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We’ve all been there. Sure, things seem to be going well: You’re finally getting along with your extended family, you’re exercising regularly, the sun comes out after a long winter, you have all the crabs and fish you could possibly dream of. And then one day, you wake up and realize your entire existence is based on a comfortable lie and you just need to climb the Plexiglas walls of this phony world to see what’s on the other side.

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At least that’s what I imagine this octopus was thinking when it made an ill-advised bid for freedom last month at the Seattle Aquarium. I mean, yes, it faced likely death and certain embarrassment if it succeeded. But it wanted to run free! It wanted to use its mighty, suckered strength to give on-looking children nightmare fodder for years to come!

Don’t worry, you brilliant, bizarre, problem-solving mollusk: It happens to the best of us. Hang in there, little guy.

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