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The big green tentacle snaked out from the sewer with sickening speed. It was sort of splotchy green and covered with little suckers that seemed to be gasping for air. It was dirty, quivering, and at places and splotches along its length there seemed to be coarse hair growing from it. It also appeared to be slimy. Of course, I thought. We couldn't have a big nasty tentacle without it being slimy, can we? Mustn't break the cliche'.
It lurched about six feet away to where the girl was. It coiled around her waist in a rather sickening way. She looked down, eyes widening like saucers, her mouth opening up. I could just hear what she was about to say, "Oh! grody to the max, I'm sure!" or something along those lines. But it never got out of her mouth, because the moment the thing had a tight grip, it whisked her off her feet and sucked her down the dark dank opening of the sewer faster than you could say 'corn pops'.
Its funny the way the human brain can rationalize just about anything. In a split instant I decided I wasn't crazy, I wasn't having a flashback, I was just seeing something very, very weird. I glanced around me. Once again, although the place was modestly scattered with people, no one seemed to have noticed a thing. Everyone was simply going their merry way, totally oblivious that there was something very nasty right beneath their feet snatching up people the way you or I would snatch up a stray dollar bill.
I watched it happen several more times to several more people. It didn't seem to be a very choosy whatever it was. So far it had equally snatched up men, women, all races and ages. After a while I began to see a pattern develop. Although there were people around whenever the thing scooped up a homo-sapiens goody, no one actually seemed to be LOOKING at it when it happened. In the brief instant it slithered out from the sewer the people in the general vicinity had their eyes somewhere else. In a book. Looking and talking to a friend. Sneezing. Looking up at the sky to see if any rain clouds were around. Searching in a purse. And so on. No one ever had their attention on that particular area of the ground...except me.
An old joke came to my mind... it went "if you were in the woods, and you watched a tree fall and it didn't make a sound, does that mean your a nobody?" I was actually starting to get offended that this thing was letting me watch this. The nerve of it!
Of course, by now you are probably wondering why I haven't rushed out and tried to make what I've seen known. But even though I'm no Steven Hawkings, I'm no moron, either. If some guy came up to me and asked me if I had seen any large tentacles snatching up people from nasty little sewer gratings in the ground, I would more than likely smile, nod, pat the guy on the shoulder, and walk straight ahead. I wouldn't expect any less from another person.
I was lost in thought for a moment when a sudden familiar voice pulled me back to the present.
"Dave, yo, hey, Dave!" A whiny little voice that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end floated over my shoulder.
I turned around and The Jerkoff King was standing there, slack mouth, milking a pimple on the end of his nose.
"Can I bum a cigarette off of you?" he asked. His eyes holding the reflection of hopefulness.
I thought for a second and than said "Sure, you can have one, but first, do you see that sewer opening over there?"
He peered beyond me, squinted, saw the opening, and nodded his head enthusiastically. "Sure, what about it?"
"Just watch it for a moment"
And so we sat there watching it, as the minutes ticked by. One. And then two. Several people have passed over the hole that was the fix of our attention several times now. The Jerkoff King next to me began to get a little fidgety.
"Er, just what are we watching for?" he asked.
"Just watch!" I hissed warningly back.
Another handful of seconds slid by. Finally I sighed and gave up. "Never mind," I said.
He just stood there for a moment longer, and it took me a second to remember that I had offered to give him a cigarette, so I pulled one out of my pocket and gave it to him (being quite careful not to touch his hands) and gave him a bored wave as he lit up and walked away.
I should have seen it coming, of course. I could just feel the gods up in the heavens laughing at me. The Jerkoff King got thirty paces away, near the sewer hole, and the big green thing again erupted out and plucked him clean off the face of the earth as if he had never existed.
I sighed.
I had about all I thought I could handle in one day. Besides I had some homework to do, and it would be nice to finally go into my room without making a big show of stomping up to the door and making loud exaggerated noises with my keys so my roommate would get the idea that someone was walking in. I hopped off the wall, and wandered away. Whistling a little and avoiding sewer holes.
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