*Please click to read The Walk, Part I if you haven’t already.

“Dad,” Nicholas screamed like never before.  “Daddy.”  The shrill of his voice made Dan’s ears hurt.  Where was Nicholas?

After leaving the dead turtle and getting a drink of water, Nicholas was bounding towards the end of the lake, except this time he ran as if in a race.  Dan could not see him, but he could hear him.

“Daddy…HELP.”

Dan suddenly realized the aching voice was coming from behind the silver bridge that straddled the walkway between the ponds and the lake.  Unfortunately for Dan, that was a good 50 meters away.  He burst into action towards the bridge as the piercing cries became louder and louder.

Upon reaching the lake side of the bridge, Dan’s heart skipped a beat.  He found Nicholas alright, next to a half meter long alligator saddled on the embankment.  Dan relaxed, thankful that Nicholas was okay.  But after a second look, Nicholas was shaking like a leaf.

“Nicholas, isn’t that baby gator cute?” 

“Daddy, please come and get me.”  “Nicky, it’s okay, that baby gator isn’t going to hurt you at …”  Dan’s sentence was interrupted by a loud rustling sound coming from the nearby reeds.  Without further warning, a three meter long gator pounced upon Nicholas, his powerful jaws gnawing away at little Nic’s right leg.

Dan froze.

Upon reflection the next day, Dan wondered why God had let it happen.  It wasn’t like God to be cruel, but Dan had been walking with the Lord long enough to realize that God’s plans for Dan’s life were sometimes different than what Dan would have chosen.

And having grown up in the north, gator wrestling was not a favorite pastime. 

In the end, only a baby toe had been severed, but the bloody mess of three other dangling toes was a bit much to stomach.  Thankfully, the surgeon was able to repair the foot sufficiently, except for the baby toe, so that Dan could walk and run fairly normally.  Anything was worth protecting his son. 

When the family had moved to Central Florida four years earlier, they had heard of a few stories of gators attacking residents, but they never thought they would experience it.

“Daddy, you saved my life,” a remorseful Nicholas told his father.  “Here, I brought you a chocolate Frosty from Wendy’s.  I know it is your favorite.”

“Nicky, I didn’t save your life.”  “But you did sweetheart, he could have been killed,” mouthed his beholden wife.  ”You are such a brave father.  I love you so much.” 

Dan was grateful.  Grateful for nine toes.  Thankful that Nicholas only received a few deep cuts in his leg and multiple scratches on his hands.  Thankful that God had spared any further difficulty. 

The serious-minded father was grateful for his venturesome son, Nicholas.  Without little Nicky, life would be boring.  With Nic, the world was full of joy, and adventure lurked around every corner.