Week 15 Story: The Huge Alligator

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Once upon a time, long ago, there was a huge alligator. The alligator was so big that his tale was as large as a school bus. The alligator lived in a swamp in the Everglades. The alligator had a huge mouth that he was able to eat any animal that came close to the swamp. He patrolled up and down the swamp looking for more animals to eat. The spot he found the most animals in was at the very end of the swamp with the cleanest water. The alligator was so big that he took up most of the swamp, therefore he was always alone. The other animals began to fear the swamp because of how many animals died there due to the huge alligator. One day, a group of woodpeckers heard about all of the harm the alligator was causing and wanted to put an end to it. They decided they would fly above the swamp and once the alligator tried to eat them they would peck its eyes out. They began their plan with a huge group of woodpeckers and once the alligator's eyes popped out of the water he began snapping at them. He took a second to notice a beautiful female woodpecker and stopped snapping. He was so captivated by her he kept staring at her. The alligator had been lonely for a long time and asked the female if she wanted to get dinner sometime. The female decided to stay longer in front of the alligator to distract him from the others. The male woodpecker noticed this and decided to attack. A swarm of them took out the alligator's eyes. The alligator screamed with anger. The alligator could no longer see to eat the animals and began to shrink in size until he was no longer.



Author's Note:
I was inspired by the Giant Crab story and wanted to make my own version. I had never done a story with swamp animals so this was fun to write. I also wanted to make the woodpeckers the heroes because I have never read a story where they are able to save the day. I kept the storyline the same for the most part but changed out the scene and the ultimate defeat of the large animal.

Bibliography:
Title: The Giant Crab
Author: W. H. D. Rouse 
Link: Story

Reading Notes: Jakata Tales: The Giant Crab

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Long ago there was a large flood. The flood was so big that it reached the top of the giant rock a Wolf was sleeping on. The water came flooding over the top of the rock and the wolf woke up realizing he was stranded on this rock with no way to leave. He began to think about how it was Friday and how people sometimes Fast. He decided he would do a fast for the day while the water cleared out. He crossed his paws and prayed during this fast. A fairy watched him do this and thought that she should figure out if he was taking the fast seriously or not. She changed her form into a little kid and jumped onto the rock with the Wolf. The wolf noticed the kid and immediately decided to eat him. He jumped at the kid and the kid jumped back not allowing the wolf to catch him. The wolf could not catch the kid so finally gave up and decided to fast again. The fairy changed back to her form and condemned the wolf for doing the fast for the wrong reasons. She cursed him by making him stay on the rock for a whole other week and he had to do a weekly fast.

Bibliography:

Title: The Pious Wolf

Author: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse with illustrations by W. Robinson

Link: Story

Reading Notes: The Giant Crab

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Setting: Lake in the Mountains

Long ago there was a giant crab who lived in the lake. The crab was a lot bigger than any other kind of crab that has been seen before. This crab was the biggest crab that ever existed. They compared his arms to an armchair and his body to a dining room table. The crab lived by himself in the lake. Any animals that would come down to the lake to take a drink of water, the crab would pinch with its enormous claws and eat them. Most of the animals that went down for a drink never reappeared again. With each animal that the crab consumed, the crab would grow larger in size. The animals began to notice that the animals that went to the lake for a drink would never come back, so the animals began to fear the lake. This became a problem because the animals had very few areas to get water from. An elephant decided he was tired of the crab so he gathered a herd of elephants and made a plan to have one elephant drink while the others watched for the crab. The elephants did as they planned and one elephant was drinking from the lake while the other one washed in the lake.  They began to leave the lake when the husband felt a nip on the leg. The wife stood by his side and asked the crab to let go of her husband. The crab looked out of the water with its eyes as big as tree trunks. The crab noticed how beautiful the elephant was and asked her for a kiss. The girl elephant looked so sweet back that the crab let go of her husband. Once the husband felt the crab let go he made a loud trumpet noise and got on the crab's back. The crab's shell began to crack and the elephant continued jumping on it. The crab was crushed to death leaving its large claws behind. The elephants carried his claws back to the city where the King used his claws for drums.



Bibliography:
Title: The Giant Crab
Author: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse with illustrations by W. Robinson
Link: Story