INTERVIEW WITH AN OCTOPUS

Willy is an emotionally-impaired octopus from the Persian Gulf. Born in an abandoned
tanker three years after the First Gulf War, he roams the murky waters between Oman
and Kuwait. A patriarch by cephalopod standards, he sulks along the shallow waters
in search of food. This interview was conducted in the bilge tank of a sunken
warship off the Strait of Hormuz while Willy was devouring some small fries.

Q: So how's life these days?

A: Well, I'm still alive. A shark nearly swallowed me yesterday, but I managed to slide
   between some cracks.

Q: Lucky bugger! It helps to be flexible, eh?

A: Hey – this is no civilized fish bowl. It is a real jungle down here. Unless you want
   to be sushi, you've gotta do whatever iz necessary ta survive.

Q: But what about ethical values? Don't you worry about the moral climate below the waters?

A: (pausing) Are you trying to bait me?

Q: No. I'm just deeply concerned about the lack of ethics around us.

A: That's easy for jerks like you with food in their bellies to say. When you're really
   hungry yer concerns may change. Try going without food for three days & see how yer ethics shift.

Q: What's your secret of survival, Willy?

A: Survivors don’t tell secrets – only fools have big lips. If you really want to
   survive, don't remind people of the little secrets they prefer to ignore. Also, it
   helps to blend in – you've gotta change colors quickly.

Q: So how do you feel about duh future?

A: Well, ah, umm . . . None of us can escape the food chain, but we can celebrate our
   brief moments with élan. The business ah survival is seldom clean.


=====================================================================================
from _Let the waters be my witness: Messages about our watery world_ by T Newfields
SUMMARY: A satire about a cephalopod with an attitude.
KEYWORDS: octopus dialog, conversations with sub-selves, marine predators, underwater
       suckers, Octopodidae, Octopoda, Cephalopoda, Coleoidea, Cephalopod

Begun: 2005 in Nagoya, Japan / Finished: 2023 in Yokohama, Japan
Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted
by T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ]

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