“Here's what was recorded by handwriting on a scrap of a page I once picked up. I liked the story so much that I copied it as is.” —— Sonia, 03/16/1989
It's probably the most magical, remote, closed, isolated place I've ever been to, and my intrusion came as a surprise to the locals. If I hadn't been there, I would never have believed such a place was real. An endless swamp, where the heat from the ground makes the muddy water of the swamp bubble with brownish bubbles, where legend has it that an ancestor- Mother Crocodile, as large as a killer whale, with extraordinarily wrinkled skin, lived and was worshiped for her limitless power and for her nature-led magics, in a place that is nowadays referred to as 'Crocodile's Skin' by those who live there. Those who live here understand that it is not a legend, many have seen Mother Croc with their own eyes. Mother Croc has highly skill at camouflage, she blends in perfectly with the swamp, and is only recognizable when she opens her eyes. Mother Croc's approach to altering nature comes from the fact that she regulates the humidity in the air by altering the ecological balance through the production or ingestion of microorganisms, and from the fact that she possesses a transformable epidermis, which takes on a mirrored appearance during her moult, optically altering her surroundings. These theories, however, are the conclusions reached through research and speculation by the local scientists, who are known in the village as the 'Advocate Elders'. But when something fantastical happens, it always seems that these theories are still some distance from the truth of the matter, and they don't explain it all.
One of the 'Advocate Elders' of the village, Morak, said that this ‘Crocodile's Skin’ swamp, when it should not be here is when it is the most beautiful, then is Mother Croc's molting period, then the beams of light in the sky will be scattered through the clouds down to the swamp, and the swamp will then turn into the appearance of a clear lake, and in the center of the lake there will lie a piece of A huge mirror would lie in the center of the lake, and you would see the trajectory and shape of the light as it reflected and refracted back and forth between the sky and the lake. This beauty was also fatal; people lived in the swamp all year round and water was always scarce. And it is a great temptation and illusion that if someone drinks from the lake, he is in fact drinking sticky, choking muddy water that will kill him with it.People are forbidden to go out during this period, especially children, who are not capable of discriminating. But this rule represents only a wisdom; Mother Croc's moulting period is also the period of her weakness, and in this way she tempts her people to become her food, a beautiful sight that will not disappear until a certain amount of satiety is obtained.
Much further back in time Morak would only know a generalization, but retired Elder Florence could tell it, and her life was so full of stories that I think she could have written a Thousand and One Nights by herself. Sadly, she left this life a few days after I got to speak with her, and I wonder how many more stories she took with her. Florence, perhaps sensing that her time was near, quietly told me only glimpses of the previous strife between the Cult of the Giant Turtle and the Cult of Mother Croc, about which documented information is nowadays classified as banned. Because the death of the Giant Turtle 237 years ago ushered in the all-encompassing rule of the Mother Croc Cult, the Giant Turtle is no longer allowed to be mentioned, so not many people know about it. The Cult of the Giant Turtle had flourished for a while, and by the time the Giant Turtle was weak in his later years, Mother Croc and the Giant Turtle were equally powerful and held each other at bay. But in fact, the village elders were not so-called believers at that time, but were assigned jobs as a way to represent the two forces coexisting, and Florence was assigned to represent the Mather Crocodile side.
“ The Giant Turtle represents wisdom and longevity, which may not be much of a standout, dazzling absolute ability, but it's enough to make people believe in it. The Giant Tortoise ended up in a duel with Mother Croc, where Mother Croc bit his neck off, and to be honest Mother Croc definitely won, the duel was also initiated by Mother Croc and her people, the Giant Tortoise didn't ignore or agree to it, it was a sneak attack.After the death of the giant tortoise, of course, everything changed, and many of the believers in the tortoise religion left the village of their own accord, and they were incredibly saddened by this fact, but I believe that the giant tortoise has lived on forever in their hearts. ”
Florence's voice grew softer as she delved into yet another hidden tale from the annals of the village's history. She leaned in, her eyes glittering with the weight of secrets she was about to reveal. “37 years ago, a huge mine that had existed in the village collapsed. This was no ordinary mine, in it could have glimpsed some of Mother Croc's power, and that there was a large amount of iron in the mine, as well as iron that had been swallowed by Mother Croc and then expelled, and that there was energy stored in it that could change the weather, and could be used to make wishes. It can be used to make a wish. However, in order to prevent such power from being abused, the Elders initially proposed that child laborers be allowed to mine the underground iron mines to make it easier to control, which was also very controversial at the time.”
I left the village after Florence's death, after attending her funeral organized by the locals. They placed her in a boat decorated with crocodile teeth and the "crested blue" and "ghost orchids" that bloomed in the swamp, and pushed her with a branch into the center of the swamp, which magically carried her further away, probably held up by other small crocodiles, I guess. After that she slowly faded out of my sight. But there seemed to be some fear of Florence, and after they knew I had a long talk with Florence, I kept feeling people's eyes on me, which was part of the reason I was urged to leave. When I left, most of the village was still at the funeral, but there was a group gathered in the woods that seemed to be plotting something along the lines of, "Kill Mother Croc and the swamp will be slowly cleansed, the ecosystem will become suitable for humans, and eventually the swamp will become a lake." Well, I'm guessing from the history Florence told me that that's impossible, because back in the time of the Giant Turtles, it was a big swamp, and the lake was an illusion created by Mother Croc, and it's only going to get worse without Mother Croc. Maybe Florence is right, banning all that documentation, bibliography, and forbidding people from knowing the real past, while it reduces strife and unifies beliefs, blinding people is not a good option. And then after that I don't know, I'm departing for a new place.
“OMG, this story is actually true.” —— Sonia, 2035