A short while ago, I asked my Facebook
friends to give me:
1) an article,
2) a noun,
and a
3) verb.
This story starter comes from
Sharon Peters
from
I think you'll enjoy it.
The Tentacle Groped
by
Mallory Hoffman
A tentacle groped at my hand. I saw it slither back into the bowl where the little monster was kept. We had decided that this thing was trying to show some affection, but we weren't sure. He, we weren't sure about the gender, had a mouthful of teeth, and he proved that he could rip apart a hand in seconds. We had tried to calm him down with drugs that would put a horse on death's door step, this thing, the drugs didn't touch him. They seemed to give him energy. He proved that he could walk through walls, but glass contained him. Most of all, he seemed happy, we think.
He seemed to be trying to communicate in some primitive way. If he was happy, he would open his eyes very wide. We thought they would pop out of his head. He didn't have much of an opening for a mouth, but that little slit would open in what looked like a smile. We just didn't know for sure. If he was hungry, his tongue would come out and it would stick to the glass. He would slide his tongue up to the top of his head, and then repeat the pattern. We would give him some food. If he liked it, the food would disappear through and opening on the top of his head. That's when we first saw his teeth.
The teeth were not razor sharp, we thought. We thought he might be a creature who ate only plants. We did find out, one night, when a frog decided to share the container with this tentacled creature, that the frog was delightful food for him. The frog was captured by his tongue and placed on the top of his head. It looked like the frog was in a blender. Luckily, the suction of the dull teeth pureed the frog quickly. Death was quick. There was no blood to be found anywhere, and the attack lasted only a moment.
When Peterson tried to pick up the critter, we didn't know what was going to happen. Suddenly, the tentacle encased Peterson's hand, the critter's tongue came out, and Peterson's hand was on top of the critter's head. Bam! Peterson's hand was now a stump, and the blood was pouring out on the lab table. Peterson was screaming. Nothing could be done. His hand was gone. It couldn't even be reattached. After we saw that, we had new respect for that animal, or whatever you want to call it.
We don't know where the critter came from because legends form around these things. All we know is that Sandy Brown, when he was about 4, found a critter like this in the woods. He saw the critter was eating a rabbit. Sandy said that the rabbit was gone in less than a second. We came to believe this about the critter. When it ate, it had no manners, and swallowed his food.
That was the time to capture them, if you could without loosing body parts.
Oh, there was talk of flying saucers and creatures who lived underground, but no one had ever believed them until this thing was found. It really smelled, too. They didn't seem to grow. We figured the one we had was full grown. It seemed to glow in the dark, but it had to be really dark to see this. We just didn't know. There were more and more sightings of these things. People were afraid to go into the woods. Dogs and cats went missing now. No one knew.
John Bob was the only one not afraid to sleep in the room with them. Even if that thing got out of the container, John Bob figured he was quick enough to grab a gun and shoot the thing. He told everyone that his eyes were always open when he was asleep. He was going to sleep with this thing and take care of it.
An artist named Sharon had called our facility asking if she could come over and take pictures of the thing. She made beads and stuff out of glass, and she wanted to make that thing into a glass bead. The manager told her, "All right, but we're not responsible for what happens to you." Sharon agreed. We told her not to get to near the critter. He started licking the glass wall and she took pictures. Then, it's tentacle slithered across the glass until it touched Sharon's hand. She tried to hold it's tentacle in her hand, but that critter pulled it's tentacle away. Sharon was shocked. I mean she was literally shocked. The critter gave out an electrical charge that made Sharon's hair stand on end. She handed her camera to Bill and said, "Take my picture. My hair will make a great bead!" So, Bill took her picture. Sharon was happy. She reached in and tried to pet the critter. The critter clung to the glass wall, then he slid his tentacle into Sharon's hand. Sharon was ready this time. She hauled off and slapped that critter in the face with his tentacle. The creature was shocked by himself. He didn't know what hit him. He just sort of stared, then he curled up in a ball and died. There wasn't much left of him after that. The medical examiner wanted to do an autopsy, but all he found were little dried bones and organs. The ME said the critter had died from a severe electrical shock.
Now, people knew how to fight these critters! When they would see them, they would grab their tentacles and hit them in the face. The critters were going away. We don't know if they were dying or just retreating. A few people lost hands and arms when they didn't hit the critter the right way, but they could no longer terrorize the people.
Sharon has gone on into the history books as the conqueror of these nasty bugs. We did decide they were both animal and bug. Now, if we see them, we just slap them with there tentacle. Sharon went on to make many of these creatures into beads. One day she decided to make a bead using the cremains of this creature. When she pulled the bead out of the kiln, she noticed the eyes. They were blinking. We still don't know what happened, but when the sheriff went to check on her, they found a bead that looked just like Sharon. It was still on the mandrel. Then the sheriff found another bead. It looked like it had been broken from the inside out. The footsteps near the bead were big. Sharon was never found, but out in the woods, stories of creatures were being told again, but no one saw Sharon. There was a rumor of some one who made beads that turned into these creatures, but, we’ll never know, will we? Or, will we?
He seemed to be trying to communicate in some primitive way. If he was happy, he would open his eyes very wide. We thought they would pop out of his head. He didn't have much of an opening for a mouth, but that little slit would open in what looked like a smile. We just didn't know for sure. If he was hungry, his tongue would come out and it would stick to the glass. He would slide his tongue up to the top of his head, and then repeat the pattern. We would give him some food. If he liked it, the food would disappear through and opening on the top of his head. That's when we first saw his teeth.
The teeth were not razor sharp, we thought. We thought he might be a creature who ate only plants. We did find out, one night, when a frog decided to share the container with this tentacled creature, that the frog was delightful food for him. The frog was captured by his tongue and placed on the top of his head. It looked like the frog was in a blender. Luckily, the suction of the dull teeth pureed the frog quickly. Death was quick. There was no blood to be found anywhere, and the attack lasted only a moment.
When Peterson tried to pick up the critter, we didn't know what was going to happen. Suddenly, the tentacle encased Peterson's hand, the critter's tongue came out, and Peterson's hand was on top of the critter's head. Bam! Peterson's hand was now a stump, and the blood was pouring out on the lab table. Peterson was screaming. Nothing could be done. His hand was gone. It couldn't even be reattached. After we saw that, we had new respect for that animal, or whatever you want to call it.
We don't know where the critter came from because legends form around these things. All we know is that Sandy Brown, when he was about 4, found a critter like this in the woods. He saw the critter was eating a rabbit. Sandy said that the rabbit was gone in less than a second. We came to believe this about the critter. When it ate, it had no manners, and swallowed his food.
That was the time to capture them, if you could without loosing body parts.
Oh, there was talk of flying saucers and creatures who lived underground, but no one had ever believed them until this thing was found. It really smelled, too. They didn't seem to grow. We figured the one we had was full grown. It seemed to glow in the dark, but it had to be really dark to see this. We just didn't know. There were more and more sightings of these things. People were afraid to go into the woods. Dogs and cats went missing now. No one knew.
John Bob was the only one not afraid to sleep in the room with them. Even if that thing got out of the container, John Bob figured he was quick enough to grab a gun and shoot the thing. He told everyone that his eyes were always open when he was asleep. He was going to sleep with this thing and take care of it.
An artist named Sharon had called our facility asking if she could come over and take pictures of the thing. She made beads and stuff out of glass, and she wanted to make that thing into a glass bead. The manager told her, "All right, but we're not responsible for what happens to you." Sharon agreed. We told her not to get to near the critter. He started licking the glass wall and she took pictures. Then, it's tentacle slithered across the glass until it touched Sharon's hand. She tried to hold it's tentacle in her hand, but that critter pulled it's tentacle away. Sharon was shocked. I mean she was literally shocked. The critter gave out an electrical charge that made Sharon's hair stand on end. She handed her camera to Bill and said, "Take my picture. My hair will make a great bead!" So, Bill took her picture. Sharon was happy. She reached in and tried to pet the critter. The critter clung to the glass wall, then he slid his tentacle into Sharon's hand. Sharon was ready this time. She hauled off and slapped that critter in the face with his tentacle. The creature was shocked by himself. He didn't know what hit him. He just sort of stared, then he curled up in a ball and died. There wasn't much left of him after that. The medical examiner wanted to do an autopsy, but all he found were little dried bones and organs. The ME said the critter had died from a severe electrical shock.
Now, people knew how to fight these critters! When they would see them, they would grab their tentacles and hit them in the face. The critters were going away. We don't know if they were dying or just retreating. A few people lost hands and arms when they didn't hit the critter the right way, but they could no longer terrorize the people.
Sharon has gone on into the history books as the conqueror of these nasty bugs. We did decide they were both animal and bug. Now, if we see them, we just slap them with there tentacle. Sharon went on to make many of these creatures into beads. One day she decided to make a bead using the cremains of this creature. When she pulled the bead out of the kiln, she noticed the eyes. They were blinking. We still don't know what happened, but when the sheriff went to check on her, they found a bead that looked just like Sharon. It was still on the mandrel. Then the sheriff found another bead. It looked like it had been broken from the inside out. The footsteps near the bead were big. Sharon was never found, but out in the woods, stories of creatures were being told again, but no one saw Sharon. There was a rumor of some one who made beads that turned into these creatures, but, we’ll never know, will we? Or, will we?
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