From the story archive · Fictional encounter
Attending a military funeral at Arlington. Honor guard preparing for the rifle salute. Absolute silence as they prepare to honor a fallen soldier. That's when—FRRRP—a barking spider decides to offer its own salute.
Not a single guard member flinched or broke formation. Later, the commanding officer told me, "The deceased had a legendary sense of humor. He would have appreciated that send-off more than anything we had planned."