Summary

Montgomery travels to Boston to the New England aquarium to meet an octopus. She is curious about their intelligence and the possibility of a different kind of consciousness. She throws in facts about octopuses, such as that a giant Pacific can have 1600 suckers. Scott, one of the aquarists, introduces the author to Athena, their two-and-a-half-year-old. Athena embraces her with her many tentacles, and Montgomery compares it to an alien's kiss. They stare at each other, both curious, and Athena slowly pulls her further and further forward.

The next day, Sy Montgomery's friend is horrified just by the idea of octopuses. Montgomery recounts all the pieces of Western art and literature that paint the octopus as a monster - from Montfort to Jules Verne to Alfred Tennyson. She thinks such impressions are probably the reason Jody is repelled...