But all of that was in the past. Getting back to the present situation, Slub Glub was raised above the water in the gentle curve of Seamort’s massive pink tentacle. This was a good thing, for though Slub Glub, being semi-octopus in origin, was able to breathe underwater, he did not know that he could, and thus had not been trying to, and would surely have drowned. Seamort inspected Slub Glub carefully, and found him confusing.
At this point Willowmina bobbed back up to surface. “I’m glad I’m made of wood,” she sputtered. Then seeing that Seamort had stopped thrashing about and was holding Slub Glub aloft, she saw her opportunity to get some answers. “Hey! Big pink thing! You almost killed us, you know.” Her earlier reverence for the giant squid had now turned to annoyance at nearly being drowned.
Seamort looked at her with surprise, as he hadn’t noticed her before. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” he said, surprisingly regretful. A tear even seemed to form in his giant eye.
Willowmina was a little ashamed at her harsh tone. “Um, no problem, I guess your mind was on those crabs.”
“Those crabs! Those crabs will be the death of me!”
“The death of you? Don’t you mean the death of them? And us, and all the sailors that get caught in your thrashing tentacles as you try to swallow all those crabs?”
“Don’t you think I’d stop if I could?” Seamort wailed. “Look at me!” Slub Glub and Willowmina looked at him, but were unclear as to his meaning. “I’m huge!” he continued. “I’ve grown gigantic from eating so many crabs, and pink like them to boot.”
“But aren’t you a giant by nature?” Willowmina asked?
“Not like this. I would have some self respect, and eat a reasonable diet, if those deviled crabs weren’t so tasty and plentiful.”
To be continued.
Table of Contents: “Slub Glub in the Weird World of the Weeping Willows”
Get the graphic novel from Eraserhead Press.
Illustration & text copyright (c) Andrew Goldfarb