{"product_id":"under-the-spider-tree","title":"Under the Spider Tree (Digital)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"flex flex-col text-sm pb-25\"\u003e\n\u003carticle class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [\u0026amp;:has([data-writing-block])\u0026gt;*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:ee02b96d-8fa6-4121-ba47-325765b92d6a-17\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-10\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\" data-turn=\"assistant\" tabindex=\"-1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\" tabindex=\"-1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"dce4e6c4-0cd1-44a1-a9b7-9831b651ba0e\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-2\" class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[1px]\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full wrap-break-word light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"30\" data-end=\"55\"\u003eA crack splits the night.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"57\" data-end=\"198\"\u003eGunfire flashes in the darkness. Rain pours over mud-soaked uniforms. Tin cans strung along hidden barbed wire rattle their warning too late.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"200\" data-end=\"226\"\u003eThey were already waiting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"228\" data-end=\"529\"\u003eOn a remote tropical island of blue lagoons and lush rainforest, Captain John O’Driscoll and his men walk straight into an ambush. What should have been another routine recon mission becomes a night of chaos — bullets whining past ears, machine guns roaring, and friends falling one by one in the mud.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"531\" data-end=\"547\"\u003eMadman is first.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"549\" data-end=\"562\"\u003eThen Bulldog.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"564\" data-end=\"574\"\u003eThen Aces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"576\" data-end=\"618\"\u003eChopper doesn’t make it through the night.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"620\" data-end=\"890\"\u003eWith reinforcements too far away and radios too dangerous to use, John is left with one surviving soldier, Montgomery, and the unbearable weight of command. Beneath relentless rain and intermittent gunfire, they fight until silence finally descends with the coming dawn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"892\" data-end=\"1014\"\u003eUnder a crooked tree tangled in glistening webs and red-striped black spiders, they bury their friends in unmarked graves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1016\" data-end=\"1046\"\u003eAnd John carries the dog tags.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1048\" data-end=\"1101\"\u003eSixty years later, the war still hasn’t released him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1103\" data-end=\"1366\"\u003eHis leg never healed properly. His heart never healed at all. Returning to the battlefield with Montgomery, he stands once more beneath the spider tree — where memory, guilt, loyalty, and love for fallen comrades remain suspended like fragile threads in the rain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1368\" data-end=\"1559\"\u003eHaunting, visceral, and deeply human, \u003cstrong data-start=\"1406\" data-end=\"1431\"\u003eUnder the Spider Tree\u003c\/strong\u003e is a powerful short story about brotherhood in war, the burden of survival, and the kind of homecoming that comes far too late.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1561\" data-end=\"1612\"\u003eBecause sometimes the battlefield never leaves you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1614\" data-end=\"1676\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003eAnd sometimes the only way home…\u003cbr data-start=\"1646\" data-end=\"1649\"\u003eis back to where they fell.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"z-0 flex min-h-[46px] justify-start\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mt-3 w-full empty:hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-center\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/article\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Nikki Lockwood","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50566233358569,"sku":null,"price":1.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0797\/3496\/4457\/files\/UndertheSpiderTree-StarkWarScene.jpg?v=1772421079","url":"https:\/\/nikkilockwood.com\/products\/under-the-spider-tree","provider":"Nikki Lockwood","version":"1.0","type":"link"}