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Jetée · 07-21-2010, 07:30 PM

When Sharks Fly: "That Thing With The Octopi", illustrated by Derek Chatwood ; (c) 2008. All Rights Reserved

When the octopi moved into the rain forests it almost went unnoticed. With all the trouble with the sharks, people had their hands full. Hardly anyone was allowed to drive anymore, not after the unfortunate rush hour feeding frenzies. And no one flew of course. So it was quite a few months before local forest folk realized. The octopi weren't like the sharks, out where everyone could see them. Though they could fly, they were very shy, and preferred the dark and damp of the deeper forests. If a person were quiet and calm, they could walk among them without incident. But a person had to stay quiet, because they didn't like noisy people.

And they didn't like cows.

Men could not come to the forest to cut it down, and cows couldn't come to the new fields to eat. When they would first try, the octopi would swarm in magnificant tentacled flurries, and shower their disapproval in glorious inky downpours. This caused no real harm, but the men did not like the swarms, and the cows did not like the smell, so both would run away and refuse to return.

So in the rainforests men could not raze, and cows could not graze. And on land and in sky, people could not drive nor fly. It began to occur to some folk that this strange and random change, may not have been so random after all.

07-21-2010, 07:30 PM	#5 (permalink)
Jetée The Reforms Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition	The Plot Thickens... (what with the jungles, and humidity, and the mass of arms) When Sharks Fly: "That Thing With The Octopi", illustrated by Derek Chatwood ; (c) 2008. All Rights Reserved When the octopi moved into the rain forests it almost went unnoticed. With all the trouble with the sharks, people had their hands full. Hardly anyone was allowed to drive anymore, not after the unfortunate rush hour feeding frenzies. And no one flew of course. So it was quite a few months before local forest folk realized. The octopi weren't like the sharks, out where everyone could see them. Though they could fly, they were very shy, and preferred the dark and damp of the deeper forests. If a person were quiet and calm, they could walk among them without incident. But a person had to stay quiet, because they didn't like noisy people. And they didn't like cows. Men could not come to the forest to cut it down, and cows couldn't come to the new fields to eat. When they would first try, the octopi would swarm in magnificant tentacled flurries, and shower their disapproval in glorious inky downpours. This caused no real harm, but the men did not like the swarms, and the cows did not like the smell, so both would run away and refuse to return. So in the rainforests men could not raze, and cows could not graze. And on land and in sky, people could not drive nor fly. It began to occur to some folk that this strange and random change, may not have been so random after all. __________________ As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi