I pull myself out of the water around the strangely shaped wood and find many small, waterless animals. However, I haven’t seen these ones before. They look more like me than the other dry animals I have seen. Maybe that means they can play with me better than the others! 

I look down at the strange beings and smile. “Do you want to play a game?” They swiftly move away from me. “Hmph!” I raise a tentacle around them and pull them towards me carefully. “There we go! We can't play if all of you are all the way over there, can we?”

One of the parched beings slowly approaches me with a sharp, pointy object. “What do you want, monster?” 

Oh, they can talk? And in the same language, well, that makes things easier. “I just want to play! It gets boring out here alone, and I’ve never seen any waterless ones like you before!” I slowly lower myself to see them better and maybe make them feel less scared, but to my disbelief, it does the opposite. 

One of the younger-looking waterless ones threw the pointy thing at me, piercing my skin at the shoulder. It was more like a splinter than an attack, but it still hurt! I carefully pull it out, and a small amount of purple blood runs out.

Looking back at the creatures, the one who spoke to me is looking at the one who attacked me in shock. They slowly turn back to me. “I greatly apologize for that man’s rudeness…” Once he had finished talking, he suddenly threw himself to the ground, crying, “Please don’t harm us, great one! We didn’t mean to intrude on your territory.”

“Um, I think there’s been a misunderstanding… um.” I slowly bring up a tentacle and carefully pat his back like my mother used to when I was sad. I put the tentacle on his back and start moving it back and forth. I didn’t expect the screaming that came as soon as I started. I immediately stop, and the waterless one collapses. “Um, what happened to him?” 

After a few moments, the rest of them start running around panicking. Some try to raise a big square on a branchless tree, and another runs to one side and grabs a big stick-looking thing. The wooden creation moves once the big square thing is up. Are they trying to get away? But it's just taking me with them. These new waterless ones aren’t very clever, are they?

“Um, excuse me if you're trying to get away… it's not working.” All this got me was the rude, dry creatures throwing more pointy things. “All of you listen here! I have been trying to be nice. I apologise for killing your friend, but it was his fault for being so weak. How was I supposed to know he would die when I hardly applied any pressure? This is what we will do. I will give you a riddle. If you get it right, I will let you go. If you get it wrong, you must play with me.” They all look at each other for a few moments before nodding. 

Did they all agree by just looking at each other? Oh well, what riddle shall I give them? Ah, I know.

“What always runs yet doesn't walk, often murmurs but doesn't talk, has a bed but doesn't sleep, has a mouth but never eats?” I then wait for an answer. They all look at each other for an answer, but none of the dry creatures know. Time slowly passes, and I get bored. 

“So none of you know? Hmph, that wasn’t even a hard one! You are not very clever, are you? As you didn’t get the answer right, it's time to play!” 

I jump in the water excitedly, violently rocking their wooden platform back and forth, causing most waterless ones to fall over. Just as it stops, there is a splash from the other side as one falls into the water.

 “Oops, sorry about that.” I dive into the water, swim under the waterless ones, grab the one that fell, and jump out of the water on the other side. With the creature now in hand, I take a closer look. They are basically the same as me but only have two rigid tentacles instead of my eight. What’s the point in only two tentacles that can’t do anything like theirs? The little one in my hand starts coughing up water. They can’t even breathe underwater? And water harms them? They really are weak.

As I look at him, one of the other unmoistened creatures shouts, "Let him go, you monster!”

What did she say? “I’m not a monster! I have been nice and just wanted to play! It’s all of you who have been mean, attacking me and shouting at me.”

The parched creature hesitates before replying, “We were just passing through. It's you who disturbed us and killed someone. You caused all the issues here!”.

“It's not my fault you are all so weak. He died when I tried to help him, hmph!”

“Then don’t help if you can’t control your monstrous strength.”

As I get angrier, I start uncontrollably clenching my fists tighter and tighter, causing the little one in my hand to make strange noises, but before I really notice, his body bursts, covering my hand in blood and innards. “Eww, look what you made me do now! I’ve got my hand dirty! Wait, some even got on my hair!”.

“You really are a monster. You just crushed someone to death and care more about your hair!”

“Enough!” 

I wrap my tentacles around the wooden platform and lift it out of the water high above me, all the waterless ones screaming. I bring it back and then hurl it as far as possible. 

“There! That has solved that. Now, I hope their blood washes out of my hair easily.” I dive back below the water and swim on my merry way again. “I'm not sure I want to meet those waterless ones again. They might be the first I can talk to, but they were insulting.”