Kitchener Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School - Grumbler Yearbook (Kitchener, Ontario Canada)

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formless gray and began reaching toward the motionless Eric. Eric stood, rooted to the spot, incapable of sound or motion. A powerful mixed feeling of horror, nausea and revulsion held him in its grip. His cheeks were white, his lips pale and compressed. His eyes stared glassilyg cold beads of sweat stood out on his brow. Never before in his life had he met such a horror. He. who had never known fear. now stood impotently in its hold. The devil-fish. Eight long snake- like. sucking tentacles. A horrible rending beak. Two great. dull, star- ing eyes. Revolting, hideous. ghast- ly monster. With a sudden, whip-like move- ment the tentacle wound itself about his leg: the suckers bit deep into his iiesh. The shock of the im- pact aroused Eric from his stupor into frantic action. He snatched at his knife and slashed at the tight- ening bond of death. He severed it and scrambled back, his flesh crawl- ing with dread. Another tentacle lashed out ot grip his left arm. Again the knife slashed to bring his freedom. Above, in the boat, Captain Ga- brill, peering down anxiously into the sombre depths, had perceived the monster advancing on Eric, and now he and the black began tugging madly at the rope. But it was caught fast. Below, Eric struggled vainly to extricate himself. Already both legs and his left arm were held fast. Inexorably, the monster was over- coming him. Now all reason left Eric. He slashed and cut hysteric- ally with his blood-stained knife. His air supply was giving out. His lungs ached. His face was purple: his tongue black and swollen. Suddenly. under strain of the Captain and the black. the rope broke loose, pulling tight about Eric's waist and raising him. Yet so overcome was Eric, with dumb terror. that he took this for yet an- other tentacle making fast about his body, and slashed at his own life-line, severing it, and thus seal- ing his own doom. A tentacle fastened on his body. and still another, secured his flailing right arm. Relentlessly, impotently his Writhing body was drawn for- ward. The formidable beak opened. Eric gave a frenzied shriek . . . All was silent save for the horrid sounds of a monster feeding. Q' Bruce Harvey. A X D THE GRUMBLER 31

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I: E Ax RfC'untinue1l from page 162 Amazon jungles, all these paled be- fore what he now saw. He was sur- rounded by waving greens. mauves, yellows, reds, ochres, blues and tur- quoise. Scintillating flashes of dazzling oranges, exotic blues,burn- ing reds, flashing yellows flitted amongst the flowing fronds of mul- ti-coloured seaweed. A maze of fairyland colour coruscated before his marvelling eyes. Beneath his feet, brilliant-hued sea-mosses formed a carpet over vari-coloured stones. Gorgeous pink and opal anemones swayed in enchanting rhythm with columns of fern-like purple tire. The sight was intoxi- cating, bizarre, and weird. It was a dream-world. Eric felt a deep ex- hilaration course through his veins. Here was a whole new world be- yond his wildest dreamsg a new world to conquer. But he was here with a purpose. and the apprecia- tion of these wonders must await a time when he had more leisure. He began to forge ahead through the dense undersea vegetation. Always new vistas of entrancing loveliness unfolded before him. He was thoroughly enjoying himself- and yet? Eric laughed and went further noticing that the sea-floor was dipping downward. He had progressed some fifty yards from his starting point when he came to the edge of a ravine on the sea-bottom. On the opposite slope he was able to distinguish the indistinct form of a ship, long since rotted and overgrown with sombre shroud. The hulk lay in the sha- dow of de Ferma's Point. Looking up, Eric saw that the boat had followed him and now lay almost directly above him. He gave a tug on his rope, felt it slacken. and then plunged into the ravine. He found it rather difficult to approach the wreck. The sea-weed here grew closer to the ground and was more dense. It seemed to cling to his feet as he worked his way through. There were fewer fish here, no more bright colours. A shadowy, foreboding silence seemed to hang over all. Vague grayish forms scuttled away before his ad- vancing tread. A sinister shape watched his passage, then followed. Arriving alongside the crumbling hulk, Eric surveyed it briefly. then clambered aboard. The deck was sharply inclined and slimy. He found it difficult to maintain his footing. Slithering, slipping. stumbling he worked his way over to the open hatchway. Upon reach- ing it, he paused to give a momen- tary glance over his shoulder. He thought he saw something un- dulating rise for a moment above the edge of the deck and then dis- appear again. He shrugged his shoulders and entered the gloomy hatchway. However, he found the passage so obstructed by debris and rotting wood, that he decided to re- turn to the boat and renew his air- supply before attempting to force his entrance since only another five minutes of air remained. As he returned towards the edge of the deck a sudden jerk on the rope brought him to a standstill. For a moment he remained rigid. Then, realizing it was only his life- line which had caught. he turned and began tugging at it, first with annoyance. then with mounting anger. Now a strong sensation crept over him. Cold shivers raced up and down his spine and a prickly feeling began at the base of his scalp. A strong urge possessed him to look .behind him. His annoyance increased. For a moment he de- liberated, then turned-and froze. The rope dropped from his numbed fingers. Slowly. silently. steadily. a hideous, shapeless, gray. undu- lating mass was creeping over the rail on to the deck. A serpentine tentacle unwove itself from the fill THE GRUMBLER

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onzsfgitz 6 few ., as san ,lu-xx ILMLKIPZ. A XII D I tlonlt lfnou' exactly uhat happenerl. Ur how it all came about. But something neu' has been atlrlefl That will change things arountl. no tloubt. lt,s not that I tlo not like it. I zlo. as a matter of fact. For it brightens each. flay. u-ith a joy complete That nzy trorltl 10011111 0llI8l'll'l.S8 lach. lt flemantls what it wants with an angry cry That senzls everyone scurrying about. To satisfy this tree-nzight of at thing Anil try to suppress its shout. When visitors come. they bill antl coo U'er this acute tree resemblance of Dail. While it sticlrs out its tongue Anil appears to he super colossally mall. But some say that ,1lother's beauty is crou'n'a'. ln this scrap of a thing' callezl UIJUIPIIH. fls for me. I lhinlf She is very street antl exceetlingly tres honnev. She's not really as lrrattish a little girl els I have leal you to unclerstantl. Bu! although she's my sister. 1 still Uflllql see Why babies are always so graml. THE GRUMBLEF2