White Crocodile

Mark Fitzgerald was the captain of a small icebreaker ship in the Canadian Arctic Ocean. He and six others of his members on the 65-footer, were headed back to Hudson Bay via the Hudson Strait. This trip in particular was shorter and was expected to be a fairly easy one, but Fitzgerald underestimated the thickness of the sea ice during this trip. Fitzgerald was not the type of man who worried easily. He had sailed over a hundred times throughout the arctic ocean in his life, through the empty, desolate, cold no-man's land. He had no friends and hardly any family to remember, his life was primarily his job. Which to a lot of people would be a place of grief, but to him it was hardly brain surgery. He navigated most of his life with that type of attitude, nothing could ever be too tough for the old Fitzgerald that all of his comrades knew.

However, his cockiness didn't prepare him for what was next for him to endure. To Fitzgerald's surprise and the dismay of the crew there was a leak in the boat. So much time has passed since it has been noticed that the ship had a significant amount of water filling the lower vessel of the ship. The amount of water entering the ship was becoming increasingly dangerous. Icebreakers sinking was a very rare issue and a situation Fitzgerald never truly thought he would have to address. Of course, he and his crew with their long-time experience have had plenty of drills on situations such as these, however no number of drills and preparations could make the weight of the stress and bewilderment any less overwhelming. 

A lot of men such as Fitzgerald himself, live their lives never picturing such things happening to them, but only to other people. Fitzgerald and his crew’s dread sunk in even deeper when they realized they'd have to evacuate the ship. Stranded in such a harsh, desolate, and hopeless place. Fitzgerald and his crew boarded a small lifeboat from the ship, desperate to find the closest ice raft big enough to fit all seven souls. When they did it was almost a relief. All seven men exited the small boat and onto the ice raft, they were able to pull their small boat onto the raft with them. Fitzgerald made sure to bring some necessities from the shipwreck: a small tent, fire starter, portable stove, flares, packaged food and water, some extra clothes, and first aid kit. 

It was midday, and all seven men sat on their raft floating in the middle of the arctic ocean, taking in the view of their abandoned sinking ship about a mile away. Their grief gave way to acceptance of their possible deaths and the fact they were stranded in such a place no human was meant to be. As he sat taking in the infinite expanse of ice and water, Fitzgerald grew tired of sitting and decided to walk around their small icy island. Exploring the only thing separating them from the -2-degree Celsius water. At the other end of the raft Fitzgerald discovered the remains of a huge skeleton. The only thing that came to his mind was some type of pinniped.

The rest of the crew had warmed up some of their food on their portable stove. Fitzgerald made his way to join his men, not mentioning his discovery in fear of worrying the crew. They ate, talked, joked, and laughed, despite their impending doom of being condemned to the icy hell around them. The winds picked up and sent unforgiving cold right through them. Cold that penetrated their bones. Fitzgerald began to worry as he felt a tingling numbness in his toes. If only he and his comrades had appropriate kindling for a fire. He contemplated lighting the extra clothes he brought the crew and himself on fire to help avoid frostbite. 

However, these concerns soon grew minuscule. The men noticed some distance away a white figure bobbing in the water. Fitzgerald got up and walked to the edge of their raft to try and get a better look. But the object disappeared before his eyes. He walked back to sit with his crew who asked him what the mysterious figure was, but he had no comfortable answer. The figure appeared once again, out of the water and onto an ice raft 100 feet away. Now the men can clearly see a polar bear. The men were terrified, stranded in a place they aren't supposed to be, up against a beast they were never meant to win against. The ice bear, the ancient beast whose purpose is to kill, and kill he is flawless at, stared intently at the seven vulnerable men. The beast jumped off its ice raft and plunged back in the water, re-surfacing on another neighboring ice raft. Now 60 feet away, the bear stared at its weak and vulnerable prey. All the men could do is stare back in horror. 

The bear plunged back into the ocean and resurfaced on another neighboring ice raft, much closer this time. Now the killing machine was only 20 feet from the men. Standing tall on its front paws the bear, sniffed the air and again stared coldly at the seven men. The men stared back at the beast’s emotionless small black eyes. They gathered closer together forming a sort of huddle, as if that would do them any good. It felt like an eternity as the seven men stared back at the bears fixed gaze on them. It was as if they were looking at death itself right in the eyes. Never in their lives have either of the men felt so weak, fragile, and helpless. There, not too far away with only a small amount of water separating it from the men, stood a beast that could do anything it possibly pleased to its seven little victims. 

The eternal stillness finally was broken as the bear plunged back into the water. Fitzgerald and his men jumped. They all huddled together in the middle of the raft. Not knowing when and where the creature of death could possibly re-appear next. Hearts pounding and trembling, it felt like an eternity as Fitzgerald and his comrades constantly looked in every direction, continuing to see nothing but moving water and ice all around them, with no predator in sight. For a second a glimmer of hope arises in Fitzgerald’s mind. Maybe, just maybe, the beast lost interest. This was of course deception, an evolutionary flaw in the human mind to deny the inevitable reality. As soon as any of the men finished their last breath the maneater returned. Climbing on to their ice raft, running faster than any of the men can react, the beast grabbed Fitzgerald by the top of his cranium and ran with Fitzgerald in its mouth plunging back into the ocean. 

The beast climbed onto a neighboring ice raft some 10 feet away with Fitzgerald and began to eat him alive. The now six men could only watch as the bear chomped away on their friend, pulling his intestines and other organs out of his body with ease. The beast was totally content while his meal kicked and screamed in pain at the top of its lungs, contrary to the six men. They were deeply troubled by the screams, squelching and crunching of bone and wriggling bloody mass of torn up flesh that used to be their captain. However, the men could also not look away, it was as if the beast itself forced them into a trance, only to torment them and break their souls. 

The screaming eventually stopped. And the bear finished chewing on its last piece of meat. All that remained on the island next them was blood-stained ice and bits and pieces of scattered flesh and bone. The beast lied content in the middle of the mess it made. It’s white fur now also stained a nice crimson color. Some chunks of matter hung and fell from the animal's face. He was a messy eater. The beast just stared at the six men who sat helplessly on the ice raft beside him. Stared intently, at his now defeated looking prey. And all the men could do in their power was return the gaze.