Patricia Stoltey

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Iguado the Irascible Iguana

April 10, 2013 By: Patricia

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge
 The ABCs of Behavior and Emotions

Iguado the Irascible Iguana

Iguado stomped across the shaded rock looking for a spot of sun for his morning nap. Down the side and across the path he went, criss-crossing patches of rain forest, searching for the elusive rays to dry off. Instead, it began to rain.

Thrashing his tail and gnashing his teeth in anger, Iguado looked left and right, still searching. He spotted another male iguana swimming across the river, but iguanas are not known for their sociability. Iguado scrambled up the nearest tree to hide and observe. Soon the rain stopped. And then he saw it. A big flat rock in the sun.

The invader was heading for a spot in the river where there was such a large opening in the overhanging trees and vines that a whole cluster of rocks remained dry and warm.

Now Iguado was really mad. That spot should be his. He gnashed his powerful teeth and thrashed his tail wildly as he prepared to scramble along the branch and leap to the ground with a fearsome hiss.

Instead, Iguado suddenly found himself dangling by his tail from the jaws of a boa constrictor. He thrashed and snapped his jaws so wildly the snake could not let go long enough to unhinge his jaws and swallow Iguado whole, so our iguano hero escaped with a small bump on the head where he landed against the tree trunk and also minus a large section of tail.

Now, however, Iguado was madder than ever. He marched straight to the river and swam to the rock, kicked the sleepy invader into the water, and finally, finally got his sunny spot.

Irascibility can be bad, or it can come in handy from time to time. For Iguado, it got him into trouble, but also helped him get what he needed (to escape) and what he wanted (the sunny spot). It also left him with a very short and achy tail that would take considerable time to grow back.

Are you surprised I didn’t let the boa constrictor swallow Iguado in one big gulp?

Me, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To learn more about the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, visit the official challenge blog and check out the list of over 1,900 participants.

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Comments

  1. mooderino says

    April 11, 2013 at 2:02 am

    I don’t think Iguado would enjoy living in the UK. Not many sunny rocks to bathe on.

    mood
    Moody Writing

  2. Rinelle Grey says

    April 10, 2013 at 9:55 pm

    I’m glad you let Iguado escape. Much better story. And glad that he finally found his place in the sun.

    Rinelle Grey

  3. pam2spicy says

    April 10, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    I have to admit it took me a while to realize this A to Z series from you was not for preschoolers. I love them. Look forward to each one. Very clever.

  4. Anstice Potts says

    April 10, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    I must say, these cautionary tales are marvellous. Loved the last lines.

  5. Nick Wilford says

    April 10, 2013 at 4:50 pm

    He made the danger from the boa seem more like a nuisance. Irascibility does help you deal with stuff, it seems!

  6. Silvia Villalobos says

    April 10, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    Iguado is a cool little guy, who just learned his lesson, didn’t he? Glad he got our of there. 🙂
    Silvia @ Silvia Writes

  7. LD Masterson says

    April 10, 2013 at 12:14 pm

    I always think of “irascible” as a compliment. Oh, I understand the definition, I just like that personality trait. Well, in some people.

  8. Alex J. Cavanaugh says

    April 10, 2013 at 11:36 am

    It can be both a positive and negative, so I think it was all right he escaped.

  9. Jenny says

    April 10, 2013 at 10:54 am

    Irascible is such a great word, and now I will think of Iguado when I hear it!

  10. Julie Flanders says

    April 10, 2013 at 10:44 am

    I love Iguado and I’m glad he lived to see another day. I have to admit I could see a bit of myself in him, I tend to expect the worst LOL.

  11. Hilary Melton-Butcher says

    April 10, 2013 at 9:11 am

    Hi Patricia .. we need Iguado to be able to come back again … and the boa doesn’t give us boa feathers .. so he can slink off somewhere else!

    Cheers Hilary

  12. Julie Luek says

    April 10, 2013 at 8:52 am

    I think I’m a bit more like Iguado than I’d like to admit, for all the better and worse irascibility offers. Fun story, Pat. What a great collection!

  13. Margot Kinberg says

    April 10, 2013 at 7:07 am

    Pat – I love that little guy! Such a natural, believable reaction when things start to go wrong for him. And sometimes, when things make you mad – er, irascible – it does make sense to just let that irascibility take over.

  14. Jan Morrison says

    April 10, 2013 at 6:55 am

    Oh Pat – love this guy! How he moves through life expecting the worst. Ha! I could see him as a person – perfectly!

  15. Alternative Foodie says

    April 10, 2013 at 6:38 am

    Phew, I was thinking no way Iguado could escape. But he must be too small for the boa, right?

    p/s
    Thank you so much for finding us at nuttybean, Patricia and leaving us a comment. Really wonderful to meet you.

Meet Patricia

I read, I write, I blog, and sometimes I do the laundry and cook. My 2014 novel, Dead Wrong, was a finalist in the thriller category of the 2015 Colorado Book Awards. Wishing Caswell Dead (Five Star/Cengage, December 20, 2017) is a historical mystery set in 1830s Illinois in the fictitious Village of Sangamon. The novel was a finalist for the 2018 Colorado Book Awards for General Fiction. My most recent release, In Defense of Delia (Five Star/Cengage, November 2022), is available in hardcover and will soon be available in ebook and trade paperback. Read More…

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