Darryl and Tilly hid behind the large stones in the glass enclosure and peered out.
On the other side of the glass, two enormous monsters appeared to be discussing something. They spoke in a guttural tongue which Darryl and Tilly couldn’t understand. They nodded their heads. And with a huge clonk, they clapped their big claws together which thundered like two wrecking balls being used in a game of conkers.
One of the monsters pointed its car-sized claw in the direction of the enclosure and came towards them. Darryl ducked down and pulled Tilly down with him too.
“Ssshhh,” he said. “Don’t mov…”
The monster flicked out an arm with surprising speed and hoisted Darryl from the ground. He helplessly kicked his legs and flailed his arms as its big sea-smelling claw wrapped itself firmly around his waist. The monster’s grip crushed the wind out his chest.
He tried to call out to Tilly. But having no breath to release, he couldn’t formulate any words. Even if he could, “help” would have been about it. The monster turned to the other. They both nodded and started to take Darryl away. He could hear Tilly calling out his name in anguished cries.
He could also hear the gentle clinking of cutlery on crockery.
Darryl managed to draw in a breath and push one back out. He did this twice over before realising there were more monsters. Many more monsters. The one gripping him appeared to be walking across a room with a carpet of pebbles. Either side of the walkway hosted several tables made of a grey stone. Each table had monsters gathered around it, and they all sat upright on their tails and appeared to be communicating. Chatting perhaps.
The monster carried Darryl all the way across the room and out through a door into a kitchen.
More monsters were in the kitchen milling around and weaving amongst each other. There were pans sizzling on stoves. Huge knives rested on enormous chopping boards. And under the fluorescent lights of the kitchen, Darryl got his first clean look at the creature gripping him so tightly around the waist. A giant lobster.
The lobster squeezing him had a moustache and was wearing a bow tie. All the other lobsters in the kitchen were wearing chef whites and tall white hats.
He noticed that. And then he noticed the huge pot of boiling water in front of him. He also noticed that they were heading directly to it. The lobster held him over the pot. Darryl looked down and called for help. He squirmed and wriggled. He kicked his legs and thumped at the big claw.
“No, no, no!” He cried. “Please!”
But his wispy squeaks were barely detectable to the lobsters as the one with the moustache and bow tie lifted him up to its eye level, whispered, don’t worry, it’ll all be over quickly, and tossed Darryl into the steaming pot of boiling water.
***
The sound of a waiter walking past with a sizzling plate of food jerked Darryl out of his daydream.
“Nooooo!” he cried out, bringing the gentle clinking of cutlery on crockery to an immediate halt.
Tilly returned from the bathroom just in time to hear him cry out. She noticed his forehead was moist, his eyes wide and wild and his breathing heavy.
“What’s going on, Darryl?” she asked. “I’m in the bathroom for five minutes and I come out to find you making a scene in front of the whole restaurant!”
Darryl was back in the room. His wits returned. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and then dried off his hands by rubbing them on his trousers. He cleared his throat, nodded to the awaiting waiter and opened the Lobster Shack menu.
The waiter quietly stood next to the table and checked his watch, then stared at Darryl. Tilly stared at Darryl. The lobsters bobbing around the tank adjacent to where Darryl sat, stopped bobbing around and stared at Darryl.
“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, Darryl,” Tilly said, breaking the silence. “I’ll have the lobster, please.”
The waiter momentarily took his eyes from Darryl to Tilly and nodded his head approvingly, before returning his gaze, “And for you, sir?”
Darryl took another nervous glance at the lobsters in the tank. They hadn’t moved. Hadn’t twitched an eye. Still staring. All eyes locked on him.
He swallowed hard and cleared his throat again.
“I’ll have the salad, please.”
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