Sid isn’t an octopus like the others. He is the only one that uses only four of his eight tentacles for most of his duties and choirs at home. He is perfectly healthy, the doctor insists, and all eight of his tentacles work fine but during play time, tidying up his room or helping around the house, Sid strictly relies on half of them.
At school isn’t any different. He is very bright, the teacher insists, and participates in class but during assignments, group projects or when he is asked to write on the chalkboard, Sid isn’t using his full capacity and is applying only a fraction of his tentacles.
Even during sports, he is picked last. Sid is fully capable, the coach insists, but we tried athletics, aquatics and gymnastics and he can’t seem to coordinate all eight of his tentacles together. “Sid the squid! Sid the squid!” His teammates chant to tease him. Everybody knows that an octopus uses all of its tentacles equally.
No one can say precisely why Sid is different until they play a game of ball. For a reason unknown to everyone but to him, he scores every time he aims for the net. Sid is a superstar, the coach insists. Having to compensate more than any others, he learned how to read the field, position himself, and outplay the opposite team.
Never underestimate an octopus that is different from the others. Whether he receives, passes or shoots the ball, Sid knows exactly where everyone will be and his adversaries simply cannot anticipate his movement.