GIRL of the GLADES
GIRL OF THE GLADES
The first time Luther ever laid eyes on Sadie, the only way to describe his reaction to her is to say that he had an incredible, almost scary, feeling of awe. He also knew he could fall in love with her. It was a warm, muggy day in early May, and he was hiking at a community park near the campus of the university he attended in Florida.
It was a large park, some of it open, some of it wooded, with picnic tables, tennis courts, a playground, and clean restrooms. There was a large lake with a trail all the way around the circumference of it. One lap around the lake was about two-and-a-half miles, so Luther would often run or walk from his apartment to the park, take a lap around the lake, and then head back, and he’d get himself a pretty good workout.
Luther was hiking out from the trees when he heard a small commotion. Fifty yards ahead he saw a group of people on the bank at the water’s edge, excitedly focused on something, and a small dog was barking and shrieking its head off. He jogged over to see what was happening.
The dog was about twenty pounds, some fearless terrier, straining on its six-foot leash which was barely being grasped by a young mother with a little girl at her side. And right there on the bank, tete-a-tete with the pooch, was a squirmy, hissing alligator.
The gator looked to be about seven feet; it was hard to tell because some of its tail was under water. Luther had seen gators around this lake before, but usually they were minding their own business, floating on the surface or sunning themselves on a far bank. But this reptile was not in a good mood, and the onlookers seemed to be hypnotized with no idea what to do.
“For God’s sake, get that dog away from here!” a sharp, female voice cried out.
Luther, and everyone else, turned toward the voice. Standing to his right was a young woman with a concerned look on her face. She was tall and slim, and appeared to be about Luther’s age, with a dark complexion, big brown eyes, an aquiline nose and long, black, braided hair. She was dressed in blue denim cutoffs and a peasant top.
“I’m serious, take that dog away,” she said. “That’s a bull gator and it’s mating season; that dog could be lunch.”
Finally, a teen boy took action and picked up the dog and they backed away.
“Take off your belt,” she said, looking at Luther.
“Huh?” he said.
The alligator’s tail swung hard to its left, pivoting the body to the right, scaring the shit out of everybody, and moving a bit farther up the bank. The young woman tossed her satchel on the ground and kicked off her flip-flops and walked into the water, approaching the gator from behind. She jumped onto its broad back and gripped him with her hands on each side of his neck. After a moment or two the beast stabilized, and she slipped her hands around the closed snout and held tight.
“Can I borrow your belt?” she said to Luther. “You’ll get it back.”
Sheepishly, Luther unbuckled his leather belt and pulled it off and moved closer, holding it out for her.
“Loop it through the buckle,” she said.
Luther did. She pulled the snout up so it pointed toward the sky.
“Now lower it over the snout.”
Luther did as instructed, dangling the belt and lowering it around the snout. She tightened the belt as hard as she could and pulled it back the opposite way and fastened it. With leverage and stringy strength, she wrestled the gator onto its back and held the belt firmly.
“Somebody call the police,” she hollered. “They’ll need to get the Critter Gitter over here. They’ll want to relocate this bad boy.”
A woman called 911 on her cell and explained the situation. She told the dispatcher that a young lady had subdued the animal. “Oh, I think she knows what she’s doing,” they heard her say.
While they waited, the young woman kept the less-active gator under control. Within five minutes a police cruiser arrived, and then the wildlife control guys showed up and took over. They taped up the gator’s choppers and tossed Luther’s belt on the grass, then hauled and wedged the big fella into their truck.
Luther picked up his belt and looped it around his waist. He lingered while people congratulated the gator girl. When the group had dispersed, he approached her.
“That was amazing!” he said. “You were very brave, and comforting. You obviously knew what you were doing. Very impressive.”
“Thanks,” she said, blushing. “Ya don’t want to take any chances with a bull this time of year. That gator was bold; I think somebody’s been feeding them. That’s never a good idea.”
“How did you learn to do that?”
She shrugged. “Grew up with them.”
Luther found himself not only impressed, but very attracted to this girl. She was not what he would call pretty, but she had a primal, almost savage sexiness to her. Tall and rangy, with small breasts and long, lean legs, and defined longitudinal muscles lining her forearms and calves.
“Grew up with them?”
“Yeah. In the Big Cypress.”
She grew up in a swamp? he thought. Luther was a city boy, raised in the suburbs, so this was foreign to him. He was now even more intrigued by this exotic lady.
“My name is Luther,” he said, and held out his hand and they shook. “Very nice to meet you.”
“Sadie,” she said. “Nice to meet you too.”
Luther looked at his watch. It was getting on late afternoon, happy hour somewhere.
“Could I buy you a drink? Or a coffee or tea?” he said. “You don’t have to run off, do you?”
Sadie paused briefly, her natural caution, as if trying to decide whether she should. She felt tentative around others, especially in populated areas, but she knew she had to be more open and sociable. She smiled, and her posture relaxed.
“How about a smoothie?” she said.
“Smoothies for two coming up!” he said with a smile. The smoothie shop was only a short walk down the road.
They further introduced themselves as they walked to the shop. Luther told her he was finishing up his next-to-last semester at the university with a major of Business Administration, and often would hike and run at the park. He learned that Sadie had just visited the campus and had enrolled for summer school and would be starting class later that month. At twenty, she was starting college kind of late. She would be majoring in Wildlife and Wildlands Science.
At the shop Luther ordered two large smoothies: A pineapple-mango for himself and a cherry-vanilla for Sadie. They sat at a table by the window and made small talk.
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