Violet was still thinking about black widow spiders when her mouse took off, climbing up a wedge of something so fast she almost missed seeing where it went. Startled from her reverie, she took off across the dark room after it, pleased that she could see it so clearly. Unfortunately, she didn't see some of the obstacles on the floor as clearly (or wasn't looking carefully enough), because she tripped over something and nearly landed flat on her face. Fortunately, after flailing around for a while (she was glad it was so dark), she managed to catch her balance, but now she'd lost sight of her mouse.

She hurried over to the wedge where she'd last seen it and peered around it in all directions, trying to see where it had gone. With that red hourglass on its back, surely she would be able to spot it again.