Marcellus

Marcellus Mcquiddles is a giant Pacific octopus who resides at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. As a juvenile, he got into a fight with an eel and lost one of his tentacles, an injury that disabled him and led to his "rescue" and imprisonment in the aquarium. In his tank he is lonely and bored and wishes he had a friend to relate to. To quell his boredom, he escapes his tank every night and explores the hallways of the aquarium, snacking on his favorite delicacies and gathering catchy objects to house in his Collection beneath the rocks in his tank.

He displays unusual intelligence, even for an octopus, and is able to understand spoken and written human language, and read human body language accurately. He is aware of his own mortality, and the chapters dedicated to his ramblings count down the days until his death.

The cleaning lady...