Wonderful, loved every bit of it. I kept imagining an Incredible-Shrinking-Man-style spider fight, but, eh, you can't have everything :-)
It's odd how such a sweetness and gentleness is in the relationship between maker and creation, especially given the fingerling's purpose. But it was there, in spades, and underpinned the story. Lovely. And yes, Ms. Connolly's reading added immeasurably to the whole.