The kraken, a giant sea monster, is feared by sailors for dragging ships underwater

Setting:
A cozy café in Bergen, Norway, with a view of the fjords. It’s lightly snowing outside. Two friends, Anders (a rational thinker) and Lars (a superstitious sea-lover), are sipping hot coffee and watching the fishing boats return to the harbor.

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Lars:
(Staring out the window)
You see that fishing boat, Anders? Just like that one that disappeared near Lofoten last year. Mark my words—it was the kraken.

Anders:
(Raises an eyebrow, sipping coffee)
Lars… not this again. You really think a mythical sea monster took down a twenty-ton trawler?

Lars:
You laugh, but sailors have feared the kraken for centuries. There are logs, stories, old sailor journals. They can’t all be wrong.

Anders:
They can be mistaken. People used to think thunder was Thor’s hammer, remember? Doesn’t mean he’s up there smashing clouds.

Lars:
But you weren’t there when we passed Saltstraumen last winter. The sea suddenly turned like it was boiling. Something massive moved below. Everyone on the boat felt it.

Anders:
You were in a whirlpool, Lars. Saltstraumen has one of the strongest tidal currents in the world. That’s physics, not tentacles.

Lars:
Fine, explain the Norwegian navy sighting near Andøya in ’92. The sonar picked up a creature bigger than a submarine. And it vanished. No explanation.

Anders:
Sonar glitches. Schools of fish. Giant squid, maybe. Those are real, by the way—not krakens dragging ships to their doom.

Lars:
Aha! You admit there are giant squid. How do you know the kraken isn’t just a bigger cousin? A prehistoric cephalopod still lurking deep in the Atlantic?

Anders:
Because biology doesn’t work that way. An animal big enough to wrap around a ship would need an insane amount of energy. It would’ve left bones, washed ashore, or at least shown up on satellite imagery. The oceans aren’t that mysterious anymore.

Lars:
But there’s still so much we haven’t explored! The deep trenches—Mariana, Puerto Rico, even the Norwegian Sea depths. Scientists admit we’ve only mapped a fraction.

Anders:
Sure, but unexplored doesn’t mean full of monsters. That’s like saying, “I haven’t checked under my bed lately—there might be a troll.”

Lars:
(Grinning)
Well, I have lost a few socks mysteriously…

Anders:
(Laughs)
Okay, sock gnomes, I’ll give you that. But come on, Lars. You’re a smart guy. Isn’t it more thrilling to explore the real creatures of the deep? Like the barreleye fish or the vampire squid?

Lars:
Maybe. But don’t you think believing in something like the kraken adds a bit of spice to life? Wonder? Mystery?

Anders:
I agree, mystery is great. But for me, the mystery lies in discovering how things really work. Nature is magical enough without inventing monsters.

Lars:
So, no room for legend in that brilliant scientific brain of yours?

Anders:
Only if it comes with footnotes.

Lars:
(Chuckles)
Fair. I’ll bring sailor journals next time. You bring sonar reports. Deal?

Anders:
Deal. But I’m telling you, if the kraken ever does show up—I’m buying the first round of aquavit.

Lars:
(Raising his mug)
And I’ll say “I told you so” between gulps!

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[They clink coffee mugs and laugh, the snow falling gently outside as another fishing boat enters the harbor—tentacle-free.]