The RDA was heading off to the West Virginia Zoo. Mrs. Gauer was supervising her junior art class so they wouldn't wander off. "Now, kids," she said, "we're here to learn about mural art and painting animals."
As they got out, the kids were all getting pumped up for the zoo, except for Alice. "Yuck," she growled. "We get to go to a zoo? How come we can't go to the mall?"
"Because," said Kiki, "shopping malls aren't informative."
Two Hispanic students snuck up with some spray paint and were about to vandalize an elephant when Mrs. Gauer caught them. "Not literally, Salinas twins," she said to them.
"Lo siento," replied the Salinas twins.
Bruno and Bautista were identical twin brothers. Except for the difference, Bruno had a beauty mark on the left cheek and Bautista had a beauty mark on the right cheek.
Mrs. Gauer wanted them to get an idea from at least one animal. Alice got an elephant, the Salinas twins got a lion and tiger, and Candy, Kiki, and Daniel got nothing.
As they looking at the monkeys, they saw a janitor singing "Crocodile Rock" while cleaning up a root beer spill. "Hey there," Cherry said to the janitor. "We're with the RDA, and I must say, nice tune you got."
"Reginald Dwight Academy?" asked the janitor. "I remember that place. I was renowned for my juggling techniques. My name is Bryson Otis."
"Are you sure about this?" Daniel whispered. "Mrs. Gauer said not to talk to strangers."
"I know," whispered Candy, "but there's something about him that makes me snap out of my troubles."
"Wanna see my favorite part of the zoo?" asked Bryson.
"Why not?" said Kiki. "Just as long as we're at the food court by lunchtime, we'll be alright."
Little did they know, Alice was watching them from a distance. With one villainous smile, she knew a perfect way to destroy Candy's reputation.
XxoxX
At the bird exhibit, she landed on the ground and pretended to plea for help. Mrs. Gauer rushed up and comforted her. "What's wrong, Alice?" she asked. "And where are Candy, Kiki, and Daniel?"
"They wandered off with a stranger," Alice said. "Who knows what would become of them?"
"Calm down, everyone," replied Mrs. Gauer. "I'm sure security forces will take care of this. For now, I don't want anyone else wandering off."
*This is working perfectly*, Alice thought to herself.
XxoxX
Meanwhile, in the reptile exhibit, Bryson showed them a mural of two people, crocodiles, a jukebox, and a Chevy. On the bottom, Candy looked at the inscription.
Crocodile Rock, by Susie D'Orazio
"Susie D'Orazio?" asked Kiki. "The singer from the Reginald Dwight Academy?"
"Never heard of her," Daniel replied.
"You never heard of Susie D'Orazio?" Candy asked. "She was one of the greatest students in the history of RDA and Aunt Regina's best friend. She mastered ballet, painting, and guitar."
"I'll never forget her," said Bryson. "I remember when Rock was young, me and Susie had so much fun."
"Did you hold hands and skimming stones?" asked Daniel.
"With an old gold Chevy and a place of my own," answered Bryson. "She painted this mural when we first came to the zoo as children."
"Wait a minute," said Candy. "You were in love with her?"
"I was," Bryson answered. "This mural is my favorite part of the zoo. If only I could walk in it."
"Hey," Candy said. "Let's imagine that we're in a jungle."
"I love it when she uses her imagination," Kiki replied.
"Let's imagine us being in a jungle," Candy suggested, "where leaves and big and animals roam free."
XxoxX
Candy, Kiki, Daniel, and Bryson were all wearing safari clothes and going around the jungle. Kiki spotted a few unicorns. "Look at those," she said as she petted the unicorn. "Unicorns."
Then she took a picture at them. "Aren't they cute?" asked Daniel.
Daniel saw some Asian dragons in a corner. "And there are some Japanese dragons," he said. "I remember Mom owning a flag of one." As he took a photo with the flash on, the dragons started going crazy. "This is getting out of hand," he said. "I know bats don't like flash photography, but not dragons."
Bryson decided to hold the dragons off with some juicy steaks. "Way to go, Bryson!" shouted Candy.
They walked deeper into the jungle, where they found a throne, with an Italian woman in jungle-princess apparel in the middle. "That jungle princess," whispered Kiki. "Is that Susie?"
"That's her," Bryson replied. "The queen of the Crocodile Rock."
"Hello, Bryson," greeted Susie. "It's good to see you again."
"Can you show me the moves to the Crocodile Rock?" Bryson asked. "For old time sake? You *are* the inventor of the dance."
"Well," Susie said, "crocodile rocking is something shocking, and my feet just can't keep still."
"Speaking of feet keeping still," Daniel said as they spotted him stepping in quicksand, "I think Bryson stepped in some quicksand."
"Hang on," Susie said quickly as she got out a vine and pulled him out.
"I remember those road trips we had every spring and summer," Bryson recalled, "and the way you save me all the time."
Susie showed them how to do the Crocodile Rock. First, the made their hands look like an alligator chomping to the front, then to the back, then they moved side to side, and then they jumped. "This is just like our final play together," recalled Bryson, "'The Jungle of The Opera'."
XxoxX
In the real world, Mrs. Gauer and her art class found them in the reptile exhibit, doing the Crocodile Rock. "That's Candy's imagination," smiled Mrs. Gauer.
Candy, Kiki, Daniel, and Bryson finished up doing the Crocodile Rock. As Candy turned her head, she saw Mrs. Gauer. "Where have you three been?" Mrs. Gauer said. "You know not to wander off like that."
"While the other kids were rockin' round the clock," Candy answered. "We were hopping and bopping to the Crocodile Rock."
"I appreciate your honesty," Mrs. Gauer replied. "I heard some zookeepers complaining about a janitor letting three kids with an overactive imagination taking photos everywhere."
"Mom," Kiki said, "this is Bryson Otis. He was an RDA student."
"Bryson Otis class of 1989," Mrs. Gauer guessed, "the same student who did his famous crocodile egg juggling at the talent show, with REAL crocodile eggs."
"How do you know that?" asked Daniel.
"I've studied up students in the school's history," Mrs. Gauer explained.
"Oh, lawdy mama, those Friday nights where you wore those dresses tight," Kiki said.
By the corner, the Salinas twins played the Crocodile Rock on the jukebox. "Who's up for the Crocodile Rock?!" shouted Bautista. "We've been studying dances from the '80s."
"Lame!" shouted Alice. "I would rather do my painting and get my lunch."
Mrs. Gauer was angered by Alice's rudeness, so she decided to give her extra homework as punishment.
XxoxX
At lunch, the kids were about to eat the packed Italian soup that Aunt Davina made for them. Candy turned her head to see Bryson eating his tuna sandwich alone, and she decided that they should go and comfort him. Alice tried to humiliate them by putting gum in their hair, but Candy popped the bubble Alice made because chewing gum isn't allowed on a field trip.
They sat down next do Bryson. "Hey, Bryson," Alice replied. "I haven't asked, what happened between you and Susie?"
"But the years went by and the rock just died," Bryson sadly answered. "Susie went and left us for some foreign guy."
"You never got over her, did you?" Kiki asked.
"Long nights crying by the record machine," Bryson replied, "dreaming of my Chevy and my old blue jeans. A few years after she left me, she broke up with her boyfriend and left for Italy."
"But why would she leave him for Italy?" asked Kiki.
"Nobody knows," Bryson replied.
"That doesn't stop you from moving forward," Candy replied. "Life has many surprises."
"You bet," Bryson answered. "But the biggest kick I ever got was doing a thing called the Crocodile Rock."
"And the Crocodile Rocking was out of sight" Candy smiled.
"La lalalala la lalalala la lalalala la" they sang.
The end.