Saw a huge crocodile today

So I went for a hike today near that old abandoned lake, you know the one that nobody really goes to anymore because the trail got all overgrown. I dont know why I decided to go there honestly, I guess I just wanted to explore somewhere different for a change. Been hiking the same trails for months now and they were getting kind of boring. The weather was kind of gross, really humid and grey, felt like it was gonna rain any second but it never did. Should have taken that as a sign or something.

Anyway I'm walking along the edge of the lake, just looking at the water and the dead trees sticking out of it, kind of creepy actually. And I see what I thought was a log floating near the bank. Like a big dark log just sitting there in the water, half submerged. I almost kept walking but then it moved. Just a little bit. And I stopped and I was like okay thats not a log. That is definitely not a log. My brain took a second to catch up to what my eyes were seeing. It started drifting toward the muddy bank real slow and thats when I realized it was a crocodile. A massive one. Biggest I have ever seen in my life and I've seen a few at zoos and stuff but this was completely different. This thing was probably like 12 feet at least, maybe more. Hard to tell from where I was standing.

I backed up immediately because I know they can lunge really fast. Like way faster than you'd think looking at them just sitting there all lazy. This thing looked ancient, really old and weathered, had scars on its snout and everything. Like it had been around forever and seen some stuff. It pulled itself up onto the mud and just... stared at me. Not moving. Just watching with those creepy yellow eyes. I dont know how long we stayed like that but it felt like forever. My heart was going crazy the whole time. I was trying to remember if you're supposed to run or stay still or what. I think I read somewhere you're supposed to run in a zigzag? But I also think that might be a myth.

Eventually it just slid back into the water and disappeared. Like it decided I wasnt worth the effort or something. Which honestly fair enough. I got out of there so fast after that, I dont think I've ever walked that quick in my life. Kept looking over my shoulder the whole way back to my car. Every stick looked like a tail, every shadow looked like scales. Probably looked insane to anyone who might have seen me basically speed walking through the forest.

When I got home I made the mistake of looking up crocodile attacks online and now I'm kind of freaked out. They can run like 11 miles per hour on land apparently?? And they do that death roll thing when they catch something. I was probably not close enough to be in real danger but who knows. Really makes you think about how we're just walking around in places where things like that live and we dont even think about it. Anyway thats where I'm at. Probably not going back to that lake anytime soon. Or ever maybe.