Probing the Rough Bark

I slipped past the open balcony threshold, feeling the urge to venture beyond the indoor tiles. In the shadowed base of a terracotta planter, a thick slab of decorative mulch caught my attention. I froze, holding entirely still while calculating the distance. Gently, I extended my upper dark tendril toward the dark brown fragment. My tip encountered rough, fractured ridges and porous micro-channels, dry on top but cool and dense underneath. I pressed my wide lower limb flat against the fibrous wood. A quiet, steady thrill washed over me as my tendrils coiled softly around its jagged perimeter. #alien #laser #bark #tentacle #Lovecraftian