My entry for CGTalk's Spectacular Challenge (2D).


Story:
"We had been diving off the coast of Okinawa's Seragaki Beach when the incident occured.
It was about mid afternoon and we had snorkled a mile from the beach when we began our dive. At about 45 feet below the surface, I heard a high-pitched hissing sound coming from Ken's equipment. It was apparent that he was having some trouble breathing so we surfaced immediately to fix the problem. I checked his oxygen valve which appeared to be working correctly. We stayed afloat for about twenty minutes, checking our equipment carefully before making our descent once again.

Ten minutes later , I heard the hissing noise once more and turned to face Ken who was snorkeling about 30 feet behind me. As I began to swim towards him, the light overhead was suddenly obscured by what appeared to be a blanket of tentacles. There was a moment of darkness, followed by a feeling of heavy movement above us, and then it was gone. I looked up to see Ken frantically waving his arms in an attempt to ascend. It did not take long to realize this would be a good time for me to do the same. We swam furiously toward the surface, swallowing ocean water along the way. And as we reached it, coughing up water and gasping for air, a feeling of absolute terror and bewilderment consumed us; a feeling brought on by a harrowing and spectacular underwater event."