Timothy had shown Phillip the special area off the reef where he could locate the most plentiful lobsters in Theodore Taylor's novel, The Cay. After Timothy's death, Phillip ventured to the hole with Stew Cat and began testing the waters. He made many exploratory dives before finding a particularly deep hole where he figured a large lobster might be hiding. When he reached far into the hole, something grabbed his hand. Because he was blind, he could not see the creature, but he knew it was not a langosta since the pain was so severe. Frightened, he could not pull away on his own, so he placed his feet against the coral and pushed. The creature was powerful and would not let go. With another powerful jerk, Phillip rose to the surface with the creature still attached to his wrist. Its tail flailed against Phillip's chest, its teeth buried in his flesh. With a scream, Phillip emerged from the water, and the thing let go. He was bleeding, and he rested on the edge of the pool to catch his breath. As he relived his unexpected experience, he realized that the object could not have been a fish, since it was long and narrow. Much later he realized that the thing had been a moray eel, and he had intruded upon his home. He decided to never go near the eel's hole again.
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