Open hours were different with the penguins' newfound swimming skills. More visitors came to my window, but only to get a better look at the penguins swimming around than to see me. In fact . . . they barely paid any attention to me at all. Even when I did stuff with the penguins. Every time I did something, I was ignored. Every time I did something with them, I heard the humans comment that they wished I'd stay out of the way so they could get a better look at the penguins.

But despite the attention I wasn't getting from the humans, I'd long accepted it. The penguins and I sometimes did stuff together for the humans, but a lot of times, I just let them have the spotlight. True, I valued the attention from the humans and longed for the old days when they came to my tank just to watch me do something cool, but honestly . . . it somehow didn't bother me as much that they were ignoring me.

I had new fans, anyways. Ones I cared about more than anything else in the whole world.

— § —

I now know why children love hide and seek.

Ever since the older penguins learned how to swim, they wanted to challenge themselves by trying to spot me in the water — me being camouflaged, of course. The thought came about something like this.

"How can you change your skin color like that?" Private asked me one morning.

I thought for a moment. "Not sure. I just do it. It comes naturally to me."

"Well," Kowalski broke in, "cephalopods have these special pigment cells called chromatophores that are connected to their nervous systems, which change size depending on muscular contractions. Using their excellent eyesight and these special cells, they camouflage themselves by creating color patterns that match underlying surfaces."

We all looked at him with blank stares.

"Um, I'm just going to pretend like I understood that," Skipper said with an awkward smile and a nod.

"How do you know more about me than I know about me?" I asked.

"They had a nature documentary about marine life playing on one of the televisions at the electronics store we checked out that one time. You know, when you couldn't find me at first and had to hunt me down?" Kowalski explained.

"Ah, yes," I mused, "that time. What . . . else did it teach you?" I asked warily, worried that some of the content may not have been suitable for children.

Kowalski thought for a moment. "It had an enthralling segment on polymorphisms in cnidaria," he answered.

I nodded. "Oh, yeah. Those, uh," I tried to pronounce the word, "nay-dairy-ah. They sure are . . . something," I finished awkwardly.

"Is there anything you can't blend into?" Private inquired.

I thought for a moment. "Not that I know of," I answered. "There hasn't been anyone I can't fool with my camouflaging skills."

"Really?" Skipper asked in amazement. "No one?"

I smiled smugly. "Nope. You could say I'm a master of disguise."

"I'd bet you we could find you," Skipper said, folding his flippers with a smile.

"Oh, really?" I said, eyeing them curiously. "Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe," Skipper replied. "Would you accept?"

"You're on," I said, reaching out an arm. Skipper took the end and we shook. "All right, here are the rules. You four count to ten while I go hide. Then you try to spot me. You can't touch anything, though. You can only spot me with your eyes. Got it?"

The penguins nodded.

"All right, close your eyes," I told them. They did so. Okay, place to hide, I thought to myself. I perked up as I saw a good hiding spot at the top of a light post right next to their habitat. I quickly climbed up, wrapped my arms around the pole, and blended in, using my head to top off the post. I heard the penguins complete their counting a moment later.

"Where is he?" I heard Private ask.

There was a moment of silence as they, I assumed, were looking around for me.

"Do you suppose he went underwater, Skipper?" Kowalski asked.

"Good call. Private, you keep looking around up here. We'll scope out his tank," Skipper ordered. I noticed that he had developed a habit of taking charge amongst his brothers.

I heard three consecutive splashes and then silence. I carefully peeked over at the island to see what Private was doing. He had his back turned to me as he aimlessly looked around the habitat. I suddenly had an idea.

"Pst," I whispered softly. Private looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. "Pst!" I whispered a little louder. He looked distantly in my direction, but he still couldn't make out my figure. I unraveled an arm and stretched it over to Private. Then I plucked him off the island, taking him by surprise, and brought him close, keeping an eye on the water to make sure the other penguins weren't about to return.

"How about we hide together, hm? Bet we could sure fool your brothers," I suggested.

Private smiled. "Okay!" he agreed. I covered him with my arms and re-camouflaged myself. "I didn't even know you were here, Dave! You're really good!" he whispered excitedly.

I smiled. "What'd I tell ya? Master of disguise, if I do say so myself. And I do," I replied smugly. "Now be quiet in case the penguins come back."

Private nodded and we waited in silence for several minutes before the penguins resurfaced.

"Where the heck is he?" I heard Skipper say. I refrained from chuckling to myself. I heard the dripping of water as the penguins supposedly climbed out of the water.

"Where's Private?" Kowalski's voice asked.

There was a moment of silence before Skipper's voice replied. "Oh, he's good," he mused.

I continued to wait for them to give up. Private stirred anxiously in my arms, but he managed to stay quiet and hidden. I carefully peeked over again to see that they were scanning the area very slowly and deliberately. They were really determined to point me out. I watched them until they all had their backs to me. Then I looked down at Private and winked at him before I reached out an arm and gently set him right behind the penguins. Private looked back at me with a smile before turning back.

"Surprise!" he yelled, causing the penguins to turn around in shock and stumble backwards. Rico actually fell over the edge of the island and into the water. I suppressed my laughter.

"Where the fish did you come from?" Skipper demanded. The splashing and dripping of water suggested Rico had climbed back onto the island.

"What do you mean?" Private asked innocently. "I've been here the whole time."

I smiled. He technically wasn't lying.

"Don't give me that," Skipper snapped. "You know where Dave is, don't you? You sneaky little puffball."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Private said, continuing his innocent act.

"Don't play dumb with me," Skipper said suspiciously. "Where is he?"

"I can't tell you," Private answered. "That would be cheating."

Skipper grunted in frustration.

"Skipper," Kowalski spoke up, "on the bright side, we have confirmation that he is indeed up here and not underwater."

"Good point, Kowalski," Skipper said. I could feel his eyes pass over me as he scanned the area again.

After almost ten more minutes of trying to figure it out, they finally gave up. Private pointed to the lamppost where he thought I was still hiding (I had moved when none of them were looking in my direction) and frowned when I didn't appear on the lamppost.

"Dave?" he called softly.

"Yes?" I replied behind them, causing them to jump and turn to me in surprise.

"Where were you?" Kowalski asked incredulously.

"First, the lamppost. Then the fence over there. And finally, the penguin exhibit sign over there," I explained, gesturing to the respective hiding places.

The penguins exchanged glances, not believing they fell for my camouflaging skills.

"I told you," I said, "there hasn't been anyone I can't fool."

"Yeah?" Skipper challenged. "I demand a rematch!"

"Do you?" I said with a grin. "You're on, fluffball."

"Hey!" Skipper protested. "I lost all my fluff last week! My feathers are virtually fluff-free." He'd also become more self-conscious about appearing older and more "masculine." Kids. Always in a hurry to grow up.

I chuckled. "You're still cute and cuddly, though," I said, ruffling the feathers on his head. He batted my arm away, but was smiling.

"Yeah, but cute and cuddly's so gonna own you," he declared.

I grinned. "We'll see about that. May the odds be ever in your favor."

— § —

The humans loved it.

I would let the humans see where I camouflaged myself and they would laugh and awe when the penguins tried to find me. I had a lot of fun with it too.

The penguins have changed a lot in the seven weeks that I've known them. They're so much braver than they used to be. A part of me is happy for it, but another actually kind of misses their innocent childhood fears. Mainly because they finally decided this past week that they didn't need me to sleep with them anymore. They were big kids now, and they weren't afraid of the dark. I started sleeping at the bottom of my tank again.

Alone.

I honestly didn't think it'd be so hard to get used to sleeping by myself again. I'd done it for my entire life with no complaints. But it was different sleeping with the penguins in my arms. I was like . . . their protector in their eyes. I felt like it was an unspoken duty for me to be there to guard them from their wide-eyed fears. I was supposed to be there if they had nightmares. I was supposed to be the friendly face they woke up to. The one they had to prod awake on holidays.

But I respected their wishes nonetheless. I didn't express my objections, I didn't put up a fight, and I didn't let myself show how disappointed I was. I'm an octopus, I can inch back to the natural order of things and sleep by myself. Not a big deal. Not a big deal at all. I'll sleep by myself, and maybe just check on them every — oh, I don't know — half hour or so. Just to make sure they're okay. I mean, I don't know why they wouldn't be okay, being in a safe, secure zoo, but you know, you can never be too careful.

One night, I surfaced at a little after midnight and looked toward the center of the island, where the penguins were huddled together to keep warm on the nippy December night. Since Private still had his downy feathers, he was in the center. I watched them sleep for a few minutes. They were so peaceful. I had a momentary flashback of the first night that I slept with the penguins, holding them in my arms with promises to protect them from the unfamiliar sounds of the city. I smiled at the memory, but it faded as I came to terms with the fact that they didn't need me for that anymore. I sighed.

Before I dove back under, I heard a voice.

"Dave?"

I looked over to see Private tiredly rubbing his eyes.

"Sorry, Private," I whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"What are you doing up?" Private whispered back in a tired slur.

"Oh, I was just checking on you guys," I answered.

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" Private asked, squinting his eyes to see me. "You're not cold, are you?"

"No, no, I'm sleeping just fine," I lied. "And don't worry about me. The cold never bothered me anyway."

"Are you sure?" Private asked. In his squinted, tired eyes, I could see a touch of concern. I smiled a little. He still cared.

"I'm sure. Just go back to sleep before you wake your brothers," I said. Private yawned and closed his eyes without objection.

"Kay. Night, Dave," he sighed.

"Night," I said quietly. I waited a moment longer before I let out a silent, heavy sigh and sunk myself back to the bottom of my tank.

Funny thing about camouflage, it's all about hiding in plain sight, and letting people see what you want them to see, and what they expect to see.

Glad I'm good at it.

— § —

Note: The quotes used in this chapter were, "May the odds be ever in your favor," spoken by Effie Trinket in Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games (2008); and "The cold never bothered me anyway," spoken by Elsa (portrayed by Idina Menzel) in Frozen (2013). And "wide-eyed fears" was a subtle reference to The Phantom of the Opera, song "All I Ask of You" by Christine and Raoul, and the chapter's title "Masquerade" was a reference to the score in the musical.

Next chapter will be posted on July 24th, 2023.