It was my own fault. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been watching a lot of animal videos. Videos of people rescuing and nursing dogs and cats in varying degrees of horrible condition and appearances; videos of people who had a wolf as a pet, or a crocodile, or a black puma. Videos of different kinds of animals fighting each other: wolf against a pack of dogs, dog against a pack of jackals, crocodile vs. tiger, hippo vs. elephant, lion vs. bear. YouTube quickly realized that I would not find anything more interesting in my life and so it started to clog my feed with such videos. One video… stood out. Judging by all the visual and textual data that I could understand it was filmed in the former Soviet Union, but the name of the city was crossed out. Google translated the video title as: “Is it true that crocodile Gesha wants to kill you?” All filming takes place in the first person perspective:
The Operator is walking along a wide highway. He turns the camera to the right: we see fields that stretch for miles into the distance, where they meet the black walls of the forest, where the tall trees block the horizon. The Operator turns the camera to the left: we see a large, flooded place, as if it were a small lake. In the distance there are dense rows of brutalistic buildings - five, eight and ten-storey buildings. Right in the middle of the flooded area we see a small island. Faintly visible iron bars, ladders and slides peek out from under the water - it’s a children’s playground. There, something is moving, but the quality and camera shake makes it impossible to make out anything. The weather is grey and damp - probably autumn. The Operator turns the camera and centers it on the certain place - just down the highway, two hundred yards away is a gas station. The name of the sign is blurred. It’s glowing red, the sign has already been lit up, so probably the day is nearing evening.
As the Operator walks silently towards the gas station, English subtitles begin to run at the bottom end of the screen:
“Three days ago, parts of the city were flooded by the Volga River. During the flood, a local attraction escaped from the city’s zoo - a 22 feet long Saltwater crocodile Gesha, weighing two tones and 220 pounds. According to eyewitness accounts, the crocodile has settled in the children’s playground, which is right in the middle of the flooded football pitch and hockey box”
The Operator turns the camera to the right again, stops and focuses the camera on the island in the middle of the flood. The footage is shot on a phone and the quality leaves much to be desired.
“See?” - the caption text.
After a while, the camera and the Operator’s hands stop shaking.
“He’s there,” - the caption text.
The Operator turns around and silently walks towards the gas station. A passer-by and a German shepherd dog on a leash are walking towards him. When they cross paths, the Operator starts filming the passerby and his dog.
“Why do you look like that?” - The passerby asks, looking over the camera.
His dog, starts barking. It pulls on the leash, trying to attack the Operator.
“Why do you look like that?” - asks the passerby and, pulling the dog aside, backs away.
The Operator films the enraged, barking dog. He approaches it while the passerby tries to move aside and pull the dog away. The Operator lets out something resembling a muffled chuckle. The dog immediately tucks its tail, lowers its ears and begins to whimper. It starts to wrap the leash around its owner’s legs, trying to hide behind his back.
“Why do you look like that? Why do you look like that?!” - shouts a passerby and falls to the pavement.
For a second, the video cuts off.
Video resumes. The Operator is filming a gas station and a highway. At the gas station there are three cars and a big truck with the inscription MYKA. A six feet tall Russian Man is standing near the truck. He is smoking and drinking some soda from a plastic bottle. The Man is dressed in black, work trousers and a T-shirt. There is a small bald spot on his head, his potbelly juts out proudly and confidently forward and slightly downwards. The Man drinks and smokes self-consciously. He smiles to himself, enjoying a little break.
The Operator walks right up to the big guy:
“Is it true that crocodile Gesha wants to kill you?!”
The Man looks first at the camera and smiles. Then he looks at the Operator over the camera. The smile disappears from his broad, stubbly face in an instant. For a few seconds he stares at the Operator, frozen. The Operator lets out something resembling a muffled chuckle. The Man drops the soda bottle on the ground. The Man opens his mouth. The cigarette stuck to his lips hangs down.
“Is it true that crocodile Gesha wants to kill you?!” - the Operator repeats.
The Man shifts his gaze from the Operator to something in the distance. He squints, and sits still for a few more seconds. The cigarette falls to the ground. Then, the Man slowly gets up and walks forward towards the flood.
The video interrupts for two seconds. Then immediately resumes. The Operator and the Man are standing on the shore of the flood. The Man is smoking while squatting. The Operator slowly steps back. Gigantic, 22 feet long crocodile appears in the frame. He slowly crawls up to the Man. He sits quietly and waits for it. The crocodile crawls close to the Man. Its extended muzzle is at the level of the squatting Man - the crocodile does not even need to lift its head up. He’s terribly huge. The Man smiles and strokes the crocodile’s head - it lies still. The Man takes a drag and blows the smoke right into the crocodile’s face. The crocodile lifts its head slightly. The Man, continuing to stroke the crocodile, says into the camera:
” Well? All good?”
The Operator takes a step back.
“And what do people tell me about you? Hm? Gesha? What’s wrong with you?” - says the Man, looking straight into the crocodile’s eyes.
Then he finishes his cigarette and throws it over his shoulder into the bushes. Then he grabs the crocodile by the muzzle with both hands and kisses it on the nose. Crocodile Gesha makes some horrible, chesty sound and stands up a little on his front and hind legs. His tail turns towards the water.
“Well? And?” - the Man says, and snaps two fingers sharply on the crocodile’s nose.
The crocodile freezes. Then it goes back down on its belly and snorts its nose. The Operator lets out something resembling a muffled chuckle.
The crocodile makes a monstrous sound and instantly wraps its teeth around the Man’s torso, right across his belly and back. He lifts up on his hind legs, balancing on his nine feet long tail. The Man looks perplexedly into the crocodile’s eyes. The crocodile shakes its head violently and dives into the water with the Man, splashing the Operator and the camera with water. The Operator stands still and captures everything. The water is bubbling and foaming. The crocodile’s tail appears on the surface, and a moment later - Man’s arm. The Operator zooms the camera, adjusts the focus. The video cuts down.
After a few seconds, the video resumes. The Operator walks to the far side of the “beach”. The Man comes out of the water, shakes off the mud. He stands on his right foot and starts jumping, shaking water out of his right ear. The Operator walks over to the Man:
“Is it true that crocodile Gesha wants to kill you?!”
The Man pays no attention to him. He wipes his eyes and walks towards the highway. Suddenly the water near him is split by a long silhouette of a crocodile: it runs quickly onto dry land and knocks the Man off his feet. He falls on the crocodile’s back. The crocodile shakes him off and, with a swift curve - grabs the Man by the head. The Operator runs there, in pursuit of a better shot, but - slips on the mud and falls. A splash of water is heard and further struggle on the surface. The Operator picks up the camera and tries to clean the mud off it. The video is interrupted again - he probably hit the stop button.
Video resumes. The Operator returns to the gas station. Crossing the wide highway, he cautiously looks with the camera to the left…. then to the right. The Operator moves the camera to the gas station. At the gas station are three cars and a large truck with the inscription MYKA on it. Near the gas station are the silhouettes of four people. One of them sits on a chair and tells something to the others. They laugh, ignoring The Operator. Finally, he comes closer.
The Russian Man, familiar to us, is sitting on a chair and drinking beer. Censored squares cover half of his body. The squares are shimmering grey, black, red. The other three are laughing at what he just said and can’t stop. The Operator films this company for a few seconds. Then he moves the camera to the Russian Man’s face and says:
“Is it true that crocodile Gesha wants to kill you?”
The Man looks over the camera at The Operator with glassy eyes. The hand with the beer bottle is frozen a few inches from his mouth. The three begin to burst into laughter. They clutch their stomachs and wipe away tears. The laughter almost drives them to the ground they can barely stand on their feet - holding on to each other.
One of them stares off into the distance, towards the bay. In an instant, the smile falls off his face and he grabs the person standing next to him by the shoulder. A third person lets go of the beer bottle, and it shatters with a crash. The Operator turns the camera over to the Russian Man:
“Got a smoke?” - The Russian Man says.
A monstrous force pulls him from his chair and he drops face down. The Operator catches every frame. The crocodile swallows both of the Man’s legs and closes its jaws with a disgusting snap. At the same moment, quickly heels backwards and drags the Man towards the water. The Man is still holding the beer bottle. It squeaks on the pavement with its glass bottom. The Operator stands still and films the crocodile and the Man disappearing into the darkness of the bushes behind the highway. A split second later, the bottle shatters - a splash of water and the crocodile’s furious growl can be heard. The video is interrupted.
The video resumes in almost total darkness. The Operator walks towards the small garages that stand in a less flooded area, a little further away from the multi-storey buildings. A small wooden fence separates the garages and the water’s edge.
Caption text appears at the bottom:
“Got a smoke? Got a smoke? Got a smoke?”
The Man surfaces six feet from the camera and immediately stands up. His whole body is covered in censored pixels. They shimmer with grey, red, black, red. With a limp, he shakes his head negatively from side to side, as if refusing something. He threatens someone with his finger. He walks towards the fence. The Operator quickly approaches him. The Man, with his last strength begins to climb the fence.
“Somebody - feed that dog already,” he says and tries to throw his leg over to the other side of the fence.
A sudden splash of water, a low extended growl and the heavy, fast footsteps of a huge reptile: the crocodile grabs The Man and pulls him down. The camera is centered on what’s happening, but the whole action is blocked out by pixels of censorship.
“See?” - caption text.
“He’s there,” - caption text.
Numerous splashes of water and a terrible scream can be heard. The monstrous roar of a crocodile. A low cloping sound. A crunch. A growl. A crunch. A splash.
Video interrupts. Few seconds later video resumes. The Operator stands on the highway and hitchhikes. A single car pulls up and begins to slow down. It comes closer. The Operator is caught in the headlights. The car suddenly accelerates and speeds away.
The Operator is walking alone on a road in total darkness. The light on his phone illuminates the road beneath him. Asphalt. On the left - bushes, mud. On the right - trees, forest. It’s dark. The camera is covered with mud and water streaks. The Operator walks slowly, sometimes looking back with the camera in search of cars.
After a few yards, a crackling sound is heard in the bushes to his left. The Operator stops and moves the camera there. The crackling repeats louder. The Operator comes a little closer. Something huge snorts in the bushes.
Suddenly, The Operator is distracted by another sound and moves the camera to the highway. A headlight appears in the distance. The driver honks his horn, blinking his lights when he notices The Operator. It’s a truck with MYKA inscription on it. Something rustles in the bushes. The truck stops next to The Operator. The door starts to open. The Operator lets out something resembling a muffled chuckle. The video cuts to black.
Here is the link to the video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLEk2mcW6_o