The Alligator: A Short Story

Once there was an alligator named Tippens. He lived in a cage in a dusty old zoo, with nothing to do except entertain the audience of sweaty people that crowded his enclosure everyday.
Despite being lionized day after day, Tippens began to conspire a plan to escape from the shackles of the zoo.
Tippens planned meticulously, of course. He wouldn’t want to rush in and ruin his one chance at freedom. It was a bizarre plan, but Tippens felt as though it would prove to be successful as long as he followed through correctly. He spent an agonizingly slow two weeks deciphering a plan that had the details down to the exact time of day.
The following morning, the clever creature began to put his plan into action. Tippens waited until the zookeeper crept into his enclosure in the first hours of the morning to do his daily checks.
Following his instincts, Tippens decided to try and cross the highway and get to the other side where there was a vast landscape with trees, grass, and plenty of space for an alligator to live.
“That truck is big and strong like me.” Tippens said to himself, eyeing an 18-wheeler nearing him, “Surely it will stop to let someone so similar to them cross.”
Feeling confident, Tippens began to cross the road right as the large, speeding truck zoomed towards him. He kept his head held high and sashayed his tail in the air. Time elapsed quickly as Tippens began to cross the road.
The massive 18-wheeler, however, was being driven by a young teenager who had just begun his life and was beginning his first real job. The driver, oblivious to the creature in his path, sped right across the highway and right over Tippens, who lost his “freedom” right after he’d earned it.
The moral of this story is; the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and you should learn to be grateful for what you