Chapter 2

Chapter

Two

“ W ell, that is really… that’s not normal, is it umm…”

Well, shit. I never even said who I was, why the hell would he have given me his name?

He shoves out a hand and jumps right into an introduction. “Luis Martínez. I work for the preserve, well mostly with Sofia the veterinarian. She is my wife. And these two are my little brothers Juan and Carlos. They are training as Guardabosque.” With the proclamation that the two men are training as… well, essentially park rangers for such a large nature preserve, both men puff their chests out a tiny bit.

I smile and grasp Luis’s hand in mine. “Tiffany Adler. Freelance nature photographer. It’s nice to meet you all.”

Luis shakes my hand and returns my smile, before releasing it to gesture to the grumpy alligator and capybara. “No, this is not completely normal. Usually, the alligators will leave the capybara alone and the same the other way. They are not enemies or food for each other, but are not really friends either. And I did not bring anything for the alligator since this was not what we thought would happen at all.”

As if in response to what Luis is saying, the gator hisses and growls, taking a single step closer. In response, the four of us take a step back. The capybara shuffles and whimpers, pulling my attention.

He is sitting on his haunches, with one back leg extended. Except the leg is about twice the size of the other one and is bent in a way that leads me to think it’s probably broken. Damn. He definitely needs help.

Looking back at the alligator, I notice that his attention is now fully focused on me. Maybe I can keep his attention long enough for the men to grab his friend?

I crouch down but make no move to get closer. Rule number one of nature photography; observe and admire, but do not interfere. Besides, I have no interest in losing an arm today, and this guy looks pretty chompy.

The gator continues his low growl but makes no moves to interject when the three guys start to slowly shift to one side. Instead, he seems completely entranced by my watching him. He blinks his eyes slowly—one at a time—and with each, I swear I see a shimmer of emerald green dance across his irises. How peculiar. Maybe I should take a picture? It is what I am here for after all.

Reaching down, I manage to maintain eye contact, but as soon as I bring the camera to my face, the whole world shifts. Or rather I do.

Ever been tackled by a five-hundred-pound alligator?

Ten out of ten do not recommend.

And for the second time in my life, I have definitely pissed my pants.

The weird part is, I’ve been knocked back, and I can hear Luis and his brothers yelling, but… the gator is just like, flopped on top of me. Pinning me down. Definitely crushing my bad leg a little, and absolutely making it hard to breathe, but he’s just… flopped on me?

When I make a small wheezing sound, the gator growls a little and backs down my body. The retreat allows my lungs to expand properly and I gulp in air.

The capybara chitters from his spot a little bit away, and the alligator seems to respond with grunts and various sounds of his own. I know that I sound like an absolutely crazy person, but I swear that all four humans go completely silent as we listen to the capy and gator carry on a full conversation.

Finally, they seem to come to some sort of agreement, as the gator backs down my body, but keeps one leg wrapped firmly around my own. Slowly—and with shaky limbs, but an already empty bladder—I sit up. Staring almost face to face with a huge set of just a little under a hundred sharp teeth.

Well, this is definitely not how I saw my day going.

We all continue to sit in silence for a bit longer before I finally make the call.

“Alright, Luis. I think he is going to let you take his friend, as long as I stay right here. Is that right, big boy?” Why yes. I am talking to an alligator. Can he understand me? I have no fucking clue, but just sitting here isn’t getting any of us anywhere. The alligator turns his head slightly to focus on me with one eye and growls a little.

Without breaking eye contact, I nod slightly to Luis, who motions his brothers to stay back. I don’t see the rifle anywhere, but he must have handed it off to one of them. We already know it can’t break my new friend’s hide, so we are just flying by the seat of our pants here.

I hear Luis whisper something in Spanish before the capybara lets out a little whimper. The alligator growls loudly and moves up my body, forcing me to lay back down, but he doesn’t come up to my abdomen, so at least I can still breathe. Thankfully I see Luis out of the corner of my eye. He’s struggling under the weight of the capy, and when he reaches his brother’s side—Carlos maybe?—his brother reaches out and shares the weight.

They don’t leave though as Luis looks down at me with a pained expression. “Senorita Adler, I cannot leave you like this, but I am not sure what to do.”

Yeah, me either bud. Me either.

“Umm… what if you leave your brother here to watch things—hopefully not my gruesome death—and you get our furry friend some help? Just don’t be too long, ok?”

Luis grinds his teeth but nods and they quickly shuffle out of sight. The other brother—which I am going to just assume is Juan—carefully lowers himself to the ground about fifty feet away from me. Not sure how much good he’ll be able to do from that distance, but in all honesty, I’m not sure moving any closer would help at all.

The alligator moves back down my body a little and sort of hugs my leg. Well, this is fun. This is exactly what I said I wanted to do today.

How the fuck did I end up in such a weird scenario?