever shadowy spider monsters find humorous is _very _different from human comedy. You search your memory for all the funniest jokes and anecdotes you know, but none of them are working.

"Is that all?" The creature asks impatiently.

"No!" You respond, with increasing desperation. Though now it seems all you're doing is postponing the inevitable.

Eventually, you're reduced to a string of knock-knock jokes so bad even the man in the stocks groans.

"That _is _all." says the creature.

Reality seems to fly apart all around you, rearranging itself and coming back together in an instant. Even in the pitch blackness, you realize your situation: you shiver at the cold dampness of the cavern floor on your naked body. You feel the heavy wooden stocks clamped securely over your wrists and ankles, stretched out in front of you. You hear the shallow breathing and feel the bodily warmth of the creature's other 'pet' right beside you.

The gleeful creature skitters about in the darkness behind you, but all you can do is wait ...