Frank was used to little sleep, trained by his life on the seas where one could be called out at all hours of the night, and woke up before anyone else. Last night’s conversation was still fresh on his mind as he pondered what he should do until everyone else awoke. They had decided to send out a scout to reconnoitre the exact location of the alligator’s nest, so Frank thought it would be a good idea to get ahead of schedule by doing the scouting. Besides, he thought, maybe the enemies will be asleep, since it’s so cold an early. Little did he realize his mistake.
Frank crept through the dense vegetation of the bayou, going deeper into it’s heart- and farther from his friends- with every step he took. After he had walked for the better part of an hour, he suddenly found himself staring down the side of a steep bank. To a human it wouldn’t have been too frightening, as the bank was only 2 or 3 yards from top to bottom, but to a mouse like Frank it was a towering cliff- a veritable mountain!
Not being one to do anything without thinking it over carefully, Frank surveyed his surroundings, looking for away that he could slide down without braking every bone in his body.
While he was doing this, he noticed that the thick, glutenous, mud at the base of the bank was a patchwork of footprints. Frank had never seen anything like them before, but he knew without a doubt what they were. They were exact replicas of the tracks of the lizards and newts that he’d seen as a boy, except at the end of each toe was the mark of a long, vicious looking claw- these were no lizard tracks, they were ten times larger! They could have been left by nothing other than an alligator! Proceeding with the utmost caution, Frank walked to a spot where it looked as if the bank had slid down considerably. There, the bank was much less sheer, and Frank could clamber down it with little difficulty.
He followed the alligator tracks with ease until they led him straight into one of the many streams that bisected the bayou. There the tracks all but disappeared, and Frank was about to despair and turn back when he heard a loud crashing sound, coming from the other side of the stream. A moment after he heard the sounds, he saw their sours emerge from the dense undergrowth. It looked like an immense green log on short, stubby legs. It’s entire body was covered in large green warts, except for it’s eyes, which were small and evil looking. This, Frank was sure, was an Alligator!
