King of The Everglades

Nothing can be heard or seen as far and wide as the marsh lands let visible. None of course except the endless chatter of the birds. But all is calm and still. Not a plane nor a boat. Just the sound of nature humming its tune. From the water’s edge there can be seen deer. A female doe. It gracefully bends its neck down to the water almost as if it is completing the image of pure peace if nature were to be photographed. But in an instant faster than the flash of a camera a beast emerges from the water. Several feet higher than a one would think gravity could even allow. Its gaping jaws open wide and clamp down with tremendous power and ferocity. The flesh of the unsuspecting prey is crushed but not torn. The beasts iron jaws begin to sink into the thin veil of flesh and the beast’s body begins its course returning from which it came. Dragging the wary doe down with it. Into the darkened depths. The still water began to explode with tremendous splashing as its body slowly submerged into the unknown. Thrashing and kicking from the poor deer continued but no sign of movement came from the beast other than what was slow, calm, and calculated. Once completely under, the struggle finally ceased, and the world was silent once more. The birds still called, and nature returned to its original serenity.

The everglades, one of the last few places untouched by man. A never-ending maze of cypress trees, swamps, and mangroves. Densely packed with some of this earth’s most unique creatures. The panther, countless birds and fish, and of course reptiles. The cottonmouth, indigo snake, and an invasive species known as the Burmese python. This python’s, originally from South East Asia, makes up one of the five biggest snakes in the entire world. Although their numbers grow it cannot compete with the greatest beasts of the everglades. A lion may claim title to the ‘king of the jungle’. If this is true, then the alligator takes the crown of the everglades.

Just a few million acres away from Miami, a long shallow speed boat skids across the marshes. On it sat three men; one manning the motor, and two sat on either side. All dressed in an appearance of experience in the environment of these lands and of their equipment. Although these men didn’t seem very versed in a traditional navy sense, but a sense that says, ‘I’ve lived here my whole life’. All except one. He sat on the side of the boat most would affiliate as port side, or to him, the left side. He stuck out from the group in his mannerisms, mainly in his lack of confidence, particularly when it came to the structural integrity of the boat.

“Is the bottom supposed to be that rusted out?” He asked before the had left.

“Matt, I’ve taken this boat on a hundred trips through the glades and rust has never been a sign of trouble.” The man replied at the time.

That man was the one currently operating the motor seated at the back of the vessel. He was also, Matt’s, brother in-law. There wasn’t much talking on the boat since they had taken off. No doubt due to the inability to hear anything considering the motor at the back was loud enough to speak for all of them. “That’s alright” Matt thought. “If we where talking it would just be awkward anyway.” Most likely it would be. Matt had come down to visit with his sister who had recently married. Upon Matt’s arrival, it didn’t take long for him to feel out of place coming from a Northern state living in the city. However, his sister insisted on him going out to see the wildlife with his now brother in-law and friend. Matt didn’t enjoy fishing all that much nor did he like being trapped on a boat with two people he barely knew for an entire afternoon.

“I’m going to slow down!” Matt’s in-law, Phil, shouted. And almost instantly the roaring motor settled to a low hum. The boat began to slowly idle through the water past patches of tall grass. The kind that wasn’t actually land but just looked like it. That was one of the strangest things for Matt. Not only was he out of his element but to him, what looked like land wasn’t even land. Phil lazily guided the boat around corners and submerged branches.

“I’m going to take us over to those mangroves up ahead.” Sure, enough large trees, all growing out of the water to incredible heights were off not far in the horizon. It was beautiful. “Jordan and I know the place well” Phil nodded to his friend. “We do all kinds of fishing back there; we’ve even hunted and trapped some gators.” Now that was something new to Matt. The large lizards that invisibly plagued these waters never seemed to be the kind of thing people would want to hunt. “Speaking of the devil.” Phil pointed out on shallow bank. There lie a massive blackened scaled alligator not hiding from the world but basking in the sun for all to see. It looked fearless and invulnerable. Matt’s realization that his companions hunted these things blew his mind but was set a little more at ease after hearing the statement from Phil “What!? That one is massive! I’ve never seen one that big before, have you Jordan?!”

“Nah! that’s insane.”

               Something about the eyes of the reptile seemed to fill Matt with uneasiness but not just him everyone on that boat. Its eyes blinked like the shutter of a camera. It felt as if it was studying their movements much like a hunter studies its prey. As though it did not appreciate their prying eyes, it crashed into the water with the weight of a falling tree. The water flew through the air and landed just at the edge of their boat. “Woah! Hahaha!” Jordan shouted. They were all amazed by the sheer power of the beast that was just seconds ago right in front of them. Instantly vanished. Below the darkened water.

“That was one of the biggest gators I have ever seen.” Phil repeated. They continued their expedition through the tall grass, straight for the mangroves. On the way there Jordan decided to be talkative.

“You know, there has been three plane crashes in the everglades. The most recent being Flight 592. A passenger plane, some cargo I guess caught fire and they crashed out here somewhere. They say the entire plane was swallowed up by the swamp.”

“Jordan… Why are you bringing this up?” Phil asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. I just like to tell people that so they can play the little game of try to spot the airplane.”

“Jordan, if rescuers couldn’t find with their planes and their helicopters and what not, then I’m sure none of us are on this boat will.”

“Oh, oh, oh. That’s why I was bringin’ it up. You see the rescue team gave up because of all the gators and stuff.”

“Matt don’t bother listening to any of Jordan’s tall tales. He tried to tell me that they where going to build a massive bridge straight up the center of the glades.” This was something Matt was able to finally laugh about. Maybe Phil was alright. They finally where within the mangroves when they saw the first sign of trouble. And a sign of trouble to the locals was a billboard to Matt.

“We’re stuck I think.” Phil admitted. If sitting next to a branch and not moving for about a minute was any hint.

“We probably snagged a branch.” Jordan said beginning to grab a paddle attempting to push them out. They were in the mangrove but weren’t too far from a dry bank. Not large but it was dry and covered in weeds. Matt got up to help grabbing a paddle of his own.

“Yeah, you guys try to push off that tree we’re stuck to and I’ll try to get the motor to guide us away.” As Jordan and Matt pushed away, the motor began wailing with all its strength. They began to move! But a loud scraping noise from the underside of the boat made its way to the tail where the motor was. The motor gargled and spat. Phil desperately tried to turn it off, but it was too late. A loud sound of metallic tearing was heard, and the motor stopped.

“That’s not good.” Jordan muttered. They were free from the branch and began to drift down the stream. Water began to trickle in from the bottom from a small crack.

“That’s really not good. Where sinking!” Matt exclaimed.

“Stay calm we’ll just take her over to that bank not far from here and see if we can patch her up.” Phil reassured. The water slowly crept its way in but not enough to sink them before they hit the shore. They all climbed out the front and began pulling the old boat onto dry land. Jordan almost completely backing into a thick bit of brush. The boat was completely ashore. “Alright let’s see what the damage is--” Phil was cut off by a sudden scream of pain. Jordan swung his leg away from the grass and struck it back in a wiping motion, like a horse fighting off a predator.

“Gah! I got bit” He stomped on the ground killing the snake that had him harm. Phil quickly rushed over to see what had happened. His face transformed form concern to fear. The snake below was a cottonmouth. A common water snake in Florida, also very venomous.

“Jordan you better sit down, stay calm, and stop moving.” Phil said already taking of his belt which he used to tie a little above the wound attempting to slow the spread of the venom. All was silent except the quick rustling movement of Phil desperately at work. “We got to get out of this mangrove!”

“Phil! The boat will sink!” Jordan protested.

“If we are going to get back to land without a motor before you die, we need to leave now!” Phil quickly took off an outer shirt he was wearing and placed it over the crack for a quick fix. “Matt. You keep the shirt over that crack and bail as much water out as you can. We need to paddle the whole way back.”

“I’ll paddle!” Jordan said.

“No, you need to keep your heart rate a slow as possible! You understand me. Do. Not. Move.”

               They all climbed back into the boat. Matt and Phil paddling on either side while Jordan lay at the front. The boat was moving slow. Too slow.

“We don’t have time to go round around the tall grass marsh we have to cut through.” Phil deduced. Quickly pedaling through the trees, they eventually hit the open water right before heading into the thick mash. The sun, though still high in the sky, was slowly approaching the horizon. Matt's muscles were beginning to scream with exhaustion but with another mans life on the line he would not say a word of it. They were in the tall grass now. Passing old logs and branches hanging over their path. It was tight and windy like a maze. The birds and frogs began to sing as the branches scratched past their heads. As if nature were mocking them for coming into their home and expecting nothing bad would come from it. Jordan was already getting confused. The water was starting to creep up above there shoelaces. Matt began to bail the water when suddenly they scraped against another log getting them stuck again.

“No, no, no! we don’t have time for this!” Phil exclaimed. Matt help Phil furiously push with there oars against the log they believed to be grabbing them. Jordan in his deteriorating state began looking into the water as if he had no care to live or die. The sun slowly crept to the horizons edge. The sky turned to that beautiful red hue. Gorgeous in any other occasion. Soon they would be in the dark. Pushing hard Matt and Phil put all they had into it. A scraping sound. Then a loud splash. They were free again! But the splash came from the front edge of the boat. They both looked to see an empty seat were Jordan once sat.

“Jordan!” Shouted Phil. Matt just sat there staring. He couldn’t believe his eyes. There was a trail of bubble disappearing away from the boat. Something was under the water. “No! Jordan!” Phil shouted again. Something had taken him under.

               They sat there for a minute. Phil turned to Matt. All hope and sanity had left him. He looked at Matt. “We need to get out of this place.”

               They kept paddling and bailing and paddling and bailing and paddling and bailing. The boat kept sinking and the sun kept setting. They wound through the endless maze of brush and swamp. They could have been there before without even knowing. Finally, Matt spoke “We’re going to die out here aren’t we…”

               There was a long pause. Then finally Phil mumbled. “……Maybe.” It was now dark. Someone had to be looking for them now. They should have been back hours ago. Matt kept paddling. Phil began to rummage around in the small box they had with them. The water was so high. Click, click. Matt looked over to see Phil holding two flashlights he began shining it around the area. Only to find the same labyrinth of grass and trees. He then stopped and looked at Matt. “We’re lost. I was an idiot for making us cut through the marsh. I’m sorry.” He waited for Matt to respond. “Its not your fault……If it weren’t for your quick thinking we would still be on that island.” Phil seemed to think about this then suddenly.

               “There he is.” Phil said shining a light behind them. “That devil.” In the water following the steam just yards from their boat was a set of glowing eyes reflecting off the flashlight. The space between its eyes implied its large size. It wasn’t the large gator form earlier was it? It couldn’t be. Phil seemed to think it was. “He’s waiting for us to sink. Then he will take us down with him. With Jordan.” All hope was gone now.

“Wait! What’s that!” Matt shouted. Shining the light straight ahead, in the clearing of weeds there was the tail end of what looked like an airplane. The back end of it was out of the water. “If we can make it there….” Sure, that may not save them from death but certainly form the beast stalking them. It was their last stand. Their last-ditch effort. But the water was coming in.

“We won’t make it before the boat sinks.” Phil said. “At least not both of us…. Matt, if you make it back will you tell your sister….my wife…..”

“We will both make it.” Matt said with more confidence than he felt. “As soon as this boat sinks, we push off and swim as fast as we can to that plane.” The time was approaching. If they had to swim there would be no light visible, they would be swimming in the dark with a massive alligator following them. “We will go on three.” Matt said. “One. Two…Three!”

A large splash. Silence from under the water. All Matt could hear was the pulsing impact from his heart against his chest. Then when his head rose to the surface, Matt swam with all he had left. The plane’s tail was so close. He didn’t dare look back, but he heard a much faster disturbance of water approaching behind him. Getting closer and closer. He did turn around barely able to make out anything in the dark. But he saw what he thought would be the last image to burn in his head for all the rest of his short life. The gaping mouth of the reptile so large, teeth so sharp and defined that you could almost admire the moonlight reflecting off them. So close that he could almost feel them tearing through his skin. Splash!

The gator struggled. Phil had grabbed the beast and began to climb onto its back, pulling it under. “GO!” Was all Phil could breath as his head disappeared under the black liquid now covered with light of the moon. Matt made it! He climbed onto the plane. Looking back into the water desperately hoping to find his brother in-law. His friend. But nothing stirred. He was at the edge, feet above the water. He could swear he heard a lowed buzz in the distance. He shown his flashlight around to find the source of the noise. Woosh!

From the depths the beast emerged climbing higher and higher into the air. Before Matt could even understand the situation, its iron fangs clamped upon his leg. Matt reached out and grabbed something. He didn’t know what. But he would hold on till his death. The enormous weight of the beast began to pull him down slowly but surely. Closer and closer to the water. His feet were submerged. This was it.

A light blared into his face. He could see nothing. “Am I dead?” He thought. All the pressure in his leg was relieved. The alligator, it let go! A man’s voice was heard shouting. It was a boat! It found him! They drifted up to the plane and lowered him on. Matt scanned the water one last time. “Wow what are the odds we would find you! We’ve been hunting for an old passenger plane! What are you doing out here?”

“To be honest, I really don’t know.” Was all Matt could say before he passed out. Later to wake up alive and well.