Every Week at Rainbow Snippets https://www.facebook.com/groups/963484217054974 participants post six lines of a work of theirs, a work-in-progress or a work by someone else that has LGBT characters.

This week, a snippet from “Thus Comes The Spider,” the first part of a four-part superhero serial I posted on my blog https://authorjeffbaker.com/2025/08/22/thus-comes-the-spider-for-friday-flash-fics-from-jeff-baker-august-22nd-2025/ We open on our heroes, college-age boyfriends in their civvies enjoying a night out.

The Old University Theater was showing “Bridge Across the Rhine,” a WWII movie from sixty years earlier. Arn’s Great Uncle had been a movie stuntman and was all over this movie in the action scenes although Arn and Bryan had only picked him out once, being blown out from behind a bunch of sandbags in a blast of movie pyrotechnics. But the scene they had come to was special: Arn’s Uncle was actually onscreen standing in a uniform behind a general who was outlining plans on a map spread on a table.

“There he is!” Arn said, squeezing Bryan’s arm. “This is so cool!”

They had seen the movie on DVD a dozen times in their little off-campus apartment but seeing it in a theater was special.

Okay, we get to the mushy stuff…

Impulsively Arn kissed Bryan and Bryan kissed him back and laughed, pointing at the screen.

“You wanna watch or neck?” Bryan asked.

There was a vibration from Bryan’s pocket; he had it set especially for emergency bulletins on a Police App.

On the screen a giant spider was climbing on the side of one of the buildings in Old Town.

“Oh well, at least we got a student discount on the tickets.” Arn said.

“And we know who won the war.” Bryan said.

This was my homage to Marvel Comics and the “Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends” cartoon from forty years ago, also about college roommates with secret identities. Since some other writers I know have been posting full-blown serials I decided to try one myself! It was fun to write, and I hope you had fun too! Oh, and the spiders in the picture aren’t robots or AI: they are sculptures that adorn a building in downtown Wichita.

‘Till next time, take care! —–jeff