The children are back at school and in between clearing the house of lockdown debris (with a flame thrower perhaps??🙈) I promised myself that I’d do more writing. In lockdown I’ve written quite a few poems but didn’t have the brain space to write a story.

Now the little cherubs are back and settled and happy (as well as being suitably knackered from being properly out and about again!) It’s time to get back to the writing board.

I’ve always loved Aesop’s fables and would give my right arm even an out for his brilliant storytelling and cunningness.

So to get a bit of writing practice and de-freeze my brain, I gave fable writing a go. It’s my first one and very rough around the edges but thanks for reading!

The Crocodile and The Pelican – Kirsten Allen

There was once a crocodile who lived by river. Every day he would swim across and eat one of the tasty pelicans who bathed on the other side. It was such a huge effort. The river was extremely wide with a strong current which pushed at his head and pulled at his tail. Clumps of reeds would tangle in his claws like a spider web on a fly and by the time he got to the pelicans, it was usually early evening. By which time he was often exhausted and had to rest after the meal. But they were so delicious and tasty he perused with his efforts.

One day, however, the current was particularly strong and after his long journey, his muscles ached and he was so tired barely had the energy to open his jaw. But the pelican he had his eye on, looked particularly juicy and delicious. He was just about to muster the strength to gobble him up when the pelican shouted “Wait! Stop!”

The crocodile was so surprised he couldn’t help but stare at the pelican.

“Don’t eat me!” said the pelican, “If you wait until it’s dark, you will see something plumper, rounder and much more delicious than me in the river. And much easier to get!”

“Oh?” said the very hungry crocodile

“Yes” said the pelican. “At night the man in the moon comes for a swim. Much bigger and far tastier than even 3 pelicans put together – it will keep you fed for days. But if you eat me, you’ll only be hungry again by morning.”

“Well now,” thought the crocodile, “that does sound tempting. Why would I bother a measly pelican only to have to make the same long journey across again tomorrow.“

The crocodile agreed with the pelican. And watched. And waited. And waited. And watched. Night fell and sure enough, just as the pelican had said, there was the brightest, biggest moon face right in the middle of the river. The crocodile couldn’t believe his eyes. “All that food and I don’t even have to waste any effort going from one side of the river to the other! This feast should keep me full for days!”

The crocodile plunged into the river and took a big snap at the man in the moon. The face rippled in a grotesque, almost mocking fashion. This made the crocodile angry and he furiously tried again and again. Snap snap snap! But he couldn’t seem to wrap his jaws around this slippery catch.

The middle of the river was also where the current was the strongest. Normally the crocodile would use his powerful tail and legs to swim through but he was getting more annoyed by the second and was so intent on catching his prey, that he wasn’t focused and suddenly the crocodile was swept under the current and down the river. The pelicans were overjoyed and spent the rest of their days splashing and feeding in the river without another thought given to the crocodile. Who was never to be seen again.

Morals of the story:

Don’t let greed cloud your judgement

Don’t believe everything you hear

There are no shortcuts to success