The one that was inspired by a picture

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They had successfully lured the creature to Sisu. All the previous shipwrecks had been reported as happening here. The crew had successfully deboarded, and Mia watched them row away, stuffing down the swirl of emotions sitting in her belly.

She turned back to face the deck as it cracked down the middle, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword, reassuring herself this was the right decision.

Mia felt water seep into her clothes—she would need new ones after this. She was taking only the bare minimum. The sword. Her time piece. The cracked leather journal that she always carried with her—Al had magicked it to be protected from the water before she’d left.

Mia leaned against the railing, her arms wrapped around her legs, waiting . . .

More water filled the deck . . .

Three . . .

Just a moment more . . .

Breathe in . . .

Two . . .

Breathe out . . .

One . . .

Mia snapped the goggles down over her head and placed two fingers on her neck as if she were taking a pulse.

“Breathe,” she whispered.

Gold dust left her finger pads and encircled her neck as the sea—and the creature—claimed Sisu as its own.

—

The orange tentacles waved in the water as Henry floated down after the ship. The grin on his face was so big and his tongue lolled to one side. He hadn’t imagined he would get another chance so soon.

Let’s try this again! Henry thought as the ship nestled into the sandy bottom of the sea.

He curled a few of his tentacles around the ship, pulling it into a happy hug, eyes big, roving over the deck. No one usually came out, but Henry didn’t lose hope–

A Two Leg emerged opposite him, waving a pokey stick.

Is that how Two Legs greet each other? Henry wondered and then remembered: That’s what Fins called . . . swords.

Two legs used them to defend themselves—the Fins had told him this—but Henry had never seen them come close enough for him to feel how sharp it was.

—

Mia charged up from her position against the railing, pointing her sword in the direction of the octopus, his mouth stretched open.

The googles had provided her with better sight than she had anticipated, and she’d marveled at the secret beauty of the sea. The sun filtering through the layers of water, causing everything to sparkle, the cliffs and colorful plant life . . .

And then the ship had bumped into the sand and an orange—and probably slimy—eel-like shape had moved toward the ship bringing Mia back to why she was down here in the first place.

Staring this creature—this Octopus—in the face, looking it in the eyes—

Why isn’t it coming any closer? It’s had plenty of time to kill me. She wracked her brains trying to remember her research. It won’t eat me.

Mia continued watching the Octopus . . .

—

Henry was over the moon that a Two Leg had shown Herself to him. He knew enough from the Fins that this Two Leg was in fact a her. So proud of himself, Henry bobbed up and down, waving his tentacles around playfully. He turned around in circles and grinned at her again.

Is she scared?

Over time, the Fins had explained to Henry that waving all eight of his tentacles could look scary. What had they said to do instead . . . Oh yeah!

—

Mia watched as the Octopus stilled. She tightened her grip on the sword, the creature’s tentacles swaying in the water as if they didn’t know how to be completely still.

Okay, here we go, she thought.

And then she watched as it raised one tentacle and flopped it up and down. Mia cocked her head. Was it . . . waving? Her eyes widened.

This is ridiculous, she thought.

She kept her right hand around the hilt but watched her left-hand rise and . . . she waved back.

—

If were possible for Henry’s smile to grow any bigger, it would have.

She knew! The Two Leg Her knew the sign for Greeting!

Henry couldn’t help himself: he swirled around in a joyous circle and . . . was she smiling back?

—

Mia couldn’t help it. He reminded her of the puppies on the farm—all wiggles and tongue smiles.

I wonder . . .

She pulled out the time piece from her pocket. It had been wrapped in a protective water-proof covering. This had also been Al’s doing as well; he was always tinkering, creating things like this.

The breathe spell was a one-off spell and would wear off in an hour. She didn’t want to waste any time with this creature—Imagine all the things I could learn about it—and the

sea!—being here with it.

Mia sheathed her sword and jumped onto the railing, switching the time piece with the journal. She leafed through the pages—marveling at Al’s enchantment—and turned the book toward the Octopus, pointing to a picture of a cave.

—

Two Leg tapped the page, pointed at Henry, and tapped the page again. Henry swam closer, happy that the Two Leg Her didn’t seem scared anymore.

Ooh a cave! Henry’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Her.

She pointed to him again and Her face looked happy.

Henry nodded his head as the Fins had taught him to do when he knew something.

Multiple tentacles gestured for Her to follow him.

—

Mia pocketed the journal and watched the Octopus look back at her. She thought of the puppies again.

Al’s going to love this, she thought as she kicked off the railing and followed a happy Octopus deeper in the sea.

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A group of flash fiction writers writes a story based on a prompt put together by the host, @embarnettauthor. You can follow the hashtag here: #flashfictionmagic.

I’ve been wanting to write and share more stories here and on social media, so I’m hoping this is a low-key way to do that. Enjoy!

You can read the other stories I’ve written for the hashtag so far here in the Story Corner of the blog 🙂

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The picture that inspired the story 🙂 I found it on Pinterest and saved it to my “Stories” board awhile ago. I’d love to give credit to the artist if anyone knows who they are 🙂

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Writing Notes:

9/15/23 // copy and pasted to blog while beef stew was cooking

9/18/23 // 9:51pm-10:02pm. added info about #ffm and linked to “Story Corner” post. Writing in my first Midnight Prickle! (9pm for me). Hobbit Hole quiet and Ant playing Rocket League