GATOR
Mud baked under the southern sun cracked and curled where the river had once kissed it. Gators moved like ghosts through the reeds, their ridged backs slicing through the water, patient as time itself. A hunter, worn and sunburnt, laid a rug at the entrance of his home, its texture rough under his bare feet, reminding him of the creatures that stalked the edges of his dreams.
A trader unrolled a rug so dark it seemed to hold the weight of the bayou, its patterns pressed with the memory of creatures older than the trees. A priest placed his palms against the fabric, feeling the power of something untamed, something older than scripture. A boy ran his hands along the edges, whispering stories of gators with golden eyes, of beasts who carried the river’s secrets in the ridges of their backs.