If This Is The War Of the Worlds

Dear Octopus,

When we were boys our mother used to say to us: ‘there’s a whole world full of awful things one can do to turn the tide in this life. It’s bad to steal, or to lie, or to be a coward in the face of trouble. It’s very bad to hate other people, and it’s very, very bad to hate me. But the worst thing you can do is hate each other. You are brothers, and you must always be brothers. No matter what.’

Everyone knows that boys fight and fuck around, with that headstrong steel of misappropriated youth. The vanity and pride flow like crimson blood from cut lips or loosened milk teeth. Sometimes we’d fight, as brothers do, and sometimes even we'd fight until she cried. But a little boy seeing his mother cry - on his account no less - is an awful thing. One time I said to her ‘mamma I’m ssssorry,’ (lisping due to a fat lip) and she turned to me and said very calmly, ‘don’t lie to me. I taught you not lie.’

I said, ‘I’m not lying mamma.’

And she replied, 'have you forgotten: that you said this to me last time, and the time before, and the time before that? Every time you say you're sorry. But words are cheap, and it’s easy just to say. You're not really sorry. If you were sorry, you’d stop.'

I think that's important. Sometimes people say sorry without even considering change, and I hate to see them lie.

Your loving friend,

Action Squid