DEAR GOD it's going to get me! - EJ Patterson (short story to read .txt) 📗

Every time I move, it inches closer. Ever closer. Just the thought of its slimy suction cups being entangled around my long neck made me shiver. Its dark, pallid face stared unblinkingly back at me as my horrified eyes stayed glued to its stretched features. It moved its tentacle lazily. I gulped.
I was unsure of how long I had been standing here. All I knew was my feet were cemented to the tiled ground. It moved again.
Was it strong enough to shatter the glass with one whack? If it tried, could it swim headfirst into the tank wall? It seemed to be observing me…sizing me up. Was I sizing him up? Yes. But not because I wanted to eat him, as he probably wanted to do to me. I needed to see if it had a flaw. I needed to know that if he possibly escaped from his watery home, if I could dodge him in some way. Hmm…he was bigger than me, and had more arms than I did…and could swim better than me.
So basically I had no chance.
It started to swim around the tank and I recoiled. Why, why, why

couldn’t I move!?
What if it did take me? What if it kidnapped me and made me its servant, like in The Little Mermaid?

That was it! I would be only a soul, with no body, only sadness and despair, and then, when he was hungry, he’d serve me with sea salt and sea butter and munch me till I’m no longer living.
Whoa. What a dark thought. But it could happen. Who knows what goes on in the brain of something as humongous as that!
Beads of sweat appeared on my forehead. The possibilities were now swarming all around my poor brain. What if, what if, what if…!
It was accelerating closer! My legs felt like jelly, and my feet were still stuck to the floor. I was going to die. No doubt. This was my last moment living. I was going to die, as they’d say, a watery death. The glass would break and it would swallow me whole.
Oh dear God, its going to crash.
My heart was hammering so hard against my chest the thumping could be heard a mile away. My blood curdled cold through my veins. Its purple forehead was level with mine, then-
Bonk.

Wait.
I still felt the sweat beads running down my neck…but I was positive that no tentacle resided there. I felt brave enough to open my eyes.
I felt a scream of horror gurgle in my throat but no sound came out. It was right there, staring me in the eye.
There were no shards of glass, no blood, no screams of utter terror.
“Look, Margie, I think it likes you!”
I turned to face my sister.
“What?” I said, but it sounded very high pitched.
“I think it likes you, Margie!”
“Wait,” I said, my feet finally thawed I scuttled away from the glass quickly, “You think that-that-thing

-likes me

?!”
“Yeah! Isn’t it cute?”
I looked at her incredulously.
“But…it tried to kill

me, Polly!”
“No it didn’t, silly,” She said, laughing. “It was just being friendly.”
From that day on I was never afraid of an Octopus again, because I learned that sometimes judging a book by its cover makes the book a terrible read.

Comment!
I hope you enjoyed it!
-EJ Patterson

Publication Date: 04-25-2011

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