Alligator in the Bathroom

    Well, my husband jumped out of bed, prepared to save a lizard.

    He rushed past me with the lizard on his chest and started the bath with lukewarm water.
    I called our park manager and asked if anyone had reported a missing iguana. She said no, so I told her to pass on my number if someone did.
    She recommended I check Craigslist for their lost and found, and I did, finding nothing.

    Eventually I had to head off to work.

    He might have been dead when we brought him in. The water didn't ripple at all. He didn't seem to be breathing.

    After the mind-draining work, I came home and had completely forgotten about the lizard in the bath tub.

    Well, the next day, my animal-loving baby-child, Lulu needed to potty. She has a little kiddo potty that she uses in the living room, but she wanted to go "to the big potty."
    So I took her, and she noticed.

    She gasped in delight, and remembered.
    "Momma!" She gushed excitedly. "There's a alligator sleepin' in the bathtub!"
    Oh! My sweet little girl! I thought. My heart ached for her. She had discovered a new pet, and it was already gone.
    "Oh, it's sleeping?" I whispered to her. "We better be quiet then."

    "Yeah," She whispered back. "Gotta be quiet. He's sleepin."

    At this point, we'd had the lizard in our bathtub for a day and a half. We had to forgo tubbys for a night, and I was getting really antsy about bleaching it.
    I made one last vain attempt to find an owner before I snuck the lizard out the back door when Lulu couldn't see.

    Well, she remembered, and a few hours later, she insists on checking on him.

    I hadn't bleached the tub out, or thrown out the bottle he was resting on. I did wrap him up in the towel he was on.

    She peeked into the tub.
    "He's gone!" She whispered.

    "Oh goodness!" I said. "Where do you think he went?"

    She thought for a bit.

    "The window!" She was still whispering. "He go outside."

    "Ah! I bet you're right." I whispered back.

    "Let's go look for him." She had such impressive conviction. "Alligator," She called through out the house.

    At some point of getting her outside clothes on, Daddy had asked her if he went outside and found his family.

    So we headed outside and looked for the alligator and his family.


    It's been a week and when we walk to the park, she still looks for him.