The Crocodile and the Kingfisher (An Original Children's Story)

^{Image Source}

Once upon a time, there was a young crocodile who lived in a big river on his own. At his young age, he had to learn how to find his own food in order to survive. At night, he slept behind a huge rock to protect himself from other wild animals. He did a fine job in taking care of himself, considering his age and his size.

One day, as he was having a hard time finding fish in his usual spot, he decided to explore the other side of the river. He swam all the way to the far end where he had luckily caught some fish, and after that, he decided to rest amongst the cool mangroves. He placed the fishes on a low branch beside him, near enough for him to reach. The spot was so comfortable that not long after he had settled, he had fallen asleep.

He woke up to a slow thumping noise followed by a mild squishing sound. He shifted and reached out for a bite of his fish, but as he groped on the branches where he thought he had placed the fishes, he only felt the rough bark, the leaves, and nothing more. The fishes were all gone!

Now alert, he got up in a jolt and looked around for his precious fishes, but he couldn't find them anywhere. "Have they gone back to the river?," he thought. "But that's impossible!"

He sighed and decided to dismiss the incident, and immediately dived back into the river to find more fishes.

When he found five small carps, he thought he should observe them first, he was not yet hungry anyway. So he placed his catch on the branches and hid himself in the water, peeking above the surface to see what was going to happen. It only took him minutes to find out who the thief was.

"Aha!," the crocodile said, lunging himself towards the creature. The kingfisher shrieked in surprise and attempted to escape, but his claws got trapped between the branches, allowing the crocodile to get a hold of him.

"Please, please! Spare my life!," the bird pleaded. "I have not eaten anything in three days! I'm sorry! I won't do it again, I swear!"

The crocodile felt sorry for him and finally let him go. He even helped the bird remove its tiny feet from the branches. Then he said, "It's okay. I'm sorry about how I reacted. Its just that I've travelled from the other side of the river just to get here and catch those fishes. But I guess you needed them more." The bird felt relieved.

The young crocodile had let him have the carps as well, and soon they became friends. Everyday, the crocodile and the kingfisher would catch fishes and eat together beneath the shade of the mangroves. They talked about their lives, how they survived the wild, and many other things that only animals could relate to. But what our reptile friend didn't know was that for all those times, the kingfisher was only trying to win his trust.

Weeks after they've met, the crocodile had already grown fond of his new friend. He allowed the bird to have more share than him even when he did all the work himself. He didn't mind at all. The bird realized this and thought it was time to step up his game.

"Crocodile, my friend," the kingfisher said one day, "winter time is almost here. We need to be prepared or else we won't have anything to eat." The crocodile agreed and they found a safe place to hide the food that they were going to save for winter. The kingfisher smiled to himself as he thought about all the fish he was going to have.

Soon, the duo was able to save over a thousand fishes for the cold season. The kingfisher had wanted more, but thought it was enough for now. Everytime the crocodile was away, or when he was asleep, the bird went to their hiding place to eat as much fish as he can until eventually, the food ran out. For days, he had rehearsed everything that he was going to say to the crocodile once the latter finds out about it.

Winter came, and the crocodile could no longer catch any fish from the river. He told the kingfisher that they should go to their hiding place to get some food. The kingfisher went along and when the crocodile saw the empty hole, he knew it was the kingfisher's doing. "I can explain," the bird said. "I was sleepwalking the other night and I've ended up here. I had unconciously eaten everything. I thought it was all a dream! Believe me!"

The crocodile knew he was lying, and he had never felt more betrayed in his life, but he just smiled at the kingfisher to convince him that it was okay. The bird felt relieved and ran to embrace the crocodile, and as soon as he was near enough, the crocodile opened his mouth so wide. Before the bird had realized what was happening, the crocodile had already shut his mouth close. I'm going to spare you the ugly details, but surely, the crocodile just had the most satisfying meal of his life.