My Cousin Had a Pet Alligator

I’m not big on reptiles, but we were big buddies, my cousin and I, and since he was into that sort of thing, I joined in.  It wasn’t unusual for us kids to have a collection of frogs and lizards, sometimes turtles, and even one time, a snake.  Now, snakes is where I drew the line, and boy was I glad I wasn’t with him when he caught the thing in the woods that we played in by my grandmother’s house.

But, back to the alligator.  It was little, and cute, I suppose, for an alligator.  My cousin David kept it in an old washtub that belonged to my grandmother and she even put up with it residing in her backyard – she was patient that way.  Good thing the door everyone used was on the side of her house instead of the back -
I don’t think the milkman would have appreciated the alligator there to greet him – he had enough trouble out of my grandmother’s ill tempered dog, Chester.  

I guess I thought the gator would stay little.  I wonder if David thought so too.  But I don’t think there is such a thing as a tiny alligator that doesn’t grow, although, I wouldn’t have been surprised if such was advertised along with the sea monkeys and other goofiness in the back of the comic books that David and I collected.

It is a wonder that his parents ever agreed to such a thing as having an alligator for a pet.  I suspect they knew that it would grow, and it certainly did.  But maybe they had to let David see for himself that it may not be the best choice for a pet.

You know, sin to us is a bit like that alligator was to David – pretty appealing at first, but then it grows.  And before we know it, we have a monster on our hands, like David did with his alligator.  Well, he and his family wanted to keep their hands…and limbs, and lives, for that matter.  So, they decided it would be best to get rid of the not so little monster, lest they get consumed…  Kinda like sin…