Tentacles in My Closet

Blue turned to orange as the sun peeked over the horizon. The shadows in June's room melted away from the sun's warmth, filling it with a warm glow. With the gentle light, sounds of early suburban life, and the smell of pancakes cooking in the kitchen, the scene was quintessentially peaceful.

"..ne...akefas...s ready..."

Mmph... Not now, it's too early.

June was snuggled deep in her bed, in that morning state of mind where your consciousness is just starting to come back. You notice, but you want it to go away again so you can get back to sleep. Who needs fresh breakfast and sunlight when you have pillows.

June's room was well and warmly lit at this time. Her window faced east, making it easier to wake up in the mornings. June normally woke up just fine, even on weekends. That, plus the smell of her mother's cooking now wafting up to her room would have made getting out of bed easy. The sheets just felt especially soft today for some reason...

*knock* *knock* "June? Did you hear? I made breakfast."

The door creaking told June that her mother had entered her room.

"Come on honey, why are you so sleepy? You went to bed early last night, didn't you?"

Sigh... No point delaying the inevitable, she guessed. She rolled onto her back and sat up in bed to greet her mom.

"Yeah... I'll be down in just a little bit... *yeaaaaaaaawn*" June stretched her arms, greeting the dawn.

"Um... June honey, you're not...?"

"Huh?" Her mom seemed to be indicating something, briefly glancing at June's chest and gesturing towards her. Naturally, June looked around the room first, wondering what could be the matter. When she looked straight down, she saw that nothing was covering her naked chest, the bed sheets stopping at her waist.

"Ah!" June pulled her covers up out of reflex to cover her chest, now awake and flustered.

"I'm sorry mom, it's just that I-"

"No honey, it's okay, it's not a problem. You're a grown girl, and you deserve your privacy." Her mom was smiling with an empathetic look, saving June from the need to explain.

"I'll just knock next time, okay?"

June nodded, her brain a confused whirl. Where the heck had her shirt gone?! Or her jammies?!

"I have pancakes ready downstairs. Do you think you could be down in maybe, ten minutes?"

"Uh... yeah, that's fine" June managed to get out.

"Great. I'll see you then." Her mother gave her a quick smile, and closed the door behind her, leaving June still holding her sheets up. She guessed she hadn't needed to freak out, plenty of people slept in the nude. Except for her.

She racked her brain, trying to remember how she had finished her tired night. Let's see... she had trudged upstairs to her room, then she set her school stuff on the floor next to her desk, and then... she just flopped on top of her bed. While fully clothed.

She sat in bed, wondering where in there had she stripped and gotten IN bed, when her mind led her to the rest of what happened last night.

She immediately got up to dress for breakfast, as much to hide from the thought as to eat.

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Sizzzzzzzzzz... went the flipped pancake. This one also had an even tan shade. Isabel smiled in satisfaction; she was on a roll. She looked left and right, measuring the amount of batter left against the pancake stack they already had. They would probably have eight by the end of it; that's plenty.

The thud of footsteps told her that June was coming downstairs. The table was all set, she just had to bring the pancake plate over.

June rounded the corner, wearing pajama bottoms and a big sweater. Whether it was summer or winter, she always overdressed.

"Good morning, honey."

"Good morning..." June only made eye contact briefly. As she got her plate from the table, Isabel noticed that she didn't seem very focused, staring into space as she moved. Maybe there was something on her mind? Isabel decided to wait until they were eating to ask. She finished up with the pancake batter and June brought her serving back to the table. Isabel did the same.

As she sat down, she noticed that June had only gotten two pancakes. Hopefully she was eating enough; she was too young to worry about her weight. Anyways...

"I'm proud of you for working so hard this week. You told me about how much work you got." Apparently, her teachers had independently decided to have two essays and presentations due this week across her classes, without much time the previous week to prepare. They really should coordinate more.

"Thanks..." June was staring down at her pancakes, absently pushing a piece through the syrup.

"Will you be able to rest today? Take it off?"

"I think so... There isn't anything due Monday, and Tuesday is just some Math homework."

"I'm glad. Is there anything fun coming up in classes?"

"No, not really... I guess we're getting to watch a movie next week in History as a reward for the presentations..." She was still pushing the same pancake piece around. She was hardly eating anything.

"...You okay, honey?"

"Yeah... I just feel really tired."

"Are you getting sick? Do you have a fever?" Maybe that was why she had been topless this morning: overheating.

"No, I... I'm just tired."

"OK... Is anything else bothering you?" She didn't answer, and stopped pushing the soggy pancake scrap.

"I don't know..., last night feels hazy, and I had a really confusing dream..." She was holding her head with her hands, elbows propped on the table. She still hadn't looked anywhere but downward.

"I'm sorry... I think you should rest in bed today, you sound like you're exhausted from your week. Do you want to finish your meal, or should I bring something up to you?"

"No, that's OK, I'll come down if I get hungry. Thanks though." She got up to go to the stairs.

"You're welcome. I love you!"

"Thanks, love you too." This time, June looked over with a small smile before heading up the stairs.

Isabel was slightly relieved, but still concerned. Hopefully exhaustion was all it was. Anyways... there was still breakfast to take care of, and June's largely uneaten pancakes. It was a shame too, those were the best ones. Before cleanup though, she might as well finish her own.

--------

June shut the door behind her, letting out a sigh. She hadn't needed to seem so dramatic, but it was just the way she was with people. She had a hard time doing things like talking, making eye contact. Hopefully her mother didn't think she was down about something; she was just confused.

She could have sworn that she fell asleep on top of her bed, and nothing more. It was absurd to think that she could have been visited by some sort of sexual monster; it had to be a dream. But it had felt so real (and good...), and she didn't have an explanation for why she woke up nude...

While calling herself crazy for considering it, she began searching her room for any disturbances, any clues. Her bookbag was upright, her desk was clean. Her chair was straight, bed made, and floor completely clear. Now that she thought about it, she didn't have much in her room to make it messy in the first place... perhaps the bathroom?

She opened the door, and saw nothing of significance. A counter with sink and mirror, a toilet, and a shower + bathtub. All like she left them, no disturbances. Returning to her main room, she looked around again. Nothing looked unusual... Oh! She hadn't checked her closet.

She opened the door, looking for... something. Her winter blankets were tucked at the top, followed downward by her hanging shirts and sweaters, bras and underwear below that, just two dresses to the right, some hanging skirts, and... All of her clothes from yesterday were in the laundry basket. And they were all laid neatly; her sweater was even folded. Even she didn't organize her dirty laundry.

She stepped back, trying to consider it all. Last night, she had been dead tired. She'd come home, set her stuff aside, fallen asleep fully dressed on her bed, and had a messed up sexual dream. Then she woke up the next morning with all of her clothes in the laundry. Maybe... maybe in the middle of the night, after the dream, she had gotten up to put her potentially dirtied clothes in the laundry, and just forgotten her pajamas? And she didn't remember it at all because she was so tired. It didn't make perfect sense, but a memory lapse after a long week at least made the most sense.

June inhaled, and exhaled. That was settled then. Now, what to do...

--------

June lay in her bed, unable to fall asleep. She had spent the rest of the day reading, doing a lot of nothing on her phone, and taking a nap. As a result though, she wasn't tired enough to sleep. She'd been in bed since 10pm, and it was now something like 11:30. So, it was just her and her thoughts.

She was thinking about her dream from last night. Dreams were the most bizarre, random things. Why would she dream of being molested by a monster whose limbs ended in penises? Just thinking about it made her want to shake her head. Jeez... It had felt so real and surreal at the same time. She remembered more detail from it than any other dream, but at the same time it seemed floaty, hazy. Probably because of how messed up her head had been, being tired, afraid, and... aroused at the same time.

She let out a small sigh. She had to admit, that dream had been her first really sexual experience, and it had felt good. She'd always been really wary of sex, outside and inside. She never talked about it with friends, kept her head down during Sex Ed, and ignored any possibility of her having those feelings. There was one time where she had tried to explore her own sexuality. There had been a Sex Ed class that she accidentally started listening to, where they talked about how masturbation was a healthy way to relieve sexual urges. Tentative but curious, she had tried touching herself at home. She had placed her entire palm over her vagina, tried moving her hand around a bit, but nothing happened. She didn't really know what she was expecting. Did the dream mean that she was repressing herself, or something?

She didn't know. Anyways, it was too late to be thinking about this; what time was it?

She lifted her head up to check the clock on her desk: 11:59. Her head flopped back; this was ridiculous. Sigh... Maybe she should get a midnight snack? Yeah, that would be good. She actually hadn't eaten anything since breakfast; she should fix that.

And then, the silence of the night was interrupted by a creaking door.

Fear instantly shot through June's mind and body. There should be nothing, this was nothing, there was no way...

She turned her head, hoping her eyes would show that her ears were lying. Instead, they showed her closet door opening, slowly, a pink appendage pushing at the door's edge. It was opened, revealing the culprit of June's "dream" entirely. A pink, shapeless mass with several arms, all slowly reaching towards a terrified June in her bed.

Her brain's attempts to reconcile this thing as real, figure out what to do, and panic where all working against each other, immobilizing June as she stared. She didn't have time to process this, and there was nothing between her and the monster.

What...! This- no, this couldn't be real. She was dreaming again.

She didn't believe herself. The monster finished its entrance, and started reaching towards her. Just three feet away.

IT'S REAL, it's real, I- I have to do something. Come on! Move!

There wasn't any time to plan. The monster's penile appendages reached the edge of June's bed, their shape clearly betraying their purpose. Just one foot.

Nonononono! Get back, get- The bathroom!

June instantly rolled away, crashing through her sheets to get off on the other side of the bed. She more or less landed on her feet, and quickly stumbled towards the bathroom door, closing it without looking behind. In the pitch black she fumbled for the light and the lock at the same time. She flipped the light, locked the door, and fell against it while remembering to breath.

She panted while gathering her thoughts. She wasn't dreaming, and that thing was real; she trusted her senses too much to believe otherwise. Even if it was a dream, she didn't want to take the chance.

*Inhale* ... *exhale* ... OK, she was kind of safe. Maybe. The door was locked, it was stuck in her room; but, by the same token, she was stuck in her bathroom. She couldn't get help via her phone, it was still in the room. And if she just called loudly for her mother, and she met that thing... no, she couldn't; it would attack her too. Maybe the best thing to do was to just wait until it went away? Until dawn? It would be a long night... And who knew if the monster wouldn't try to-

*thump thump thump*

"Ah!" June started, and pressed herself against the door with her back, in case the thing tried to break in. She knew it could hold her down, she didn't know if it was strong enough to knock down a door though. She kept pushing, waiting for the thing to try. Several seconds passed.

*thump thump thump*

It still wasn't trying hard to knock down the door. Maybe it was feeling for weak points? But it kept hitting at the same point. Wait... knocking?

*thump thump thump*

"Who is-" NO, wrong response. "I mean- get back!"

... The knocking had stopped. Still, she waited for several minutes with tense breaths, back still ready to push against the door.

... Nothing was happening. Had it actually gone away? ... Maybe she could check. Wait, no! Predators could lie in wait for hours! She would just have to wait until it left. But, how would she know? ... Sigh, this was going to be stupid.

"... Are you still there?" she let out with a soft call.

*thump thump*, in the affirmative.

Again, she jumped a bit at the response. But that meant... that this thing could understand her?! This was so weird. So, maybe...

"Um... Knock four times."

*thump thump thump thump*

It listened. "OK... knock twice, then once, then three times." This was stupid, there was no way-

*thump thump* - *thump* - *thump thump thump*

OK then. This weird tentacle monster understood English, basic counting, and was actually doing what she told it to. Why not? There was no such thing as normal right now.

But... if it obeyed her, maybe she could escape now? But it could also be tricking her, luring her into a false sense of security so it could snatch her and... touch her all over, give her that white fluid, make her feel so good and- FOCUS. Where had that thought come from, she was trying to get away! Anyways... If she could order it to not attack her... she could get out?

She slowly stood up, still pressing her back against the door in case of any funny business. *inhale* ... *exhale*

"Alright... I'm going to open the door. When I do, DON'T MOVE AT ALL... Do you understand?" The commanding tone she was trying to give out and her softness of speech didn't really match up.

*thump thump* - an affirmative.

"Now, don't move!" OK, she was going to open the door. In 3..., 2..., 1!

She turned around and opened the door, and was immediately met with a penis in her face.

"Ah!" She closed the door just as quickly as she had opened it, her heart beating fast. She told it not to move! But... those things seemed to be just like arms for it, and it had to have been knocking on the door with something. She was just panicking, it was still.

OK, second try: opening in 3, 2, 1!

She swung the door open. The penis was still there, but it wasn't literally in her face. It was just being held at about eye level, not moving, just like she asked.

It was rather strange to see it so frankly. Last night, with her sleepy tired brain and the dark blue lighting of the night, everything had felt unreal. But in the orange light of the bathroom, it somehow looked more real, and ordinary. It was a fleshy shade of pink, with less texture than you might find in human skin. The head was somewhat bulbous, puffing out from where it connected to the stalk, tapering a bit as it went up, and then rounding off at the top with two smaller connected bumps at the tip, a slit dividing them.

Her eyes traced the stalk that travelled out of the bathroom light into the blue shadow of her room. It swiftly dropped from eye level to the ground for support, where it wound back to the body at the far end of the room, between her bed and the door out. The moonlight showed that it really was just a large shapeless lump, with a few extra penis-limbs that lay limp around it on the floor.

June realized that she had been staring, and snapped back to attention. She squeezed between the bathroom door frame and the still unmoving penis head, which brought her face very close to it, close enough to feel its heat on her lips and nose. She accidentally inhaled, and smelled it. It was a familiar musk, the same from last night. Despite smelling somewhat dirty or animalistic, it was pleasant, and simultaneously made her feel warm and sent a jolt through her body. For a few seconds, she stopped, and just appreciated its presence.

Then she caught herself, for the second time, and finished moving past. Her room was dark, but the orange light from her bathroom and the night's ambient light were plenty to lessen the shadows. She stepped close to the wall, away from the stalk of the extended tentacle that snaked along the floor. She reached her desk and her phone.

Now, she had a bit of leeway, it was just a matter of what to do with it. She could call the police and say that she was being attacked by a giant monster with penis tentacle arm things. Except that sounded crazy. And, it wasn't attacking her right now. She didn't want to get her mom, even if this thing was stationary. Maybe she should learn about it, while she could. That and get evidence that she wasn't dreaming, even if she didn't think she was at this point.

Her first step was to timidly poke the extended length of the tentacle with her bare foot. The skin was smooth, the flesh hard, and all of it radiating body heat. It didn't move past how she pushed it, gratefully. She turned her attention to the main body. It just sat there, like a giant fleshy love-sack or beanbag. Even so, she didn't really want to get closer. It would be too easy for it to just snatch her up next to all of its inactive limbs.

Instead, she decided to take a picture, for reference and proof. She raised her phone, did a few swipes and a click and... there was nothing there. Her camera preview was showing her only empty floor, while her eyes showed her a giant pink mass. This was so bizarre... What if...?

June carefully stepped back into the bathroom, keeping her face facing away from the floating tentacle head. She got a few squares of toilet paper, and lay them on top of it such that the slit and everything were covered. She pulled up her phone again, and looked at it with the camera. This time it looked like the squares were just floating in midair, hung on nothing. The camera didn't even show the limb's shadow on the floor and door; it was so odd.

Just as she took a picture, she noticed a wet spot in the middle of the toilet paper, right over the slit of the tentacle head. She put down her phone, her eyes seeing the same thing. She moved to gingerly lift the paper off, and put it in the trash. Turning back, she noticed that the head of the tentacle seemed to be particularly redder and more flushed than before, and maybe a little bigger. She stared for a bit; it was really a strange shape, but so intriguing for some reason.

Despite the foot of distance between them, she got another whiff of the tentacle's musk. Without thought, she reached her right hand forward and grabbed it, only being puzzled by her action afterwards. She didn't let go though. The tentacle's stalk was warm, and filled her grip. It felt good to hold, as she stared at the bulbous head.