My First Experience - In The Swamp
In the Summer of 1996, i was living by myself in the outskirts of a small town in Florida; basically in the swamp. If i were to stand on the roof of my house i would be able to barely see my nearest neighbor’s house.

My girlfriend had left me just prior, but her black Chow, Corky, was still living with me. He was fierce, but he was full of fluff. And he had purple lips and a purple tongue. It would be difficult to take him seriously if it wasnt for his teeth.

Late Friday afternoon when leaving for work as i opened the door Corky shot out and bolted to the canal on the other side of the road. He was yelling at something and wouldnt let up. i had to go over there and grab him up and only glanced at what was so upsetting. It was a skinny alligator that was dying and losing all its color. Good thing it was nothing out of the ordinary because he was going to make me late for work, i thought to myself as i carried him back home.

This is the swamp. Alligators are everywhere. Strange though that he would know that an alligator was in that ditch. i mean, alligators were probably in that ditch all the time. Why would he care?

i just remember that it was a gray alligator but i don’t exactly remember what it looked like. i couldn’t draw it or describe it in enough detail. i have a near-photographic memory. Normally i can glance at something and later i can reference it by seeing the image in my mind. But this gray alligator or the canal and whatever was in it; i cant see the picture of it in my head.

When i got home Saturday morning i didn’t even think about looking in the canal. i just went straight to bed. It was 2:22.


By the way, alligators dont turn gray when they die and unless this was an albino alligator, it wasnt an alligator at all.