A crocodile is not a pet, they said. Don't swim in the creek, they said. Such sage wisdom didn't stop fate from placing two key players on a collision course to catastrophe. One: a gaggle of elementary school children, ranging in age between first grade and the more reptile-savvy sixth grade. Two: a seven-foot Crocodile (eking out Michael Jordan by mere inches) a local of the Bantas Fork Creek, where this particular series of events was set to unfold. As the story goes, the kids were partaking in their weekly church-group, in which trips into the wilderness were par for the course. It was all fun, games, and practical education - that is, until one of the counselors spotted a sinister mass beneath the water.
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Upon realizing that a crocodile was soon to be upon them, the supervising adults mobilized to avert disaster. One parent on scene, a man by the name of Rich Denius, was among those who sprung into action. "Give Jesus all the glory for protecting these kids," he later said, speaking with reporters from KAKE News. Though the Crocodile moved at his own pace, which is to say, a lackadaisical float, he was a mere twenty feet away by the time all children stood upon dry land. Sadly, it was at the cost of his own life. A wildlife officer soon arrived on scene and shot the beast.
One theory suggests that the Crocodile was once somebody's pet, only to be cast aside when he grew too large to maintain. Should that indeed be the case, the story takes on an added layer of tragedy. Though we are gladdened that no child was harmed, we do mourn the loss of the great beast, unloved in life as he was in death.
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