Teacups & Tentacles | ONC 2022

1. Night over London Zoo

Night had long settled over London Zoo. But even at night, a zoo is never quiet.

Through the cracks between fast-moving clouds, a full moon cast shadows on to the wet cobblestone pathways snaking through the dark and deserted grounds. 

Rain drops glistened and fell with a regular patter from the edges of the monkey house and reptile pavilion to the left of the main entrance. 

Somewhere, beyond a clump of screening trees, a panther growled and batted a paw towards a dream enemy. Over a hillock, a family of dingos were doing their nightly gymnastics, and further on, in a hollowed out tree, a pair of racoons shared a midnight tea of nuts and stale crumpets.

But none of the typical nocturnal din reached the virtually silent interior of the Special Exhibit Pavilion, where a short, rotund man in checked trousers and waistcoat stood on a viewing platform and gazed down into the still, glassy water some three metres below. 

An unearthly glint sparkled in his eyes.

The pavilion was brightly illuminated. A dozen flickering, hissing gas lamps, provided him with a clear view of the hulking shape stretched out in the depths, its thick tentacles curving and looping over each other like a confused tangle of ship's cables.

It was a giant octopus; the largest ever discovered, as the painted sign at the zoo's entrance proclaimed. A creature born to inspire terror in the hearts of anyone who set eyes on it, be they man or beast. 

A Leviathan. A Monster from the Deep. A thing of nightmares. 

 And it was his creature. His and his alone.  

For a longer while, both man and beast were still as painted portraits. Then with a rumble, a column of air bubbles shot up from the bulbous head of the octopus, roiling the surface of the water and obscuring it briefly from its master's view.

"Now, now. Patience, my dear," the man said, his voice echoing hollowly off the tiled walls and reverberating back to him twofold. "I'm just as keen as you are. Everything is in place for your grand entrance into London society. Are you ready?"

A massive brown tentacle, slimy and spotted with black flecks, rose from the water, waved slightly and submerged again. 

"That's my girl," the man said, the glint in his eyes taking on the explosive radiance of burning magnesium and his mouth curling into a vengeful smile. "We'll soon have our revenge, won't we, pet? And what a revenge it will be!" 

And then in a whisper meant only for himself, he added, "especially on those peacocks at the Mastermind Society. Fools! They'll rue the day they ever snubbed Hercules Finch. . ."