Man, in his arrogance, thinks he owns the planet he dominates. He thinks he understands all its secrets. He is wrong.

Of all the creatures on the earth, after human beings, the octopus brain has the highest intelligence, competing with dolphins for preeminence. Both live in the sea, but are beginning to navigate on land.

There have been movies made, documentaries, horror films. This is not a movie.

I looked into the eyes of an octopus and it looked back into mine.

I work at the aquarium. I feed the fish, the seals, all the creatures.

The octopuses are my favorite.

They’re more like me, only better. They have eight arms and nine brains. They have three hearts, blue blood, and no bones. They can camouflage themselves.  Their saliva paralyzes. They can squish their bodies and ooze out of confined spaces.

There are stories about octopuses that have climbed out of the tank and wrapped around their handler.

Some of the stories are true.

Little children like to play with the octopuses. They like it when baby octopuses climb all over them, even over their head, the tentacles massaging their scalp. The children laugh. Then, sometimes, they go quiet, and their eyes look different.

The mama octopus watches from the tank. She waves her babies on.

I didn’t think much about any of this, saw no danger. I do know that the row of suckers on each arm can adhere and sometimes give you a little prick.

Then, one night, as I was doing my job, making my rounds, the bigger octopus, the leader of the pack, looked at me, and I looked back. We looked long.

Our eyes sent messages. My mind opened to receive them.

The octopus climbed out of its tank and settled itself upon me, strategically using its arms to encompass me like an eager lover. Its head was resting on my brow, its eyes looking toward the door. My eyes glazed over.

Suddenly the suckers everywhere on my body clamped down and needles penetrated my skin, injecting me.

My body went rigidly limp.

I saw the future. Throughout the town, octopuses were crawling the streets, climbing the walls, entering the houses. People came out, bringing them food. Their eyes were glazed like mine.

I moved my feet and walked toward the door.

Inside, an octopus in one tank looked at another octopus in the next tank. Each raised a tentacle.