The Children of Destiny

Chapter 21 - A Depressed Crocodile

After Scout was done showering me with kisses, we all decided we should get going before something found us. We grabbed our stuff and began walking towards the desert. We were almost there when we saw a huge figure just standing there next to a lake, blocking our path.

"Huh, that wasn't there before," I muttered. "Stay here, I'm gonna go find out what that thing is."

I began stepping carefully forward, towards the large creature, and I came to a sudden stop when I saw what it was. A massive male crocodile just lay there in front of me with his eyes closed. I guessed he was sunning himself and slowly backed away, trying not to make any sound just in case he was asleep.

"Hey, guys," I whispered. "It's a crocodile, but I think he's sleeping. We've gotta be super careful so we don't wake-"

"All alone..." something sang, interrupting me. "I'm all alone."

"What in the...?" Max questioned.

The song seemed to be coming from the direction of the crocodile.

Is that thing singing? And we can understand it?

"I'm all alone," the crocodile continued. "I've got no home. So, I'm alone. No one to love. No one to hold. I'm all alone..."

"What a beautiful voice," Scout muttered. "But such a depressing song."

"Aren't crocodiles supposed to always be happy?" Max asked. "They're always smiling for a reason, right?"

I nodded, for once agreeing with Max. This was a strange situation. Crocodiles always had a huge smile on their face, but this one was frowning, and was clearly upset about something. Careful to not startle him away, I crept towards the crocodile. Something pulled me back, and I looked over my shoulder to see Scout glaring at me.

"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed.

"Maybe he's so sad he won't bother to eat us," I suggested.

"Something's wrong with you," Max shot back. "If you die, we'll have to go and get you a replacement."

I simply ignored them and headed away towards the crocodile. Once I got close enough to the crocodile, I decided to ask him to move.

"Hey," I shouted. "Sorry to disturb you, but you're kind of blocking the way to the dessert!"

The crocodile turned to look at me, a sad look in his eyes.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I'm just wallowing. I'll move if you need me to..."

I smiled politely as the crocodile shuffled over to a nearby body of water he'd been sticking his tail in. There was no way that was enough water for him, but I didn't say anything. I watched as the crocodile struggled to get comfortable in what was basically a puddle for a while before finally giving up and walking back over to me. He looked even more upset now.

"Sorry, can't move," he sighed. "That water doesn't have enough space for me, and I can't go back to my old home."

"Why not?" I asked curiously.

"My mate died there," the crocodile explained. "It's too dangerous to go back..."

"Oh..." I muttered. "That's terrible. I'm so sorry for your loss."

The crocodile just sighed and rolled onto his back.

"I'm guessing you and your friends heard my song?" he prompted.

"How did you...?" I began.

"Us crocs can hear pretty well," the crocodile explained. "Anyway, I suppose you'll have to walk around me."

I looked over at Scout, Max, and Roxie at a loss for words. Scout stepped forward hesitantly.

"Excuse me, but there must be another way to get you out of the way," he suggested.

The crocodile opened his eyes and narrowed them at Scout. Scout looked away as to not make eye contact with the crocodile.

"Well, I was thinking if I sat out here long enough I would dry my scales and die," the crocodile explained. "But that's taking too long, and I just got wet again."

"So, you're saying the only way to move you is for you to die?" Scout asked.

The crocodile nodded and Scout looked at me, pleading for ideas. Suddenly, his face lit up and he looked up at the sky. He got an idea!

"What if I get an animal to kill you?" Scout suggested.

"Sounds good," the crocodile nodded. "But every animal that has ever come close to me has run away when they realize I'm a crocodile."

"This one won't," Scout promised.

He whistled loudly, then waited.

"What was that?" I asked.

"You'll see," Scout replied.

Just as he said that, a huge bird flew over, its many eyes searching for something. Scout shouted at the bird, which I now realized was an owl, and it swooped silently down towards the crocodile. The owl pierced the crocodile's soft belly with its talons and flew away, carrying the huge reptile as if it was nothing.

"Was that-" I began.

"Owletta? Yeah," Scout interrupted. "Now, let's get a move on."

I nodded absently, still a bit surprised by how quickly and easily Owletta had just taken the crocodile away. After a moment of processing, I followed Scout, Max and Roxie towards the desert.