Allie D. Gator decided one day that he was tired of living in the swamp. A swamp is an area where there is a lot of mud and water. Alligators live in swamps. Allie was an alligator who lived in the swamp around New Orleans. I'm bored, thought Allie, I want to move to the city. So, he packed his bag and headed into town.Allie didn't know it, but he had a Guardian Angel. All creatures have Guardian Angels watching over them. This one's name was Fred. Fred watched over Allie as he started on his big adventure.Swinging his tail from side to side, Allie walked along the River Road, which ran alongside the Mississippi river through the little town of St. Rose. Honk! Honk! Cars and trucks were everywhere. But Fred made sure that the alligator crawled by safely. Allie climbed on the first bus that stopped to pick up some people waiting by the river. He thought everyone was certainly polite when they all backed away and let him walk on first. The bus stopped in the city of New Orleans. Everyone got off the bus and hopped a streetcar to downtown. Allie did the same. A streetcar is like a trolley. It rides on tracks and is connected to a cable at the top. Ding Ding! The streetcar conductor rang the bell, and off they went! At last, Allie thought, I'm in the city! I've never seen so many people. The French Quarter, which is in the center of New Orleans, is a very busy place. Allie loved it. It was so different from the swamp and there was so much to see. Walking through Jackson Square, he saw the statue of Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States. Jazz music filled his ears, and the spicy smell of Cajun cooking made him hungry.Soon Allie was tired. He was not use to walking so much. At home in the swamp he spent most of his time floating in the water. I'm hungry, he thought, and my feet hurt! I wonder if moving out of the swamp was a good idea. At least there, I had lots of fish to eat, and the cool soft mud felt so good on my feet. But I'm too tired and hungry to go all the way back now. What am I going to do? Just at that moment, with a little help from Fred, his Guardian Angel who was keeping watch over him, a big truck arrived. And three men in uniforms jumped out. They carefully walked up to the tired alligator. "One, two, three, lift!" Allie heard them say, as they lifted him onto their truck for a ride back to the swamp. Allie was very happy for the ride home. The trip to the city had been wonderful. But the swamp was where he belonged. Fred looked down at Allie back at home in the swamp, and smiled. He knew that going on an adventure is always fun, but the best part is being home again. 
One day Allie D. Gator was floating comfortably in his swamp. With just his eyes above the water, he was looking for an afternoon snack. All of a sudden, SPLASH! A bird fell out of the sky and dropped right in front of him. Wow! Fast food delivery! Allie thought.But this bird looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Help me, you fool!" This not only surprised Allie, but made Fred, Allie's Guardian Angel, laugh. If you haven't read, Allie D. Gator's Big Adventure, then you don't know Fred. Fred takes care of Allie."Help me! I'm drowning!" the bright green bird squawked. Having never met a talking bird, Allie didn't know what to do. Finally the poor creature jumped onto Allie's nose, which was just under the cover of the water. It flapped its wings and said, "Thank you." Then it climbed over Allie's head and rested on his back. "I'm sorry that I yelled at you, the bird said breathlessly, but I was so upset. My name is Polly. Someone let me out of my cage, and I got lost. I was flying around trying to find my way home. But something bumped into me. And I fell into the water."Now alligators don't talk, but Allie didn't know birds talked either. So to avoid looking stupid, Allie thought it best to act like nothing had happened. But Polly had different plans. She walked right back over Allie's head and sat on his nose. She looked him straight in the eye and said again, "Did you hear me? My name is Polly. What's yours?Fred, Allie's Guardian Angel, decided that he'd better do something. If Polly continued to talk, Allie might think of her as fast food again. So right then he sent a large fish to swim by just a few feet under the water. Allie swiftly dove under the water for the fish. This was the snack he was waiting for. As he dove, he flipped his long tail, throwing Polly high into the air. Of course, Polly was surprised! But she flapped her wings and flew off safely in the direction of home. As she left, she called back, "Thank you again. You don't talk much, but you did save me from drowning. I won't forget that. Maybe one day I can return the favor." Fred knew that an act of kindness is always a good thing. He just smiled as the alligator ate his fish. Allie didn't know that he had done a good deed. But, by just being there, he had made a friend. And Fred knew that one day Polly and Allie would meet again. 
Allie D. Gator was floating around in the bayou not thinking about anything special. It was a hot day and the water felt cool and comfortable. Some days he liked to crawl out of the water and sun himself on the mud, but not today. Then just as he floated past his favorite sun spot, he saw something that upset him. Another gator was in his sun spot!Up until that moment, Allie had no intention of sunning himself. But now that another gator was there, he was upset. After all, it was HIS FAVORITE SUN SPOT! Now Allie could only see the tail of the gator as it was turned away from him. The tail looked small. Aha! Allie thought, this must be a young gator that needs to be taught a lesson. I'll teach him to steal my sun spot. With that thought, Allie swam over to the side of the water. Just as he climbed out onto the bank, the other gator turned around and faced him. To Allie's surprise, it was a beautiful girl gator! When she smiled at him, his heart made a flip and he forgot that he was upset. In fact, he forgot everything. He just stared at her with his big heart going flippity flop while she smiled and looked at him with her big brown eyes. Then she wiggled past him very slowly and slipped gracefully back into the water. Allie hadn't said a word. He just watched her as she swam away, his big heart melting and a silly smile on his face. Allie was in love. For a long time Allie didn't see the girl gator that had taken his favorite sun spot. But he waited and waited, hoping that one day she would return. He didn't dare crawl out of the water and sun himself in case she came by and seeing him there, would disappear again. Allie was sad. Sometimes, late at night, he would cry big crocodile tears. Fred, his Guardian Angel, wanted to help, but did't think it wise to interfere in matters of the heart.But one beautiful sunny day as Allie was floating by, he saw her. She was sunning herself again in the very same spot. But this time he didn't mind. She looked more beautiful than ever. Not wanting to scare her off, Allie stayed in the water. Time passed, but he didn't seem to notice. He was in love and just looking at her made him feel good. Eventually the girl gator opened her eyes and slowly wiggled back into the water. Allie was afraid that she would disappear again. But to his surprise, she swam right up next to him and snuggled close just for a moment. Then she smiled, turned, and swam away. Allie was so happy. He knew now that she liked him, and he was sure that he would see her again.And he did. Ellie, which turned out to be the girl gator's name, came by often and lay with Allie on the warm bank or swam side by side with him in the bayou. Sometimes they even shared fish they had caught with each other. He especially liked it when she swam with him late at night under the stars.One day something strange happened. When they climbed out of the water to sun themselves, Ellie wouldn't lay still. She kept leaving and going to another spot where she would dig in the soft mud. If Allie came by to investigate, Ellie would chase him off. Allie was confused.But not for long. Do you know what Ellie was doing? Allie soon found out. Weeks passed. Ellie had quit digging. She was now content to sun herself quietly with Allie. Then one day while they both lay there, Allie thought he saw movement over in the spot where Ellie had been digging. He watched and sure enough, something was moving. As he looked on, first one then two, then eventually 12 tiny baby alligators wiggled out of the mud and moved towards them. Ellie had dug a nest and laid 12 eggs. Now they were hatching. Ellie slowly slipped into the water and the babies slipped in beside her. Allie just watched in wonder as Ellie and the baby alligators swam together in the cool bayou. Laying on the bank in the sunshine, watching his new family, Allie was a happy gator.And Fred was glad. copyright 1997
