"Um, if you don't recognize any of those places, where are you from?" The woman asked, reading Nick's expression.
Nick raised an eyebrow as the woman's question snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Have you heard of any place outside this forest and those three countries you mentioned?" He asked.
"Real or not real?"
"Real, obviously."
"Then, no."
Nick looked at the man, too, but he shook his head.
"It's safe to assume you haven't heard of where I'm from," Nick sighed.
He didn't even know where the thought of this being another world had come from, but it was starting to sound more and more reasonable. He looked at the nervous couple again.
It was also safe to assume that they had no idea why he could understand them and why they could understand him. He was pretty sure that he would have recognized the countries if they spoke English.
Another question in the pile of questions for the tentacle monster as soon as it grew a mouth. But one question he didn't have to wait to ask was if this was another world.
"I guess that's enough for now," Nick stood up, inviting the man and woman to do the same.
"I'm Nick. It's nice to meet you two and your bear. It looks like I'll be staying here for a while, so it would be great to get to know you better, but only if you want. As I said…" he leaned and pointed toward the tentacle monster in his basement.
"Totally harmless. Kind of.
"But I need to sit down and be alone with my thoughts for a while. You're welcome to visit whenever."
The man and woman nervously glanced at each other as Nick turned around and entered his house. Before he could close his door they said,
"I'm Lora."
"I'm Kavam."
Nick waved before closing the door.
Lora and Kavam looked at each other before turning around. It was time to go home.
They froze. They looked down. Kai was not there.
A moment later, the blue bear cub came tumbling out of the house with a disappointed and frustrated tiny growl.
It had somehow managed to sneak past them all, but it had not gotten past the tentacle monster. It was yet another failure to access the treasure vault.
Kai swore to return before trudging over to his parents, who grabbed him by the ears and pulled him along while shouting an apology to Nick.
Inside, Nick closed the door again with a deep sigh.
He had sighed more the past two days than he had his entire life. If it continued like this, it wouldn't be long before his hair turned grey and his face was covered in wrinkles.
He looked at the tentacle poking out of the basement's darkness. He had to ask it. But at the same time, he didn't want to. What if it was true? What was he supposed to do then?
He sighed again.
"Is this another world?"
'Please say no.'
The tentacle nodded, quite decisively at that.
"Are you sure?"
Another decisive nod.
Another sigh.
"How can you be so sure?"
"..."
The tentacle still didn't have a mouth. How was it supposed to answer?
"Alright, alright. Don't look at me like that. I'm not teasing you about not having a mouth. It's just…" Nick sighed again. He wasn't sure what to say.
But if the tentacle monster, who could lie, was to be believed, he was no longer on Earth. He had no idea where he was, but more importantly, he had no idea how to get back home.
He could ask the tentacle monster if it knew. But he didn't want to know the answer. There were two options. One was really bad and the other was good. He was not ready to take that chance so soon.
"You good with noodles tonight again?" He asked the tentacle while moving to the kitchen.
He was not in the mood to cook a proper meal. He wanted to eat something light, take a nap, eat something light, and then fall asleep.
Maybe if he slept enough, he would wake up and realize this was all a very strange bad dream.
He doubted it, but what was the harm in hoping?
The tentacle looked at Nick with worry before following him into the kitchen and resting on his shoulder as he leaned against the kitchen table while waiting for the water to heat up.
He looked at the sink. He looked at the fridge.
"Is the water and electricity working thanks to you?" He glanced at the tentacle. Just a day ago, he would have been scared half to death and repulsed just by the tentacle trying to touch him. But now, he didn't mind it resting against his shoulder.
He did not want to think about what that meant. Maybe he was going crazy. Or maybe he was looking for a source of stability and comfort in the strangest situation he had ever been in his entire life.
The tentacle nodded.
"Thanks."
Nick was not sure what he would have done without water and electricity. A lot of his food would spoil, he would have to go into the forest to look for water, and he wouldn't be able to forget about his current circumstances with old movies.
While eating his noodles, Nick thought a little about Kai, Lora, and Kavam. He wondered what they thought of him.
They were his neighbors, and if he wanted to learn more about this world and the forest he was in, they could tell him about it. But they had been scared witless by the tentacle monster in his basement.
Kai didn't seem to care much about it, nor did he seem to listen to his parents very much, and he was addicted to sausage. Nick would most likely see the bear again, but even if this was another world, it wasn't like the bear could talk.
Nick sighed.
His head was a mess.
But before he could fall asleep on the couch, there was a knock at the door.