HOW THE CROCODILE GOT IT’S ROUGH AND SCALY BACK

BY: ADRIAN

This story begins many moons ago when crocodiles had flat backs, water buffalo roamed willfully, and everyone traveled on foot. It is of how Marco traveled to far away lands to try to save his grandfather. We must not rush to the end though, we must start at the beginning and this is how it begins. One day Marco, who was a young man, was walking outside his village. Suddenly, he heard a scream of pain from his village. He rushed to see what was happening. It was his grandfather, he had been bitten by a poisonous Carp snake. Marco knew there was only one cure for it. He didn’t know what it was it was though. He went to see if the chief of the village knew, even though the chief had a grudge on Macro’s grandfather for making him look like a fool when he beat him at a simple game back when they were young. The chief who was still planning on going to any extent to get revenge, told him there was no cure for the deadly Carp snake and it wouldn’t be long before Marco’s grandfather passed away. Marco’s hope went down and he was almost ready to give up, when he thought of another person who could help. The one person who might be able to help was the old man, a wizard who lived in a hut at the edge of the village with his four other family members. Marco went to the wise man at his hut. He asked him if there is a cure for the Carp snake’s bite. Marco told the old man how when he asked the chief, the chief said there was no cure for a Carp snake bite. The wizard transformed himself from person to his jaguar form in order to talk to Marco. The wizard began to speak, “The chief was lying. There is one cure for it. There grows a flower in a distant land, if you reach it and bring it back to me I will mix it with the necessary ingredients to cook the medicine soup. You will meet and cross past deceiving lands, across a forest into the rain forest or the land of the monkeys whatever you call it, don’t trust them though, there are good ones and bad ones and in a meadow there past that jungle is where the flower lies. When did you say your grandfather got bitten” “About three and a half hours ago.” Marco answered. “Then if you hurry you can save him. He’s a strong man so you have two days and two nights, but on the third day at about noon he will perish. .... WELL HURRY! No use just standing here, go and get the flower.” As Marco leaves the hut on his quest, he says “I’ll be back before too long.” And so Marco set foot on his greatest adventure. Marco started walking southward, toward the first obstacle in his way. He stepped into the forest and he felt the presence of all the tall dark trees with all the poky little branches sticking out of them. The atmosphere was much darker with the sun not shining. Marco moved on. He heard a voice, “Hello Marco” said the voice “Who said that?” Marco asked. “I did” said the voice. Marco looked around and saw no one. Then he looked up and saw an owl. Marco asked “Was that you up there owl? If it was you, then talk. Fine then I will leave you and go on.” Marco started to walk when he heard the owl say, “Wait, it was me who was talking”. “OK then” said Marco “what do you want?” “ I see that you want to cross the forest, am I correct?” “I do. What do you want to do about it?” “I know the short way.” Owl added quickly. “Can I trust you?” asked Marco. “Yes” Owl said in a sly voice. Marco pretty much had to follow the owl now for he had lost his sense of direction while talking to the owl. The owl led him around trees and along pathways. While they were walking the owl was thinking, I can’t get the job done by myself, but that’s OK because I’ve still got the plan. They reached the edge of the forest. It was evening now, and Marco wanted to take a rest but the owl didn’t want him to go to sleep. Owl said, “You’ll be fully alert...er... I meant to say ... I meant to say that I can see better during the night than the day and don’t you want to save your grandfather?” “Yes I do, but I’m going to sleep now.” Marco did go to sleep for most of the night and when he woke, he saw the owl asleep. When the owl woke up, they started walking. Marco soon found the end of the forest. There were a few fields which he crossed and then he entered rainforest land. It was wet and humid. The further the owl guided Marco into the forest, the more trees there were and the bigger they were. Their were more loud noises with more screeches and belches and chirps from the strange animals. Owl and Marco kept moving. After a while there was a small strange clearing with a small stream that led to a small lake of murky water. This was probably the water hole for the animals. Marco started walking, and when he reached the stream he wasn’t sure if he should cross it or somehow try to go around it. The owl said “Just cross it”. The stream was only about four meters wide, so Marco started to cross it. Suddenly, a crocodile jumped out of the water and just about took Marco’s arm off in one bite. Marco got out of the water as fast as he could. When he got out, he felt the ground starting to shake. At least he was safe for now .... or so he thought. Marco turned backwards and saw the crocodile coming at him. When Marco looked to the right, he saw a herd of elephants racing for the water hole. If he was in their way he’d be squashed. Marco ran as fast as he could. He headed for the jungle. He had just reached the jungle when the elephants ran by. The crocodile was still in their way. As the elephants ran by, one of them actually stepped onto the crocodiles back. And that’s how the crocodile got their rough and scaly back. Marco knew this time he was safe, or so he thought. Marco began to not start this owl. The owl began to sense this. The owl thought to himself “DARN, the plan didn’t work, the chief won’t like this. Oh well there are still the monkeys.” Marco walked further. Marco could tell that he was almost at the clearing where the flower grows. He was walking peacefully, when a group of four monkeys attacked Marco. They jump on him tearing at his skin. Marco grabbed the knife he kept at the side of his leg, and stabbed the little barbarians. Luckily, the monkeys didn’t do any major damage. Marco now knew the owl was working for the chief to exterminate him. Marco dives at the owl with his knife. The owl could not hurt him or lead him into any more traps. The owl was able to fly away. That was the last Marco saw of him. It was the last anyone saw of him. Marco, tired as can be, thought he’d go on until dark. Marco walked a bit further and there were the fields full of the medicine flowers. Marco would be safe here. It was dark so Marco went to sleep. In the morning when he awoke he gathered as many of the flowers as he could take and ran the whole way home, past the rain forest, past the clearing, past the meadows, past the forbidden forest and into the village. He cried out “I’m home!” He went to check on his grandfather who was being nursed by his grandmother. “How is he?” Marco asked. “He’s weak, hurry”. Marco went to the old man. Marco gave him the flowers. The old man said “I’ve been expecting you”. In about an hour the soup was done. Marco rushed to his grandfather and gave him the soup. He drank it. In four days Marco’s grandfather was fully cured. Marco was proud of what he did to save his grandfather. He thought this was his greatest quest. That ends the tale of Marco the brave.

THE END