After that, my relationship with the giant octopus slowly changed.
At first, I fed it every few days. Then it became once a day.
Once it recovered, it became much livelier, and the briny smell in the house faded a great deal.
I no longer needed anything else to ease the loneliness. On days when I had enough energy, I could stay in the bathroom for hours, only coming out when my hands and feet went weak.
The giant octopus also became almost eerily intelligent.
After each time, I would lean over the edge of the bathtub and talk to it. Although it couldn't speak, it responded with its tentacles. When I talked about something sad or frustrating, it would even nudge me gently, as if trying to cheer me up.
Compared with Ethan, who spent over three hundred days a year shipping out, this cre
