Evelyn was enjoying her time with Adam at the lake. They had just finished making love, and she was now laying down flat on her stomach on the soft ground, taking a nice nap and soaking up the sun. The rays of the sun felt so warm and soothing, she wanted to stay like this forever. She felt herself slowly waking up.
Oh, well, she thought. I guess all goods things have to come to an end eventually. She tried to push herself up with her hands, but found she could only lift herself up a few inches off the ground. She tried to bend her back, but it was stiff and unyielding. She started to roll over, but her body felt too heavy to lift. Panicking, she quickly opened her eyes, hoping to find Adam and get help. Her vision swam, and she was a little disoriented as she saw two different views at once, one from each side of her head. As she refocused, she saw some dense foliage, and a small pond.
"Mommy, Mommy! Look! It's waking up! The alligator is awake!" she heard a small girl say excitedly. Her eyes went wide, as she remembered everything. The shampoo, her transformation, Mary Lou's betrayal.......Suddenly she felt a small pebble bounce off of her skin. It didn't hurt - her thick scales prevented her from feeling anything other than a light tap - but it was annoying.
"Do something interesting, you stupid alligator! Don't just sit there, " said the little girl. Evelyn just crawled away, to the edge of her enclosure, as far away from the tourists as possible, and began to cry.
She remained there for most of the day, hiding as much as possible from the gawking tourists. She could here them complaining, and saw a few throw things - mostly food, but occasionally a rock or some trash - into the cage to try to get her to move. Around noon, the zoo staff brought some food into the cage. They placed several large buckets of fish into a trough near the tourists at the front of her enclosure. At first, she resisted, but eventually her hunger overwhelmed her and she made her way to the trough. She began to devour the food greedily, swallowing large chunks of fish whole.
"Ewww, gross. Look at how it eats. That's disgusting, " said a small child. She felt embarrassed, and didn't want to eat in front of these people. But she was just so hungry, and the food did actually taste pretty good.
"Well, it's just an animal, dear. That's how they eat. They aren't civilized like us, " said the child's parent, as they chewed noisily on some fattening snack from the concession stand. Evelyn ate quickly, and returned to her hiding spot as soon as she could.
As the day wore on, the number and frequency of tourists gradually began to decrease. She saw that the sun was beginning to set, and realized that the zoo would be closing soon. Her day was awful. Boring, mind-numbingly boring, with nothing to do but eat and sleep. And the tourists were unbearable. Constantly watching her, never allowing her a moment of peace or privacy. It made her feel like ......well, exactly what she was, an exhibit at a zoo! She now truly understood why Mary Lou had wanted to escape so badly. Evelyn scowled; just the thought of her name infuriated her. She may have understood Mary Lou better now, but she would never forgive her. She would have her revenge.
Suddenly, a large chunk of meat dropped into her cage. It smelled good, and her mouth watered. Curious and hungry, she crawled towards the source of the meat, near the fence of her enclosure. She swallowed the meat whole, savoring the delicious taste. A second chunk dropped down. She quickly swallowed it, then turned her head, and tilted it up a little, trying to see the source of her tasty prize. She was shocked to see that it was none other than Mary Lou, hiding in her body!