Carlos the Crane

After having known how Wawa the Crab came to be living by the pond, it’s time you all knew the story of Carlos; and how and where he lived before he arrived at the pond of iStoryTree. The story follows…

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Carlos the crane was born on the bank of Orange River. His uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins danced on that day, welcoming him to the world. He was milky-white in color, with a few orange streaks on his neck. ‘Oh, he is so beautiful!’ exclaimed one of his cousins. ‘He is,’ said Carlos’s father proudly.

On an unfortunate day came the floods. It killed Carlos’s parents and relatives. Carlos was only two months old then. Left with no one, he migrated to a different place – river Black.

River Black was full of black cranes. Although confused in the beginning, Carlos soon realized that they were, after all, his kind. The black cranes were in awe with the beautiful little Carlos. They welcomed him with open arms. The black cranes had a leader – Sandhill.

Sandhill was a big, black crane, who had lived by the Black river since his birth. It was his home. Upon seeing Carlos, he flew up to him and asked, ‘Hey there, little one, where are you from?’ Then Carlos told him his sad story. ‘I am an orphan now,’ he said in the end. ‘Not at all, little Carlos,’ consoled Sandhill, flapping one of his wings on Carlos’s back. ‘We are your family now.’

Carlos began a new life with the black cranes. Sandhill treated Carlos like his younger brother. He taught Carlos how to fish. Soon Carlos became an expert at catching fish. In the beginning, unlike Sandhill and other cranes, Carlos never caught fish unless he was hungry; he was not greedy.

As days and weeks went by, Carlos, too, became like the rest of the cranes: greedy and wicked. He caught fish when he was not hungry; he picked fights with the other cranes; sometimes he picked fights with Sandhill, too.

Sandhill grew tired of Carlos and his wicked behavior. He gave him a warning one day: ‘If you want to stay with us, you have to behave properly. Else, leave this place immediately.’

‘Oh, Sandhill, don’t be so harsh. You know I am a good boy. I promise I will behave,’ pleaded Carlos.

The wicked Carlos didn’t mean a word he said. When Sandhill and other cranes were sleeping, Carlos flew to the middle of the river, and stood on a small rock. He waited for his friend, Crocky the crocodile, to come.

‘Listen, Crocky,’ Carlos said when Crocky came by, ‘Sandhill will come to this rock tomorrow evening. When he does, you catch him and kill him. In return I want plenty of fish.’

Crocky salivated at the mention of Sandhill. Black cranes are so tasty, he thought.

‘All right. I will give you plenty of fish. You bring me Sandhill,’ said Crocky.

The next evening Carlos asked Sandhill to go with him to the middle of the river. When Sandhill asked what the matter was, Carlos said he wanted to talk something in private. Sandhill agreed.

When the two cranes flew to the middle of the river, Crocky was waiting under the water. The moment Sandhill landed on the rock, Crocky came up with his mouth wide open. Before Sandhill could realize what was happening, Crocky had already taken a bite of the crane’s meat.

The next day, as promised, Crocky brought plenty of fish for Carlos to eat. Carlos was very happy. No one could control him after that. He grew stronger by the day. The black cranes didn’t object to anything Carlos did, for fear that he might bring his friend Crocky.

The arrangement with Carlos and Crocky continued for a long time. Every day Carlos took one of the black cranes to the middle of the river for the crocodile. In return, Carlos got a lot of fish to devour. As the wicked crane got all the fish without trouble, he grew lazier by the day. 

 

The black cranes started vanishing one after the other. Soon came a day when the river was left without any black cranes. Carlos said to the crocodile, ‘Crocky, my friend, there are no cranes left for me to give you.’

‘All right, my dear Carlos. If you can’t bring me cranes, I can’t give you fish,’ said the crocodile, and swam away.

The black cranes were only greedy, but Carlos was greedy and wicked and evil. Now, he was also lazy. Left with no choice, he decided to fly away to another river.

One day when he was flying up in the air, he noticed a small pond below. Upon landing, he noticed a lot of fish. ‘There are plenty of fish here,’ he thought, smiling wickedly.  ‘I should make my home here.’

This is how Carlos the crane came to be living by the iStoryTree pond.

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