Long, long time ago, when dinosaurs roamed
Upon a pond called Lake Easy today
Lived great alligators and mallard ducks
Natural enemies that would betray

Cautious neighbors always on the look out
Very wary of each others presence
But there was one lone gator raised by ducks
An orphan baby showing deference

He was constantly teased by his siblings
For having scales instead of soft down
His mother gave him the suspicious eye
Leaving poor Allie with a forlorn frown

Eventually this ragtag brood grew up
All growing feathers and learning to fly
All except for Allie, who stayed the same
With no wings to soar, causing him to cry

One by one, his siblings would fly away
His mother tried to help him, but could not
She eventually left him, saying bye
Leaving poor Allie alone, without squat

Orphan Allie grew big and resentful
Very angry for being abandoned
He would show his siblings, proving them wrong
For there were consequences unfathomed

He met and married his gator sweetheart
Elly was her name, a whirlwind romance
They wanted a brood of their own to raise
His siblings would come back, this was his chance

So when his sister flew back from up north
With her husband in tow, and soon laid eggs
Allie would slither up, ready to strike
When she left to nibble, he took her eggs

Grabbing seven of them, to be exact
He and Elly would raise them as their own
Proving his sister and siblings all wrong
His brood thrived and flourished, who would have known?

Their progeny would soon intermarry
On Lake Easy throughout the centuries
A rare species unlike any other
The alliducker, a new dynasty!

Drawn by Ken Bultman

Isn’t the alliducker cute? LOL.