Scary Ocean Monsters
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In the early morning fog, we watched as the sea dragon’s long serpentine body slowly slid into view. It had a head of two great blue eyes that seemed to see everything, and it had four small arms with claws like a lobster. We were too far away for me to tell if this creature was a male or female but it certainly did not look like our usual friendly sea dragons.
The sea monster moved through the water at an easy pace and I could hear it breathing through its mouth below the surface of the sea. As soon as it noticed us, it started moving faster, heading straight toward us.
As my father turned the boat and prepared to take a few shots from his pistol, the sea beast dove underwater and swam up under the hull of our ship. A moment later the sea beast reappeared in front of the bow of the boat and began to push against our sails.
Our boat quickly drifted backward until the sea monster’s huge tail came out of the water behind it. The sea dragon opened its wide mouth and let loose with another blast of water from its long tongue. This time, the powerful spray completely doused our sailboat.
We tried to pull back on the lines to make the boat go forward again but that only made our boat move slower. In the blink of an eye, the sea beast pulled our boat right over backward, and then it flipped upside down! My parents and I fell out onto the deck while the sea creature swam off underneath us.
When I looked down through the hole, I saw that the sea monster had wrapped itself around our mast just above where the sail would have been if our boat were right-side up. Then the sea dragon swam away with both of us still in its clutches.
When I came to, I found myself lying on the bottom of the boat with my father standing over me. He told me that he and my mother had managed to climb out of the boat and were waiting outside of the hatchway. They said they heard the sea monster dragging us underwater but did not know how to get us free so they stayed put until our boat was flipped over.
My father explained that we had fallen overboard because the sea monster had gotten too big for us to escape. He added that if he knew there were sea monsters so far south, I should never have asked him to bring us to such a dangerous part of the ocean.
After I finished crying (because I really liked having fun sailing adventures with my family) I told my father about the great sea monster that had saved me by pulling me out of its grasp before it could take my life.
I also told my father what I saw when it first showed up—that it had two huge eyes instead of one and a lot more fins and teeth than any regular sea dragon. My father thought that it might be the same giant monster we had seen several weeks earlier near the Galapagos Islands.
That was why we hadn’t been able to attack it back then. If it had killed us, no one would have believed us anyway. Besides, my parents were sure that this sea monster couldn’t hurt us anymore since it hadn’t done anything for weeks except eat seaweed. So all things considered, it wasn’t very scary.
***
The Great Monster’s Return
I woke up from my nap to find something swimming above me. It was a giant octopus! Its eight legs were as thick as my body and covered with shiny skin. Each leg ended with six sharp, pointed suckers like tiny knives that could easily slice through human flesh.
But I felt lucky because the octopus did not seem interested in me or my boat. Instead, it kept circling around our vessel searching for food. The creature stopped several times, letting us take in its enormous size. Then it disappeared under our hull and came back up with some kind of fish in its tentacles.
A little while later, the octopus came back to our ship and circled our mast a few more times before going underwater again. When it resurfaced, it held in one arm a long, thin piece of wood with writing carved on it. The writing was hard to see because the octopus kept shaking its tentacles as it read the message. Then the monster slowly swam away with our new gift.
As soon as it was out of sight, my mother went over to examine the mysterious object. She used her pocket knife to scrape off some of the barnacles that had attached themselves to the wood. There was writing on each side of the plank! As she began to read the words, I heard them sound out clearly in my head:
”You may call this a curse,
But the truth is I am merely your friend.
You think me a monster, but do you see?
Do you feel my heart beating strongly?”
My mother continued reading. “Forgive me if I’m wrong,
but I hear my voice speaking to yours.
And I know what you are feeling inside.”
As I listened closely to my mother read, I started to believe that we weren’t cursed after all. I thought we were getting a new message from our friend that would help us in our journey across the vast Pacific Ocean. The words on the plank seemed to speak directly into our minds.
My mother finished reading: “It’s true that I’ve grown much larger,
and I don’t need the sea,
but I must stay here for now.
So please, forgive me when I’m rude;
For you are my friends and I love you still.
This is how you can find me—
When you need me most, just look up high.”
My mother turned the plank around so we could see what was written at the top of the wood. This time, there were three words that spelled out his name: KON-TAY. The letters were carved so tightly into the wood that only a keen eye could have seen them.
Kon-day? I thought. We were going to try to find our giant octopus friend?! How did it know that we needed him? And where was he?
After our excitement passed and I calmed down enough to think rationally about all of this, my thoughts went in another direction entirely. I wondered if we should be leaving the giant octopus alone—or even eating him, for that matter! He could give us the answers we needed… or he could kill us all for sure!
I remembered how quickly he attacked our sailboat and how many of our people died. If he came after us in a giant octopus attack boat, I knew there was nothing I or anyone else could do to stop him!
As we sailed south along the coast, I could hardly contain my eagerness to find our old friend and ask him all about himself. Our ship’s compass guided us toward the spot where the giant octopus had last been spotted by fishermen. We spent two weeks looking for the creature in all the right places, but we never saw any signs of life—not even one tentacle.
Our crew grew concerned. My father and mother both felt uneasy being away from home without knowing how to get back. I, too, felt uneasy thinking about how easy it would be for the giant octopus to sink our small ship. What if it happened while we were asleep?
Or what if it happened on our way home to Hawaii? Would we ever make it back to Kauai? All we really knew was that it was very dark out, and the wind was blowing hard against our sails.
The captain of our boat made the difficult decision to turn our ship around and head back home to Hawaii. We left the giant octopus behind, and I worried constantly about how we would find him once we got back. I hoped he wouldn’t forget us and leave without saying goodbye again.
***
One morning as we were sailing back home, something caught my attention in the distance. At first, I didn’t recognize it, but then I saw it was a big white shape far ahead in the ocean. It appeared to be a whale!
We all stood up and strained our eyes to see better through the waves. I thought I could see another humpback whale swimming with our first sighting. That meant there were two whales—two whole whales! I could only imagine what they looked like when their tails broke the surface of the water.
I shouted to my parents and everyone else that they couldn’t miss seeing two whales! They turned the boat around so we could get a closer look.
Just as we got within earshot, something strange happened. One of the whales dove down beneath the water, but before I could blink an eye, it popped its head above the waves! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I could barely breathe from laughing so hard.
“What is it?” my father shouted. “Who sees two whales? Two! Whales!”
Everyone stared at me in disbelief, waiting for my answer. I pointed to the whale I thought I saw, then pointed again, this time to the other one. My father nodded and said, “Oh, yes,” he replied in Hawaiian, “that is a whale indeed.”
Then he turned to me and asked, “Where is your father?”
I pointed to the front of the boat. “He is there. Look!”
My mother smiled at me and then walked to the front of the ship where she could see her husband standing with some other men. “Yes, that is your father all right.”
My father laughed, too, and waved. My mother waved back.
That was when I saw the second whale in the distance. The sun shined off of it in a bright way, just like the moon does on the night sky. When I saw that whale, I started laughing uncontrollably and shouting out loud.
“Look!” I called to my mother, pointing toward the second whale that was coming toward us. She smiled and gave me a wink.
As we approached each other, we all bowed respectfully to one another as we met. I felt happy, like I was a child again, running and playing on the beach in Maui while my mother watched over me, smiling. We were family—a family that lived close to one another. We weren’t strangers anymore. We’d found ourselves together again. We were home.
⁂
When You Go Away by Michael S. Perry
When you go away,
Will you take my love with you?
You have always wanted to leave me.
And maybe I’ve wanted that too.
But now it seems I am finally ready to leave.
I’m ready for something new.
If you will come with me, then we can be new, too.
We can be different and still hold to the same love that has grown between us.
I want to know what it would feel like to fall in love again.
For once, I don’t care who takes the lead.
Let’s just do it like we did it in those old days of passion.
Let’s let ourselves grow old together, even if we’re young again.
Maybe we’ll find a way to make it last forever, even though you’re gone.
I want to tell you I’m leaving, but I don’t want to hurt you anymore.
Even if it might help us be free.
I want to say goodbye, but not yet.
I just need to know I’ve been loved before I let you go.
So here is what I say:
I love you, I always have,
and I hope wherever you are, you remember that.
***
The sun beat down on us as we climbed up the mountainside behind the temple, my wife at my side, her head covered by a black cloth that matched her black dress. We had arrived early so we could climb to the top of the mountain, and then walk down again to join the hundreds of other worshippers who would be making the pilgrimage along with us.
This was our chance to show our devotion to the gods of Egypt, to prove that we were worthy enough to live in the land of the pharaohs.
It had been more than three years since we made this trek. I had forgotten how grueling it was, and I wondered why we had agreed to make the trip at all. But then, I remembered the reason why.
My wife was pregnant. We hadn’t known it yet, but it was true. And so, we took the trip to the temple so we could ask the gods for a good, safe delivery.
At first, my wife seemed to enjoy the climb. She kept saying how wonderful it was to feel the heat on her face, how the sun felt so good against her skin, even though it wasn’t summering yet. Then, we reached the summit, and the sun began beating down on us with all its power and fury. It felt like the rays were trying to burn us to cinders.
The temple itself was beautiful. It stood tall, looking out across the desert landscape, as though it could see all the way to the pyramids that lay beyond the horizon. The temple was surrounded by columns that reminded me of the pillars that held up the walls of the great city of Memphis.
I imagined that the builders of that temple must have felt just as awe-struck when they were building it, as I did now.
“Do you think the temple builders felt that way when they were constructing the temple?” I asked my wife. She didn’t respond, but instead just kept staring out at the valley below as though she were seeing the very first pharaoh himself walking into his tomb.
We passed through the entrance, passing under the arch that led into the temple itself. I stopped and stared. There, standing before the altar, was an enormous figure carved in stone. At first, I thought it might have been a man, but as I looked closer, I realized it was a woman.
The statue had the head of a hawk or eagle, with wings outstretched and spread wide. Above her head was an elaborate crown of gold, and below were her two feet resting on two snakes that curled around her ankles.
I stepped forward until I stood beside her. For several minutes, I couldn’t speak a single word, afraid that my voice might betray the awe I felt looking at this powerful being. Finally, I whispered “Hatshepsut,” my own name for her, the queen of Egypt.
She had ruled over Egypt for thirty years when she came to the temple. No one could ever doubt her strength after that. She had defeated her brother and become king himself, only to die in battle with him a few years later. Her son succeeded her, and he reigned for another twenty years before becoming king himself and ruling Egypt for almost forty more. I was named after that pharaoh.
After a while, I turned away from the goddess, and we continued walking down the steps into the temple. On both sides of us were thousands of other worshipers, each one wearing their best clothing and carrying gifts for the gods. Most of them wore long white garments decorated with blue designs—a symbol that showed which god they favored.
A number of people were dressed in black and red, representing Hathor and Horus respectively, while others carried offerings in the shape of fish. The most important part of this ritual was bringing food to honor Amun-Ra, the creator god, and also the god of the Nile River. Without him, there would be no crops and no harvest, and without a good harvest, how could we expect to survive?
As we walked past the various altars, where priests were performing their rituals, the smell of incense wafted up to me. They would light the incense as we passed and then use it to burn a sacrifice of food in front of their god. I noticed some of the worshippers were crying. Others looked as if they wanted to cry but feared what others might think if they did so.
We finally made it to the end of the path. My wife stopped and stared, staring up into the sky.
“What is it?” I asked her. She just shook her head, unable to speak. All around us were people coming back from the temple, each one returning with their offering, carrying something heavy on their backs. Each of them looked exhausted, having just spent hours going up and down the steps.
I knew why; I’d done it myself many times in the past. But today it felt different. Today it felt like something was missing. I could hear my wife’s sobs echo through my mind.
We made our way down the path and onto the sand outside the temple. As we passed a man and his family who looked to be traveling along the same route we had taken, he said to me in broken English, “Did you give your god a goat? What do you mean by what happened?
Did you forget to bring a gift for Amun-Ra?” I just nodded to him, not understanding anything he was saying. He pointed off to my right and left.
I followed his pointing finger, looking in disbelief at the piles of goats that sat outside the temple, waiting to be slaughtered and given as gifts to the gods. I saw men carrying swords, ready to cut them down at any moment. Some of these families had been there since dawn, awaiting their moment to bring their gifts and make their pilgrimage to the temple.
I glanced around, seeing the other travelers making their way back to their homes, carrying the same weight on their backs. I looked at my wife and she was staring at the dead goats lying lifelessly on the ground. I reached for her hand and she squeezed mine tightly.
I didn’t know what else to say. How could I tell her that we couldn’t afford a goat? I tried to look away from the animals but couldn’t—they seemed to call out to me, calling for mercy.
A short distance away from the temple, I saw a group of young boys gathering sticks. A man walked up to them and started talking to them about what they should do next. I watched him point out a stick and show them how to break it apart.
In moments, the boys were breaking branches off trees and tossing them onto the pile. He told them that all the sticks would go into building boats that would carry people to the temples of Amun-Ra and Horus in Memphis.
The End