Transdimensional flux accident sucks. One minute I was safe and comfortable in my home nest, surrounded by my friends and relatives, and bah, I’m in this harsh, unfamiliar place. I just hope my tribespeople weren’t affected. My body seems fine, though: still a dozen tentacles and four eyestalks. I could regenerate if damaged, of course, but that doesn’t mean I’d like to.

Everything around me looks so weird. The air smells funny, too. Well, at least it’s breathable. But it’s too dry. And I don’t like the brightness of the rising sun. It seems it will be too hot soon.

I’m surrounded by stone and concrete. The rocks around me look too regular, so they must be artificial.

I find a ... gap? ... in the ground. It’s covered by some kind of grating - another sign of sentient life here - but I manage to remove it and squeeze in. It’s cooler and wetter here, it’s better. Although the smell is worse.

A day has passed, according to the light from the grates above. I’m exploring the system of underground tunnels I’ve found myself in. Some tunnels are smaller, some are larger, some are blocked by other grates. Some have strange artificial constructions - metal pipes, wires, lights on the ceilings, things that emit water. There are also places where the walls are lined with artificial materials, and places with no lining at all. The temperature is stable now, which is good.

I met little furry animals that live down here. They were trying to nibble at me. They turned out to be edible, though not too tasty.

I have to look at things above ground. It seems the locals don’t live in the tunnels.

I spent a day carefully sticking one or two eyestalks through various grates above and peering around. According to my observations, the local biota consists of several types of creatures. There are smaller or larger furry ones, all four-legged; and a lot of bipedal creatures (bipedalism! weird!) - there are quite a few of them, and they all seem to wear artificial coverings on their bodies. They come in slightly different shapes, sizes, and colors, but I can’t yet figure out which differences are substantial and which are irrelevant. They smell quite pleasant.

I crave tactile contact more and more, especially with my tentacles. I have never been aware of how important the constant exchange of touch, pressure and tentacle rubbing is that we all have at home all the time. I miss it so much. I have tried cuddling with small furry tunnel creatures, but it is not enough, not nearly enough. Their skin is much too coarse and rough.

The natives seem to touch each other sometimes, but very rarely and briefly. Can I find a way to touch them? I must make contact.

I can read the minds of the natives, although I do not understand them yet, but I hope to learn. Strangely enough, they don’t use mind-reading themselves, they communicate with sounds, like our singing. Well, maybe I could learn to sing like them.

I also noticed that they don’t eat each other. Or maybe those who do just don’t show it in public.

I wonder what they eat. I must investigate further.

I found where they eat. There are many places in the ‘city’, they are called ‘restaurants’, ‘cafeteria’, ‘pizzeria’ and a dozen other names. I’m learning their language fast, but I still can’t figure out the subtle differences.

Anyway, I discovered that in the evening they throw a lot of perfectly good food into containers in the backyards behind the restaurants. I do not understand this custom. But now I have as much delicious food as I can eat.

I had a tactile contact!

I had just eaten and was resting for a while on an empty night street when I noticed a lone human being. He was lying on the pavement, making irregular movements and noises, and emitting a strong smell of local beverages - I’ve tasted some of them, but didn’t like them.

Anyway, I approached and carefully examined the human body with my probing tentacles. The human did not seem to mind or even understand who I was. Its skin felt surprisingly comfortable. So smooth, soft, silky, elastic - I cannot describe it with words, but oh, it was such an amazing experience after so many days of loneliness! I touched it more and then, unable to control myself, I wrapped my tentacles around the human body under its artificial clothing and hugged it tightly.

Oh yes, that was what I so desperately needed! Tentacles around the soft, warm body, a friend to touch! I squeezed hard, massaged, rubbed and kneaded, releasing all my frustration. I found another opening in addition to his mouth and after a minute’s thought, I pushed two of my tentacles deep inside and began to rub. So good! Almost the same feeling I had with my relatives!

The human made a few convulsive jerks and gurgles. After a few minutes it opened his eyes wide and started to moan. Oh, I forgot that they communicate with sounds from their mouths. Well, the sounds seemed happy, so everything was okay, right? I cuddled it more and more until the human released a strong stream of clear liquid and passed out. I tasted the fluid - nothing special - then let it go and hid in the darkness.

It was wonderful! Now I know they are a friendly species, and I have a nice acquaintance. Hopefully my new friend will want to repeat the experience.

I’m trying to find more humans to meet.

I made several more tactile contacts. It’s hard to meet someone outside at night, but not impossible.

I discovered that humans come in two configurations, one with two lower orifices and another with one orifice and one short tentacle. I’m confused. Why the difference? But maybe they rub their tentacles through the orifices just like we do, just not as often. I’m on the right track.

However, I feel that humans get uncomfortable when I rub their orifices. They usually try to resist and run away. I can easily overpower them - they’re rather weak and clumsy - but I don’t want to scare them off, I need to make friends. Maybe I should try rubbing them more gently?

I’ve been thinking about finding a human partner - or preferably four or six at a time - who would let me cuddle them daily. I think I could offer something in return. I’m learning their language well and discovering the medical secrets of the human body. They can’t regenerate or fight diseases as effectively as I can. I could help them with that.

I’ve found a human garment, almost new, they call it a cloak. If I curl up in a certain way and pull the cloak over me, I could resemble a human from a distance and at night. At close range, of course, the disguise won’t work at all. Would they fear me less if I looked like a human?

I’ve been practicing bipedal walking. It’s difficult, but it’s possible, though it makes me even slower and clumsier than a human. But I’m confident that I could soon approach them if I learn their language better.

I can also stand the daily sunlight when covered. This increases my mobility.

Now I must find suitable candidates and approach them.

A promising direction!

There is a river on the other side of the city, and the people often swim in it and lie around with almost no clothes on. Sometimes they stay there at night, practicing close tactile contact and rubbing. It seemed like the perfect opportunity!

I prepared myself thoroughly and swam in the river. By the way, I found out that people do not like the smell of underground tunnels where I live, they call them “sewers”. Maybe that’s why they ran away from me? I did my best to wash the smell out of me.

At first I hid in the bushes, observing the humans behavior. They were sitting and lying near the shore, in groups, hugging, kissing, licking and rubbing. A male human crawled up to a female human and thrust his tentacle into her orifice - eeep! - she moaned and spread her legs wider. He went in and out, faster and faster, she writhed, panting and begging him to continue. Then he jerked twice hard and stopped, removed the tentacle from the orifice and lay down.

I made mental notes. It seems I am doing this more than perfectly, I just need to approach them gently and gradually so as not to scare them away.

Then another male crawled up to the same female and stuck his tentacle into her second orifice! She moaned louder and spread her legs even wider. Another interesting note.

Then they exchanged hugs and kisses and went home.

So exciting! Tomorrow I’ll have a go at the approach.

Tomorrow came today. I gave up the idea of pretending to be a human - it won’t work anyway. They have to accept me as I am.

So I waited in the bushes late in the evening and found a group of four females who had set up a tent and were obviously going to sleep near the river. They were pleasantly drunk and laughing together. Maybe they won’t run away from me right away.

I approached at a safe distance and called out to them: “Hello? Can I talk to you for a minute?” It seems I’ve mastered their audio communication well enough...

They stopped chattering and looked at me, alarmed but not too frightened yet.

“W-what is th-that?” one of them asked in a trembling voice.

“D-do you see it too?” asked another.

“W-who are you? What do you want?” said the third. Hurray! She communicates with me!

“My name is Bloorp.” I replied. “I am ... I am the victim of a transdimensional accident. I am ... alien, as you can see.”

“Please do not be afraid,” I added quickly. “I am harmless. I need your help.”

They were silent and looked at me with big eyes. I sensed in their minds that they were very confused, but more curious than afraid. They murmured to each other and then turned to me.

“What kind of help do you need?” the fourth one finally asked.

“Oh, thank you! I...” How could I explain this? “You see, where I come from there are thousands of us. We are always touching each other, lying on top of each other, and rubbing our tentacles. It is very important for our kind. Ever since I came to your world, I have missed it so much. I really, really need close tactile contact!”

They fell silent again, murmuring softly.

“And what, let me guess ... you ... want to rub ... tentacles with us?!” one asked.

“Oh, please, I would give anything for that!”

They fell silent, then burst into hysterical laughter.

“A ... A real tentacle monster!” one of them exclaimed.

“I can’t believe it!” giggled another.

A tentacle monster? I tried to picture it in their minds. Wow. They have dedicated a considerable part of their culture to creatures like me! Maybe that would make things easier.

“You can call me that, yes,” I agreed. “Although I am not a monster. I consider myself quire pretty.”

They laughed even louder.

“Okay, Bloorp, whatever your name is,” the third one finally said. “Come closer to us. Let’s talk about it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, sure. Come closer.”

I hesitated for a moment, then slowly crept closer. They looked at me curiously and excitedly.

“Wow, it’s bigger than in the pictures!” exclaimed another. “So many tentacles! Can I touch them?”

“Sure, please!”

She reached out a hand and stroked me gently.

“It’s pleasant to touch...” She squealed and jumped when I wrapped my tentacle around her wrist, but quickly composed herself and squeezed my tentacle with her palm. Ohhh ... So pleasant...