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A Peculiar Find

Sunrise was about to break on the beach.

The charity event was over, and the area was clean except for the occasional unfinished ice cream cone, plastic spoon, and other such litter that would eventually either be picked up or washed out to sea. Fortunately, the more dangerous items like those six-pack plastic rings had been carefully accounted for; all of the cigarette butts that people had the gall to deplete had been thrown away or devoured by the least discriminating gulls.

As of now, the only sounds on the beach other than wind, waves, and wild was the sandy splash of feet rhythmically pounding on the beach, breathing controlled by years of training and natural talent, and the sloshing of a half-consumed sports drink clutched in a prosthetic hand.

V was out on his morning run. If he were to ever schedule anything, however loosely, it would be the precious time he spent running early in the morning with just the beach, his drink, and his cardiovascular system.

And, just like in cheesy television series that only make five episodes but somehow end up on the Lifetime channel, the sun broke over the waves and began to wash over the beach in life-giving light.

Light which would inadverdently bring attention to a life that didn't belong here according to some, and thus preserve it.

The athlete almost stepped in the little clear capsules, actually. But as fate had it, he dropped his drink and had to stop and bend down to get pick it back up.

"Whoa... what the hell?"



And, there they were. A small formation of little rounded stalagmites of gel, encapsuling little wriggling masses of... something alive, obviously. V, being the complete opposite of a biological whiz, wondered aloud, "...These sea turtle eggs or somethin'?" He was fond of turtles.

Maybe he knew that they definitely weren't sea turtles. Perhaps he was just trying to cloud away what was now inevitable with a short-lived flight of fancy.

Whatever it was, the former triathlete had already dumped the remains of his sports drink in the sand, and scooped up the egg cluster in the bottle. Being on the famous side meant he had friends of all sorts; he would call up someone who was a biology whiz and figure out what would be best for this new addition to the Cleveland household.

And thus, an adventure that began millions of years ago in an alternate Earth picks up like a game file that you pick up after five years of forgetting about it.

A Peculiar Thought

So, the question is, why did V decide to pick up the eggs in the first place, when his sentiment was not fully with the otherworldy humanoids, and he was clearly trying to convince himself that, although they were blatantly glowing, they were merely the eggs of a sea turtle?

It could be attributed to morning grogginess. People often acted without thinking early in the morning; it was like going to the supermarket on an empty stomach.

Fate could be another possibility. Most people felt as if they were subjected to its whims, whether they called it Fate, God, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or something else.

Regardless, this fueled the media for a good couple of days, until it was clear that V would never agree to an interview about it under any circumstances. He was good and ready to strangle whoever the bystander was who opened his or her mouth that had probably spewed plenty a rumor before.

He had shelled out quite a note for the "sea turtle" tank that now housed the eggs- he had been told that "sea turtles" could get rather large, and so it was that a large tank was bought. The bubbling that the filter constantly made was a source of much nerve-grating.

And the tank's cost brought down the amount of an important monthly donation. He hoped that the explanation behind this would be sufficient- after all, they definitely already knew about his situation; hopefully they wouldn't turn against him because of it. They had quite the temper, after all...

The money-filled (though not as filled as usual) envelope was discreetly inserted into a post office mailbox, note of explanation inside.

The new acquisition didn't make much of her hatching, extending a tentacle through the membrane of the largest egg before neatly, carefully, tearing a hole through which she could exit. From there she made short work of the rest of the egg cluster, before darting into the largest shadow the tank accorded and skulking there, like a discontent noblewoman--with tentacles.

Indeed, there was something about this new baby that might put lead one to assign the adjective "angry" to her; a certain cast of those big green eyes or maybe the way she'd begin systematically destroying everything in the tank as if it displeased her. Careful, don't put a finger too close to her.



It's definitely not a "sea turtle" by any stretch of the imagination. For one thing, it has far too many tentacles to be a sea turtle--though at least it has a shell, which might perhaps make it a nautilus; but no, it's a round, bulbuous affair that might put one more in mind of a brain than a chambered nautilus. On the other hand, it is definitely a cephalopod and it does definitely have a shell, so maybe V got "lucky" in his choice of eggs off the beach. Too bad they didn't make an Idiot's Guide to Chambered Nautili, though.

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