The Tentacle Man

This story is by Nikolas Haug and was part of our 2023 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.

When I was a boy, the cold November fog and the rain in the harbor were co-conspirators in my unhappiness. Every year they transformed the land and sea into a blurry grey mass. There was nothing beyond it, nothing to look for or hope for. When I was thirteen, the fog arrived in heavy sheets. Nothing mattered to me that year. I was living with my mother and her useless boyfriend in a small house. My real dad was long gone. He had drowned on a fishing boat when I was an infant. I wasn’t in school that year because I needed to help my mother pay the bills. I had a job in the local kelp house, braiding dull brown weeds day in and day out.

The harbor was quaint and off the map, but sometimes strangers came looking to sell things. One day, a man arrived on a large boat touting the existence of the legendary giant squid. He called himself the ‘Tentacle Man’, and claimed he had encountered the monster eye to eye while trawling for shrimp. He’d fallen asleep and the squid had pulled him underwater with its tentacles. He went so far down that his lungs almost burst, but then he was released. When he surfaced he said that something was still grasping, a lifeless tentacle. He leaned down from the ledge to let the people inspect his bald head where the squid’s suckers had left their marks. He promised proof of the squid for the price of a ticket.

After that the whole town was astir. Walking to and from the kelp house I overheard stories from the people who had seen the Tentacle Man’s show. One lady claimed a tentacle had wrapped itself around a spare oar near her seat. Another said he’d seen a white shape skim the waters like a whale. Another claimed the Tentacle Man himself dove into the icy waters in pursuit of an elusive tentacle that had narrowly clipped the ship.

All my life I collected books about creatures of the deep. I stowed them in a secret compartment under my bed. My mother disapproved of fantasy. It probably had something to do with my dad’s drowning. I always imagined that he’d seen something unforgettable from the crow’s nest and then lost his footing. Her boyfriend was the least curious person I’d ever met. I couldn’t ask him anything about the wonders of the deep.

I desperately wanted to see the giant squid. I had no friends in town so I asked my mother if we could go as a family. She denied the request. There was no money for trifles, and she didn’t trust vagabonds like the Tentacle Man. I didn’t want to upset her so I dropped it. Her boyfriend just sat there in the background the whole time during our debate, like an oversized potato. I never hated him more than that moment. 

I sought the money elsewhere. I asked my boss Kira at the kelp house for an advance on my salary. She laughed in her gruff way and threw another load of kelp on the pile. 

“Your head’s in the clouds.” she said, smoking her thick cigarette.

“I want to see the giant squid,” I said. 

“There’s no money this month,” she said, sighing wearily. “I’m sorry for that.” 

I conceived a new plan. On the docks there was a girl a little older than me with a reputation for crime. Her name was Rose and she kept her office near the oyster carts. On my break I approached her for help. 

“You know the pawnbroker?” I said. 

“Of course,” she said. She was busy deboning a fish. “What do you have for me?” 

My mother’s boyfriend kept a gaudy watch in the house, his most prized possession. It was pure gold and covered in ludicrous carvings. It was a real piece of work, like the man himself. He was always losing it, so I’d have the time to buy it back the following month.

I presented the stolen item. 

Rose took it from me and said, “Meet me here tomorrow.”

I returned the next day. Standing in for Rose was an older boy with a sleeveless shirt. It was a ridiculous look in November. I mentioned my situation and he nodded. 

“Here’s your money.” He handed me a meager sum. 

“This isn’t enough,” I said, pleading with him. I felt the anger well up from somewhere inside me. 

“It’s a one way deal,” he said, flexing his greasy muscles. 

I took the bargained coin from Rose’s associate after staring him down for a good minute. I wasn’t foolish enough to pick a fight with a kid like that, but I wanted him to know how angry I really was. 

At the Kelp House I counted my monthly earnings, minus the money I would need for my mother, plus profit from the watch. It still wasn’t enough to see the squid. On my way home, reeking of kelp, I learned the Tentacle Man had scheduled his final performance. Nearly everybody in town had already seen the show. I felt my hopes slipping away into the fog.

That night, between restless dreams about creatures of the deep, I formulated a plan. After work I would leave the rest of my money at the hotel as an anonymous tip for the Tentacle Man’s crew. They liked to carouse in the hotel between shows with the rest of the drunkards. I would have enough time to stow myself away on the boat before they left harbor that night.

I lied and told my mother that I would be late at work. She wasn’t the wiser. Her boyfriend just sat there. He didn’t even suspect that his watch had gone missing he was such a fool. I said goodbye to Kira and walked to the other end of the docks. I found the Tentacle Man’s boat empty and waiting. I snuck inside and hid under some heavy tarps.

The crew was long at the hotel that evening. I grew impatient and decided to look for a better spot inside the main cabin. The interior was much larger than I’d expected, and the back was hung with curtains. Moving the curtains I discovered a thick sheet of glass over an opaque white mass. I knocked it to feel its density. I was suddenly aware of a presence in the room. I froze, feeling a low rumble near my feet. All at once the opaque mass shifted behind the glass. Up above, from over the curtains a long tentacle stretched down toward me. I screamed and the mass rotated again. I saw it then: a massive, unblinking eyeball.

A door opened, somebody cried out at me. 

“Stowaway!” The alarm bells sounded. “Piss off, you!” 

I ran as fast as I could toward the aft of the ship, the outline of the giant eye stamped in my brain. I couldn’t see where I was going. The boat had pulled away from the docks. I jumped when I reached the edge but I wasn’t fast enough. 

I landed in the cold, dark water, sinking fast like a stone. I felt my lungs about to burst. I was a fair swimmer, but November waters meant death for even the best. Suddenly, a long wooden pole hooked my sopping jacket. My boss Kira fished me out and brought me to shore.

Kira helped me inside her shack on the edge of the docks. She gave me a change of clothes and a heavy blanket, and offered me a warm glass of spiced rum that tasted like sour cola. The drink and the warmth of her shack brought me back from the depths of my experience.

“I saw it,” I said. She nodded. The terrible vision of the squid’s giant eye faded and I was grateful for her hospitality. I no longer felt angry. 

Then I remembered the watch.

“I only wanted to see the show,” I said, my eyes welled with tears. “But I didn’t have enough money and now I’m ruined.” The watch was gone for good. I couldn’t bear the thought of my mother’s disappointment. I could never go home again. I bowed my head.

“I caught one of the dock rats peddling this earlier today,” she said, holding out the gold watch. “I believe this belongs to that quiet man your mother’s been living with.” 

All at once the walls of the shack dissolved and the gold watch shone with a brilliance I had never seen before. 

“You might do good to keep your head about your house,” she said, handing me the watch. 

I examined the patterns and etchings. I suddenly understood how my mom’s boyfriend could cherish such a thing. The shack glowed and I looked out the window. The fog had lifted. I had never seen the water so clear. I gripped the watch and saw the Tentacle Man’s boat roll far out to sea.