During World War II my sister’s navy pilot friend, on a flight from Florida, brought two baby alligators. Dad made a wire fence for them in the yard. Marge fed them raw hamburger. They loved ice cream. I teased them with a stick to open their mouths.
Fall came. Dad said, “Time for them to hibernate.” I believed him. Marge lined a wooden box with cloth. Dad nailed down the lid. I watched them bury the box by a tree. No ceremony.
Spring came. “Please, Dad, open the box, the alligators are hungry.” Reluctantly, he did. Two skeletons. I cried.
© Copyright 2016 Avis Rector. All rights reserved.
Avis Rector has lived on Whidbey Island all her life in the same house she was born in 83 years ago. After retiring from teaching, when she’s not helping her husband on their farm, she writes! Her new novel, Pauline, A New Beginning on Whidbey Island, appeals to anyone who enjoys reading stories of the Great Depression Era.
What a shocker! Those lines,”I believed him” and “No ceremony,” are great foreshadowing.
Oh the naïveté of a child is as precious as it is fleeting.
Killed the babies with ice cream. More importantly alligators are not pets too bad they were destined for their fate because of humans.
You are so right, Bob. The first sentence in this story is true. When Marge opened the cardboard box, the alligators had not survived the plane trip.
Oh, the things grownup tell their kids. How many of my pets “went to sleep” in the back yard when I was a child. Very well conveyed in so few words.
Ooh. I’m glad to read the comments and discover that the “buried alive” part was fiction! It’s a very effective story. So sorry about the alligators, who were not made for airline flight in some freezing baggage hold.
For the first time, I’m reading all the replies to my 100 word story. It was a fun story to write, and I’ve enjoyed all your comments. Do you know I wrote a novel? Pauline, A New Beginning on Whidbey Island. Readers asked for more. I’m halfway through writing a sequel. Available on Amazon, bookshops and dozens of places frequented by visitors who like history of places they visit..