We fought our way through the underbrush, trying to find the two-rut road that used to be there. We were close to the river and could see sparkly brown water shining through the trees. It had been years since we first came here. Once, it had been a favorite place to explore - until we realized the danger.
The little road wound down close to the water. Sammy (my best friend) seemed nervous as he scanned the bushes around us. “Remember the gator?” he whispered anxiously. Our shoes were getting wet and heavy as we waded through a small bog.
“It scared the pure de life out of me!” I replied. Once, when we were first rambling down the sandy trail, we heard this loud snorting sound. There, right by the river, was a huge alligator with fire in his eyes, looking straight at us! It began to rise up on its stubby legs and snorted again! At that, we ran as fast as our soggy shoes would let us, and clambered into the truck!
Another time, we came around a bend in the road and there it was, watching. It swished its enormous tail and opened its long, toothy jaws. When it started to snort and move towards us, we were long gone! But that was years ago. We were much younger and faster then. Now, with the area building up and more houses encroaching closer and closer to the river, the less wildlife would be around - we hoped.
“Here it is!” shouted Sammy with great enthusiasm. And sure enough, there it was. Two barely visible ruts, all grown up with weeds, brambles, and young trees. But, it was plain enough that we could still follow it. Wild huckleberries were ripe, so we stopped for a while to sample the sweet purple fruit. That brought back memories of past summers - hot days and cool waters of the Withlacoochee. Then, we grinned at each other and picked huckleberry hulls out of our teeth. Soon, we rounded a curve and scrambled up a small rise that was half clay and half dirt.
It had rained recently and the clay was real slick and squishy. We held onto roots and branches to keep from sliding back down. Halfway up, we played in the clay patches, making little figures and tiny bowls, then setting them on leaves to dry. Just like we used to long ago.
When we got to the top, Sammy stopped and motioned for me to stop, too. My eyes widened when I saw the bull gator. It was big enough now to eat us both! “Backup - real slow.” Sammy said reassuringly. The alligator raised up on his haunches and seemed to sniff the air. Those beady eyes focused right on us. I felt the hair on my neck stand up and my stomach draw in.
By the time we half ran and half slid down that rise, the gator had stood all the way up and was advancing towards us. When we reached flat ground we looked back and could see it’s massive body silhouetted against the sky.
Then,we flat out ran for our lives. To this day, I can’t remember how in the heck we made it back to the truck, but we did. And just as we slammed the doors and tried to breathe normally again, we heard it. The unmistakable grunting ands norting of a bull gator defending his territory.
