Bessie the Crocodile

I was out in the swamps all day trying to find a rare poisonous frog that lived here. Or, at least, I was told inhabited this particular swamp. It was a very rainy, dreary middle October day. The kind of day where most people would rather stay inside than be trudging around outside. Well, I have never been one of those people regardless of how the weather is. If there is a fascinating creature to be found, you can be sure that I will be out and about looking for it.

Anyway, the rain was coming down harder and harder. It was making it very difficult to see anything past three feet away. And it did not appear as though the rain was going to let up any time soon. Begrudgingly, I decided to pack up my things and head back to my campsite to wait out the storm there. I was already drenched in rainwater from head to toe. My teeth were chattering from the cold. I knew that I needed to get to some place warm before I succumbed to hypothermia.

Just as I was starting to walk out of the swamp, I heard a cry. It sounded like an animal in distress. There were also the sounds of men talking in excited voices as well. I followed the noise to find out what was going on. Two men carrying heavy duty harnesses while a third man shouted commands were guiding full grown crocodiles into the back of a large, metal wagon. The crocodiles, from what I could see, had been muzzled and shot with tranquilizers after being loaded into the wagon.

Seeing what was going on really made me angry. These poachers had no right to take these amazing creatures out of their home. I knew that these guys were going to sell the crocodile meat once they were slaughtered to restaurants in the area. It made me sick thinking about it. I knew that I had to do something. Taking out my crossbow, I placed a bolt onto my quiver. Aiming at the guy who was most likely the leader, I drew the bowstring back and released my shot. The arrow hit its intended target. The arrow stuck out of the man’s chest just inches from his heart. The other two men stopped what they were doing and yelled in shock. I stepped a bit closer to the scene to reveal meself to the poachers. I told them that was a warning shot. They were to get out of here as soon as possible or else the next shot would be fatal. They were to release the crocs as well before they left.

The leader told his cronies to do as I told them to. I put another bolt onto my quiver and held it there as I watched them. When all of the crocs had been taken out of the wagon, the trio left without saying another word. Once they were gone, I put my crossbow away and moved closer to examine the crocodiles. I was saddened to see that over half of the crocodiles were already dead. The rest were well on their way to dying. Several tears fell from my eyes. These poor beasts had suffered much from the hands of cruel humans.

That is when I saw that one of the crocodiles was still a baby. This crocodile was twitching slightly and making low, grunting noises. I bent down to get a closer look at the crocodile. As I touched its back, the crocodile began to feebly open its eyes. The crocodile was hardly bigger than me hand. I decided right then and there that I was going to take the crocodile back to camp with me. I could not do anything for the other crocs. They were all hurt too badly or dead for me to be able to help them. I was determined to do my best to save this little one though. Even though I knew that the odds were against me.

I nurtured the little crocodile baby for weeks before it finally got better. I fed her insects and little mice that I caught just for her. The baby crocodile, I discovered, was female so I decided to call her Bessie. My friends warned me not to get too attached to her. They said that once she was healed up, Bessie should go back into the wild where she belonged. I agreed even though it made me sad to think about.

The day finally came that Bessie had returned to normal. It was time to send her back into the wild so that she could hunt for herself. However, Bessie had other ideas. She had grown very fond of me and refused to leave me side. No matter how much I encouraged Bessie to go and be free, she would not leave. I knew then that I did not have the heart to let her go. Bessie was me best friend. We were to be together always.