king, took him to his side and said, “Son, this is serious. You again disobeyed the rules. The king found out about your ship taking green alligators from this island. I cannot protect you because your crime is too great. It would be best if you leave immediately and never return home again. I know you have not done anything wrong, but you must hurry and go now, my son.”
Zackary was very sad because he could never return to his beloved home. He cried big alligator tears.
Zackary was now a fugitive just like his green alligator friends. Feeling sad, he realized his career as a sailor boy was over. On the other hand, he thought, I could look forward to a new life on the Big Island.
After weeks of sailing on the ship, he finally reached the Big Island. Zackary disembarked the ship and did not know what to do so he decided to stay right on the beach. Sleeping under the palm trees, munching on coconuts and swimming in the ocean were not all that bad he thought as he was dozing off to sleep.
All of a sudden, sand hit him square in the face. Shaking off the sand, he looked up and saw a girl walking toward him. She wore a cowboy hat under which there was an explosion of long, dark curly hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wore a tan leather shirt with fringe, blue jeans and cowboy boots. Zackary was not happy about her presence and neither was the girl pleased about him being there.
“This is my beach!” she proclaimed. “La dee dee,” mocked Zack. “I thought this was a free country!” “La dee dee,” she mimicked. “You are an alligator and you can’t even stand up!” she taunted. “Can, too!” Zack informed her as he stood on his hind legs. He was now eye to eye with the girl and snapped, “Just because I am homeless and without a country does not mean you have the right to be mean to me.” He had so much sadness in his eyes when he looked at her, that she softly responded, “I did not mean it. Please forgive me and come with me. I’ll introduce you to my parents. Perhaps you can stay with us and live in our garden.” And that’s when Zackary became a member of Polly’s family.
Polly and Zack were best friends. They played ball and built sand castles on the beach and flew colorful kites. Once again, life was good for Zackary. He loved living in Polly’s garden even though the goldfish in the small pond tempted him daily. He loved goldfish. Yum! Yum!
One day when he was watching the goldfish swim, he saw his reflection in the water and a sad face looked back at him. Big tears started rolling down his face and drop into the pond, making ripples from one end to the other. He knew he had to go home. He just had to. He was so homesick. He said goodbye to Polly and promised to write soon.
Polly waited every day for the mail carrier to bring some news from Zackary, but all her waiting was in vain. A letter never came. She decided to go and look for Zack.
Arriving at the island, Polly found Zackary’s father, the guardsman for the king. Sadly, he told Polly the king expelled Zackary to the other side of the island to live with the green alligators because he disobeyed the king’s rules. Polly was shocked. She looked sternly at Zack’s father and asked him to give the king this message: “A king ought to be a protector of his disciples, like a father is of his son. He ought to have faith in young minds because they are the future for their country. I’ll tell you who he needs to watch out for: ‘The Fear Mongers’—the ones who are in the business of pointing fingers and tearing down instead of building up. Sticks and stones can break your bones, but ugly words can break a gentle mind like Zack’s.”
Agreeing with Polly, Zackary’s father nodded his head and responded, “I love my son with all my heart, but the king is too powerful. I can’t go against him and Zack did break the rules.”
Polly got excited and began to shout, “These rules are cruel and God did not mean for the green alligators to be treated differently than other alligators. I just know this is true because my heart tells me so! Zackary stood by these green alligators when they left his island. He risked his freedom and that makes him a remarkable alligator. He did not question if this was good for him or not. He followed his heart. What choice do we have? We love who we love because of what they are, not because of the color of their skin. No one deserves to be hidden away from the rest of mankind just because he or she is different. On the contrary! We should rejoice and embrace the differences with which God blessed each of us. Now, tell me, Sir, where I can I find my friend. PLEASE tell me!”
“I feel so ashamed about how this turned out,” Zack’s father confessed. “My son is the only thing that makes me feel proud. We must end all of this and I will do whatever it takes.”
Polly then climbed up to the mountain ridge where she could spot the pond in the far distance. It was a perfect view from above and she immediately could see there was trouble in the valley.
It was night by the time Polly reached the place where the green alligators were kept and now there were other alligators with them as well—the ones that were helping the green alligators. That was, of course, against the rules and punishable by being expelled to the green alligator side of the island.
Polly waited until midnight when the guards were asleep before she walked to the building where Zack was held. Gently, she shook Zack to wake him. “Let’s go. Let’s go,” she whispered. Zack was so surprised and happy to see her as well as excited to leave this place that for a moment he forgot where he was and nearly snapped and clapped with his snout. Zack and Polly then tip-toed away into the night. The sun was rising when they reached the mountain ridge that divided the island. They had a several hour head start before the guardsmen noticed Zackary was missing. Far in the distance, they could see the commotion when it was discovered Zackary was gone. Several alligator guards got on their horses and raced toward the mountain.
Polly found the blue nylon tarp she had hid under a rock before freeing Zackary. “We must hurry,” she called to Zack. “Hold on to all four corners of this tarp. It will carry us off the mountain,” she informed him. Zackary looked at Polly with disbelief. “You must be kidding! We will jump off this cliff to our deaths!” “No, it will work.” We must wait for the right wind to come up the mountain. At home this is called hang gliding,” Polly informed Zack.
“What about all of my friends?” Zack asked. “I can’t leave them! They need me and I love them.” He hesitated, looking back to the other side of the island where his friends were being held captive. “We will come back with help. I promise!” Polly assured him. “Listen! I can hear the horses coming up the trail. If they capture us now we may never be able to free the others. The world must hear about this injustice and we are able to tell them what is going on here.”
At that moment, the right wind came up the mountainside. “It’s time,” Polly announced. Convinced, Zackary held the four corners of the tarp. Polly held onto his shoulders and together they sailed to freedom into the sunrise, vowing to return to bring justice to the kingdom of the alligator island.
To be continued.
Margot Hilaire
491 South Kalispell Way, #106
Aurora, Colorado 80017
303-368-8918
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