Abdul, the crocodile, lay silently in the shallow water, along the shore of the Nile River. The dark, olive brown color of his skin made him almost invisible. The sun had barely risen over the horizon, spreading its warming rays on all the animals of the river. Abdul looked over at one of the little islands that dotted the Nile. A ray of sunshine was shining on a few of the dark yellow bricks that had fallen off one of the ancient temple ruins. They collapsed temple stood majestically amongst a thick patch date palms and acacia trees. Abdul opened his mouth wide to yawn, exposing his sharp teeth. Anxious to start a new day he waddled into the river and sank deep below the surface.
He used his long tail to propel himself through the river water. As he swam along he looked around. He saw all sorts of fish, which darted away from him as he neared. As he looked up to the surface from under the water, Abdul noticed something brown hooked onto a reed, off at the side of the river. He swam over to see what it was. Out of curiosity, he climbed out of the water and was surprised to see that it was a leather bag. Its strap was wrapped tightly around a reed. He tugged at it with his sharp teeth until the reed broke and the bag came loose.
Abdul couldn't swim around with it hanging out of his mouth. How would he ever eat? Not knowing what else to do with it, he placed it on his back. This way he could swim around the river and keep the bag until he went back to his place on the riverbank.
He continued swimming through the water, passing a few hippos, and elephants that were bathing in the river. The hippos looked at Abdul as he swam by. They wondered why there was a bag on his back. Samba, one of the elephants, pointed at Abdul with his trunk and started laughing. "What's that crocodile doing swimming around with a leather bag on his back. He looks silly." But Abdul didn't hear and swam away.
A little further upriver Abdul spotted something white poking out of the sand, right next to the roots of a tamarisk tree. At first he thought it was a piece of rock but as he swam closer, he saw that it was a statue. He climbed out of the water onto the sand and waddled up to the tamarisk tree. He used his snout to unearth it. The sand fell off and Abdul saw that it was a small ivory doll, probably played with by a small child long ago. He picked it up with his teeth and put it on his back next to the leather bag.
Abdul slinked back into the river and swam away. Two Nile perch, Faris, and Zein, happened to see Abdul. They looked at each other and started laughing. "Look at the crocodile, swimming around the Nile River with a leather bag, and an ivory doll on his back. Have you ever seen anything so strange before?" Faris said. Zein blew a few bubbles and the two fish swam away.
Abdul came to a place in the river where there were several large boulders. He climbed on one and lay down to have a looked around. On one of the nearby boulders he saw what looked like a woven basket. "Hmmmmm," he said. He sunk back into the river and swam to it. It was a reed basket. He used his snout to open it. It was filled with bottles of spices. He tipped the bottles out. There was a bottle of yellow saffron, some cinnamon, ginger, a few dried oranges, some licorice root, and some pepper. He opened the lids and sniffed each one. "This is nice," he said, taking a little lick of the licorice. He gathered the bottles back up and put them in the basket. "I'll take this home with me," Abdul uttered, placing the woven basket of spices on his back, next to the leather bag and the ivory statue. He lay in the sun for a few minutes and then swam away.
Abdul noticed that the water seemed to be getting deeper. Instead of coming up to his mouth, the water now came up to his eyes. It wasn't flood season and it wasn't raining. Still, he swam along without a worry.
Zein and Faris, the Nile perch, happened to swim by again. "There's that crocodile. This time he's got a basket on his back too. I wonder if he realizes he's sinking because of the weight?" Zein laughed. She blew some air bubbles and swam away.
Abdul swished the water back and forth with his tail. He swam past some ruins. There were huge red granite pillars in front. "Hmmm, that looks like a nice place to rest," he smiled. He swam to the riverbank, climbed out and trudged up to the ruins. Lying next to one of the pillars was a sack. Abdul, being a curious crocodile, tugged at it until it came open. He peeked inside and saw that it was filled with grain. He took a mouthful and chewed it up. "Tasty," the pleased crocodile said. He shut the bag with his teeth and placed it on his back, next to the basket of spices, the ivory statue, and the leather bag.
Once more he climbed out of the water and walked slowly up a hill. He saw some beautiful flowers up ahead - roses, jasmine, lilies, and some bird of paradise. He lay down in the sand next to a mimosa tree. It smelled fragrant and its bright orange-pink flowers were gorgeous. Right next to the trunk of the mimosa was another bag. Not being able to resist, Abdul opened the bag with his snout. "Dates!" he cried in delight. He ate a few of them, licked his lips and put the rest of the bag on his back, beside the bag of wheat, the basket of spices, the ivory statue, and the leather bag.
The sun was beginning to set. The sky was ablaze with colors from bright orange to deep purple. Abdul knew he needed to get home. He went down to the water and sank right to the bottom. The bag of dates floated up to the surface and then floated away down the river. The bag of grain floated up to the top and bobbed up and down in the river as it was swept away by the current. The basket of spices was also picked up by the swift current and soon disappeared, along with the ivory statue and the leather bag. Zein and Faris swam by, passing the floating basket, bags, and statue. "The crocodile lost his things," Zein said. "He shouldn't have tried to carry it all at once," she added.
As the two fish neared Abdul, they could see that he was feeling very sad. He was trying to catch everything before they floated away, but couldn't. Giving up, he swam back to his place in the reeds on the riverbank and fell asleep.