Bay of Naples

My story begins, said Gaius, many hundreds of years ago. It is about a young boy who went to the Bay of Naples with his family for a holiday. The boy, being adventurous and a budding natural historian, spent much of his time wandering alone on the reefs looking into rock pools and peering into crevices.

One day he was standing at the edge of a lonely reef staring absently out to sea when he felt something slimy wrapping slowly around his ankle. He looked down, and was astonished to see that a giant octopus had grabbed hold of his leg with one of its tentacles and was trying to pull him into the water.

I know what's going to happen! cried Lavender. It's a girl octopus. She wants to marry you!

How do you know it's me? asked Gaius.

We all know it's you, said Anoctopus.

Gaius looked at Baby Pierre. Baby Pierre nodded.

Alright, said Gaius. It' me. But it wasn't a girl octopus wanting to marry me. At least I didn't think so at the time.

How did it look? asked Anoctopus.

Large, said Gaius, and extremely frightening.

That's what I like to hear, said Anoctopus. This is shaping up to be a true story.

Wait, said Gaius. You haven't heard it all yet. The boy made a mighty effort to drag himself free of the octopus. Eventually he succeeded. The octopus slid back into the water and disappeared.

Shame, said Anoctopus.

Boring, said Lavender.

Wait, said Baby Pierre. Maybe the story still isn't finished.

Thank you, Baby Pierre, said Gaius. You are correct. The most intriguing part of the story is yet to come.