The sun was rising. The faint ray of sun that came through the courtains meant that it was a clear day and Logan rubbed his eyes while he yawned. After a few moments, he got up from bed and went to open the window in order to air his room. Even though the would have preferred to keep sleeping, he knew that his best friend, Valt, would burst into his home any second and would pull him along to the river.

They grew together in the village, after all they had the same age, and a long time ago they had established a tradition they strictly respected: once a week, if the weather allowed it, they would go to the river in the morning to fish. Although when they were younger they would often spend most of that time bathing in the cold water that flowed from the mountain, now that they were teenagers they enjoyed long talks whilst waiting for a fish to take the bite.

Their village stood next to the only road that led to the pass between the mountains, so it was very common to find travelers resting at the inn who, in addition, used to share stories and news from different parts of the continent. The pair of friends, meanwhile, would spend their fishing mornings commenting on any interesting topic they had heard about during the week.

Logan began to prepare his breakfast while making a list of the things he needed to take to the river. At that moment, he heard the main entrance door and footsteps that fastly approached the kitchen.

“Good morning!” shouted Valt.

“Hello,” answered Logan as he turned to welcome him. “Give me a moment and I’ll be… ready…”

Once he finally saw his friend, the scene in front of him left him speechless: he was carrying carried three fishing rods over his shoulder, as well as two small baskets tied with a rope and a bigger one in his hands. Before he could say anything, Valt went ahead.

“Okay, I know what you are going to say: ‘we rarely fish anything, why are you carrying all of that?!’ But when I got up this morning I had a feeling that today is going to be our day!”

He had learned years ago to never contradict Valt whenever he had one of his “feelings”, so Logan simply covered his face with his hands and sighed. After finishing his breakfast, he gathered his rod and both of them departed towards the river.

It was still early and the roads were deserted. It was approximately a half an hour trip to reach the riverbank, during which they took the opportunity to admire the forest around them, and whose wildlife was starting wake up.

The river had a width of at least six meters and was shallow enough for it to reach the waist of an average size person. Given that they were currently on flat terrain the river flowed peacefully, so it was a very popular spot among the villagers to refresh themselves. Valt dropped everything he was carrying and started to get out of his clothes.

“It’s such a good day that it would be a crime not to take a dip in the river, don’t you think?” he asked.

“We’re not kids anymore, remember?” Logan replied.

“We’re not adults yet either,” Valt reminded him. “What’s wrong with enjoying these moments while they last?”

Once he got down to his underwear, he started towards the water. Meanwhile, Logan was with his back to the river preparing the first bait he would throw. He could hear his friend splashing as he got further into the water. After a few moments, the sound of his splashing suddenly stopped.

“Don’t tell me you have frozen,” Logan asked, laughing without turning.

“I think…,” started Valt. “I think there’s a crocodile!”

Logan started laughing harder as he heard his friend splashing his way back to shore at high speed.

“Don’t be silly”, said Logan, slowly turning. “Why would there be a crocodile he–? BY ALL THE ELEMENTS, WHY IS THERE A CROCODILE HERE?!”

The magnificent specimen was two meter long and, without a doubt, was chasing Valt.

“HOW SHOULD I KNOW!!!” Valt shouted, running towards him.

“DON’T BRING IT HERE!!!” Logan shouted back, not knowing what to do.

“WHAT, YOU RECKON I SHOULD INVITE IT TO HAVE A TEA!?”

Both friends starting running towards the road that brought them here. Valt, still in his underwear, looked at Logan.

“Okay… okay… okay… let’s not panic.”

“LET’S NOT PANIC?! HAVE YOU SEEN ITS SIZE?!” Logan replied.

“OF COURSE I HAVE, IT ALMOST ATE ME!” Valt screamed.

After a few moments, they reached the road.

“I have an idea”, said Vailt, trying to catch his breath. “We should run in opposite directions, I’m sure it will get confused and simply let us be!”

Logan nodded briefly. “Fine, on three. One… two… three!”

Each of them started running in a different directions of the road. After a few meters, Logan looked back and noticed that the crocodile was not following him. Instead, it had taken a liking to his friend.

“WHY IS IT CHASING ME!!!” he could hear in the distance.

“Try to slip away and come back to the village, I’ll warn the guardians in the meantime!” Logan shouted.

“EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!” Valt screamed as he ran away.

Although Logan hated to admit it, Valt was more athletic than him, so he believed his friend would have no problems losing the crocodile.

As he had announced to his friend, he went back to the village and informed the guardians of what had happened. Not much later, just as they were at the entrance about to go look for Valt, Logan observed a dark figure getting closer. It was Valt. Completely covered in mud. Logan could not help but laugh out loud and was about to make a comment when his friend raised his hand.

“Not a word,” Valt said. “You don’t want to know what I’ve had to do to lose it.”

“Oh, of course I want to know,” Logan laughed. “In fact, I’m sure your epic story would be well received at the inn.”

“Shupt up,” Valt replied laughing.

Both friends decided to go rest (and bathe) and that they would go fetch the things they left by the river at another time, escorted by a couple of guardians in case the crocodile were to appear again.