How The Crocodile Was Turned To Stone

Once upon a time there was a crocodile.  He was huge, he was green and he looked very, very fierce.  He lived in the sea, down in the dark blue waters, deep in Millport Bay.

No-one would come near him, because they were afraid of his big white teeth and his huge blood red tongue.  Children screamed and ran away from the beach when he swam in, and their parents shouted and waved their arms at him to get him to go away.  And so he swam all alone round the red and grey rocks. And he was lonely - so, so lonely.  But when he cried, no-one took him seriously, because he was a crocodile, and could only cry crocodile tears.

One day, he met a huge, green octopus who lived under the pier.  The octopus spoke to him, which was a surprise.  In his deep, gurgling voice, he said ‘Why are you so sad, Mr. Crocodile?’

‘No-one likes me, no-one talks to me, I have no friends!’ said the crocodile.  ‘The children think I am fierce and angry, but I’m not.  I can’t help having big white teeth and a huge blood red tongue!’

‘There is just one thing you can do’ said the green octopus, ‘but there is no going back.  If you decide to do this, you can never again swim in the deep, dark blue water’.

‘I don’t care!!’ said the crocodile. ‘All I want is friends, and then I shall be happy.  I want children to love me, to climb on my back and play with me!’

‘OK then. I’ll tell you what to do,’ said the green octopus ‘You must wait until midnight.  When the moon comes up and makes a silver path on the sea, you must go to the beach and crawl out just beside the jetty.  Then say three times ‘I want children to love me’, and wait and see what happens’.

So the crocodile did this.  When the moon was huge and silver in the sky, he swam quickly to the jetty and climbed out onto the rocks.  There was no-one to see him, as everyone was in bed.

He took a deep breath and said, as loudly as he could ‘I want children to love me! I want children to love me!! I want children to love me!!!’  Immediately, a glittering glow came from the moon, and, starting with his long tail, it shone all over him, making him gleam and tingle from tail to teeth.  Then it faded away, and the crocodile suddenly realised that he could no longer move.  He had been turned to grey stone!  Before he could think what to do, the sun came up, all red and gold, and soon children were running onto the beach.

‘Look! A stone crocodile!! Let’s climb on his back!’ they shouted, and soon the crocodile was covered in children, laughing and shouting.  He was so happy he could hardly think.  At last children were his friends, and he was able to give them so much fun!

And he is still there.  Sometimes the grey waves break over him, sometimes the water glitters blue in the sunlight, but always children come, climb on him and play.  Thousands upon thousands of photos have been taken of him, and he is proud of every one of them, especially when they show children sitting on him, smiling. 

When you see him, remember to say ‘Hallo’ to him, and now you can tell him that you know the secret of how he came to be made of stone!