Free Dudes Down Under by Suzannah Burke Page B

little crocodile until ya do. If I could hold my breath, I would, so there!
    “ Oh, poor baby!” Sidney Sheridan surprised the hell out of the onlookers by sitting on the floor next to Cyril and stroking his tummy, “Poor baby, the bad man won’t play your song.”
    Holy shit? What the …? That had better not be your hand, Skeet. I love ya mate, and you are my first best friend, so I’d really hate having to remove it permanently from your body. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head! Whoa, who is that? Mmm, hey that feels … oooh!   Who is that? Just a bit higher, please. Is that a woman? A real honest-to-God female biped human woman? Whoo-hoo, I just knew my charisma would break through the stupid species barrier thingy. Who is it? Who cares? I think I’m in love.
    Skeet was gob-smacked. He’d never seen a woman do that to a crocodile before. Come to think of it, he’d never seen anyone do that to a crocodile before.
    The way Cyril was squirming around he was a touch touched as well. “Um, Sidney, Sidney mate, I’m gonna play his song. You can stop that now," said Skeet.
    “ Well, okay, as long as you do. What is his song anyways? ‘Crocodile Rock’, I’ll bet.”
    “ No, not exactly. I’ll go and get the band clued up. Please don’t rub his tummy without me being present, okay. He may get, um, er, confused.”
    Lucy ran over to Skeet. “Did I just see what I thought I saw? Well, I’ll be damned. Who would have thought that little girl would have the spunk to do that?   What’s up, Skeet? You look like a stunned mullet, my friend.”
    “ What? Oh hi, Lucy. I’m gonna have the band play his song, then I’ll go and put him to bed.”
    “ Skeet? Skeet? Hello, earth to planet Skeet. Are you pissed, Skeet? I’ve never seen you pissed. Your eyes are all glazed over. Have you been smoking whacky tabacky or something?”
    “ Oh, me? No, must be just tired, I guess. I’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep. Don’t worry, Lucy. Now I’d better get this song under way and get our boy Cyril off to bed.”
    Lucy was a little perplexed. Skeet was being weird. Maybe it was all the company he was now keeping. Lucy wasn’t too surprised; the place was surely developing some strange situations. Yup, strange all right, but hell, it was sure interesting.
    Skeet organized the band and again headed for the microphone. “Folks, if I can have your attention for just a moment. Um, well, er-hem, Cyril’s a little upset 'cause we ain’t played his favorite song yet. I wanna go tuck him in bed, so if you don’t mind the band will play it. It’s not exactly modern dance music, but, aww hell, you’ll see what I mean.”
    Skeet jumped down from the stage and went back to join Cyril.   Sidney was now with a couple of the other guests who had gathered to watch Cyril’s behavior.
    “ All right, ya bloody spoilt croc, they are gonna play it. Um, Miss Sheridan, you might like to move back away just a little. He gets kinda enthusiastic when he hears it.”
    The auditorium lights began to dim and glorious colors of pink, violet and silver flashed around the room. The band began to play. The gentle strains of ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ filled the room, and the lead singer’s voice did justice to the classic.
    Cyril flipped right side up, his eyes became glazed over, and he began a rhythmic swaying, grunting tunelessly to the sound. Everyone in the auditorium stopped chattering and most of them took up vantage points to watch the 28-foot Crocodile in the tuxedo t-shirt sway in perfect time to the ageless music. When it ended and the lights came up, nobody missed the fact that Cyril was smiling a huge crocodile smile, and crocodile tears ran down his face.
    I swear I’ve gone to heaven ... sniff. Isn’t that the most ... hic ... beautiful song … sniff? Skeet, Skeet where are ya? Oh, there you are. I can go home to bed now, Skeet. Skeet, Skeet! Whadya doin’?
Who is that female? Is that the one who was