“Watch mom, we’re gonna touch the bottom of the bay!!” Blake shouted.

“Okay sweetheart.” she appeased him.

“C’mon, Brett. Let’s see what’s down there.” he said.

Brett watched his brother dive off the yacht into the clear blue. Just a pair of flippers and a snorkel. Seemed risky. Brett sat on the back, legs dangling, waiting for the sound of Blake emerging. Big City Bay was always quiet in the mornings. Even if he’d drifted a bit, Brett would hear it.

A while passed and nerves struck. Blake couldn’t hold his breath that long. Brett looked around to see if his parents were near. Of course they weren’t. He took in a deep breath and held, staring at the still water.

SPLOOSH.

Brett dove straight down, surprised by the warmth of the bay. Their pool was always freezing. He’d never been diving off the yacht before, but he’d gotten swimming lessons at home. Brenda and Bill hired someone but would always forget to start the pool heater. The lessons were miserable for Brett and the private instructor. At the rate they paid him, he’d never complain.

Blake wasn’t anywhere in sight. He was planning to touch the bottom. Brett had to swim deeper. It was close enough to see, but light wasn’t reaching that deep. He swam downwards and looked around near the sandy surface of the seafloor. His hand swiped the sand to see what it felt like and it was not what he expected. Where he touched began to move! It was slick and rubbery.

An octopus! It swam away in reaction, out of sight in an instant.

Brett was freaked out by the creature. He’d only ever seen octopus on a plate with a chili dip beside it. He flapped his feet and thrust upwards out of the water, climbing onto the yacht’s edge as if a tentacle was a moment away from wrapping his ankle.

“What’s got you so freaked out?” Blake said, sitting on the steps up to the main area of the yacht.

“Where were you!?” Brett asked in a panic.

“I climbed up over there. You okay, bro?”

“Got attacked… by an octopus.”

“No way!” Blake said. “Think I could find it? We could have calamari tonight.”

“That’s squid.” Brett laughed. Partly at himself. “I think I want to find it. It startled me.. but it was really cool how it camouflaged in the sand.”

Brett fully composed himself before going back in. As soon as he entered the water, he was met by a curious observer. Off a few feet, there was the octopus again. It floated around, eyes fixed on him. For a while the two just stared. Brett would go closer and the octopus would back away. A sort of dance feeling each other out. A hand grabbed near Brett’s elbow and yanked him out of the water.

“Dad’s going to kill you.” Blake warned. The Baxters had associates joining them on the yacht for dinner, Brett was late and soaking wet. Blake was all put together and ready. He brought a change of clothes for his little brother and a towel to dry him off. “Just hurry.”

“I’m going to call him Melvin.”

“Who?”

“My octopus.”

The boys joined their parents at the table, receiving little more than some unkind side-eye. Over many years, they’d return to Big City Bay to entertain. Blake and Brett would dive during the day and learn the ropes of high society at night. It all left something to be desired for Brett, however. He saw the truth in life and valued the simple things. He never saw the octopus again. Not until he crashed his parents’ yacht in that very same bay.

Inebriated from a single foreign beer, Brett directed the yacht straight into a seawall. A fiery wreck ensued, pulling everyone on the ship into the bay. A packed ship of partygoers was being dragged deep into the water. Brett feverishly searched for Blake, unable to make out any features of anyone. But he was a strong swimmer. He got free of the pull of the ship and made his way up to the surface for air.

People were screaming and crying. No Blake. Brett dove down to the ocean floor to seek his brother. Near the seawall, he saw someone sinking that could have been Blake. He swam close, struggling for air already. Blake! Brett put an arm around his big brother and pulled him up to the surface. They were going to be fine. He lifted his unconscious brother’s body in a show of strength, laying him on the edge of a river that ends in the bay. Brett began to climb up beside him, but Blake’s foot suddenly came up and bashed him on the head. Down he went.

Away from the chaos of the crash and the people being rescued, Brett awoke surprisingly in motion. Something was carrying him through the water. It was a slow and labored movement. Brett noticed something ahead. An unnatural area. It was the shape of an octagon, perfectly lined up and symmetrical. Water wasn’t moving around it. He couldn’t see water through it. And whatever was carrying him was headed straight for it.

Brett was released into the octagon. He was no longer struggling for air. There was a strange freedom of motion. He could see outside, into the bay.

“Melvin!” he shouted. The octopus stayed floating outside the octagon.

“You could be much quieter.” said a voice. A very tall, tuxedo-clad man stood behind Brett. “Math Magician.”

“Brett Baxter.”

“Would you like to learn some magic?”

“Uhhh. Could it wait until the morning? My head’s throbbing already.”

“Oh, it could wait forever. Time does not pass for us here.”

“Great.” Brett sighed, laying down on nothingness. When he awoke, Math Magician hadn’t moved. It was off-putting enough for him to try to leave right then. He moved towards the octagon, but would simply pass through it and not leave the pocket reality he imagined it was.

“Magic?” Math Magician smiled.

Math Magician trained Brett Baxter for years. Melvin hung around the octagon just as long. And when Brett was ready, Math Magician taught him the final ability.

Brett faced the octagon and pointed two fingers at the center of the top line, then symmetrically traced the octagon all the way around, each corner he reached, he would gain a new pair of arms and two new fingers to trace the next line. When his final fingers met at the bottom, he was free of the geometric realm. He wasn’t human anymore either. He was Melvin!

He looked back through the octagon and saw his human body sitting inside and Math Magician waving goodbye. With compendiums of magic stored between his brain and tentacles, Brett would change the world. His eyes lit aflame and he vanished from the bay. Big City, meet Octo Gone!