The Ducks
A boom. Leaves, mud and water, alike, go flying everywhere. Another. The air is filled with debris and the continuous sounds.
"Mummy!", a small child cries.
An explosion nearby. The earth is filled with the stench of strange fire and smoke.
"No, stop! Stay here!" the father shouts, as his infant waddles to where she can see her mother.
Another shot. Suddenly, the mother lets out a huge cry and topples over. "Save the children", she whispers, as her husband rushes up to her. Then she closes her eyes and is still.
The father runs, ordering his children to follow. They're running, all three of them in single file. There had been six, but one by one, the others were either caught or shot.
"RUN! HURRY!" cried the father, stopping to nudge one of his children up after it had fallen.
"QUICK!" His children were stumbling.
Suddenly there was a growl and then a loud bark right behind them. And then the shouts of humans, running.
"You go, children! I'll distract them!" The father said as he leapt up and flapped his wings in the grey hound's face. Another dog leapt out and pounced on one of the slower children.
"NO!" He cried. But there was nothing he could do, for if he went to help, the two dogs would easily finish them all off. He watched through his mind, his body still flapping and distracting. He watched, unable to stop another one of his children from being killed.Then he watched as he was slowly flung through the air, into a bush. And then everything faded.
*****
"When are we going to get the pool cleaned?", asked Lyeba exasperatedly, "It's been over a month and the water's starting to turn green! It's so hot these days and summer's almost starting!"
"Yes, yes, we're trying to call the people but they won't pick up.", said her mother. Then she turned to her husband. "She's right, you know, they really need to clean that pool."
"I've tried a million times, they won't respond, as you said just then.", he replied.
Lyeba sighed as her parents changed the topic to other things. She looked out the window, watching her pigeons fly. She stroked her rabbit in her lap and noticed his ears were overheated. It really was getting quite hot these days.
*****
Green. Blurred. Leaves.
Suddenly the father leapt up. His children! Oh, they were probably dead by now. What a useless, terrible father he was. His wife and all his children had died and it was all his fault. He didn't save them. His whole family was gone. What would he do now? What could he do now?
He started crying and lamenting, a long, mournful cry. He had failed them all. His wife, his beautiful children, himself.
Peep.
What was that? He got up and became wary. Were there still humans around?
Peep.
There it was again.
He crept closer to the sound, coming from a bush.
Peep. He could hear a child sobbing, occasional peeps escaping her. Did one of his children survive? With this thought, hope bloomed in his breast. For at least he'd still have a family to nurture and care for, no matter how small it may have become.
He came closer to the bush. "Hello...", he crooned softly. "Come on out"
Suddenly, something rushed out and leapt onto him. "DADDY!"
"Wow, there, clittle one.", laughed her father.
"Daddy, I was so scared."
"It's ok now, we'll be fine.", he said, soothingly.
She instantly cheered up. "So", she said, putting down her head and looking behind things, "Where are the others?"
"Oh, they're not here."
"Then where are they? With Mummy?"
"Yes" he replied sadly, "With Mummy."
"Are they safe?"
"Safer than they'll ever be." He tried to look cheerful. "Come on, time to go", he said, setting off. She started to follow.
"So", she said, hopping over a fallen branch, "Where are we going?"
"Someone safe."
"We're going to Mummy? Yay!", She hopped up with happiness.
"No, we're not going to Mummy. We're finding another safe place", he said, helping her up after she tripped.
"Ok!", she replied, just as cheerful. And they continued on.
*****
"Yay! I got 91% on my maths. Now I can get a kitten." said Lyeba, running in.
"Wow", said her mother, "That's excellent!"
"Yay! Yay! Yay!" Lyeba started going hyper all over the house. Suddenly, she sat down in front of the computer. She had to start finding a kitten first.
*****
They'd been moving from place to place all the time. Whenever they thought they had finally found a safe haven, the gunshots started up again in the distance. He never risked staying to find out if they were headed their way or not. He didn't want to make the same mistake he had, oh, so long ago. At least it had felt like long ago. But really, it had only been a few weeks.
His daughter was growing up now. Her down was slowly falling out and her adult feathers were coming. Good, he could teach her to swim soon, when her coat of waterproof feathers was almost complete.
But he needed somewhere to teach her. Somewhere they'd be safe. Somewhere he could concentrate on raising her rather than always being alert for the next gunshot in the distance.
Eventually, they had reached a place near a population of humans. He was becoming very worried, for now there were humans on boths sides. Soon, they'd have to fly over the humans and find another place to stay.
*****
"Guess what! School starts at 11 tommorrow! There's another teacher's strike!" said Lyeba, coming home from school.
"Yes, I know.", replied her mother with a slightly smug, teasing smile on her face.
"Oh, how? Oh right, from them!" she said, referring to her brothers who were in primary. (AND WHO WERE NNOOTT, FOR YOUR INFORMATION, TWINS! SO STOP THINKING I SAID THEY WERE TWINS, JUST BECAUSE I TALK ABOUT THEM TOGETHER. SHEESH. PEOPLE THESE DAYS! Ok, anyways, continue) "Anyways, I'm going to go look up some kittens for adoption on the internet, ok?" And she left the kitchen.
*****
They had to fly over the suburb now, there was no choice. His daughter could fly reasonably well and so he couldn't hold it back any longer. He'd been hearing the gunshots for a few days now and they were getting closer faster than usual.
"Come on, little one. Or maybe I should stop calling you that. You've grown quite big now!" he gestured to his daughter to follow her.
"Really, you think so, Daddy?"
"Yep, now it's time to fly. Do you think you're ready?" he asked, half hoping she'd say no, half hoping she'd say yes.
"Uhuh, Daddy! I'm ready!" she spread her wings to show how ready she was.
"Do you remember everything I told you? Don't go down too low, make no noises and stick close to me!"
"Yes, yes and yes. Now let's GO!" and with that, she took off, causing her father to stumble after her.
*****
Uhhh, so sleepy...
Lyeba was lying in bed. She looked at the frog clock at the foot of her bed and saw that it was somewhere before 10 o'clock. She couldn't be bothered to see where. Lyeba started to drift back off to sleep...
"Lyeba!", cried her brother, excited "There's some duck things in our backyard!"
*****
They were slowly drifting on the wind, half of their brains asleep, half of them alert to any human danger or danger in general. For they could do that, rest half of their mind at a time. It was a handy skill to use during long flights. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, jolting them awake. They flapped, panicky for a bit, then calmed down and realised it was only another bird. He looked down at where the noise came from and was surprised to find many different types of birds resting and eating in the middle of a human population!
He looked closely and realised there was a decent sized pond there too. It seemed like the perfect place.
Except for the fact that it was surrounded by humans.
He asked a bird about this.
"Sir, kind pigeon, would you please be able to tell a lost cousin of yours why all those birds are there, unworried by the fact that there are many humans close by, resting and eating?"
The pigeon looked confused. "Why, whatever would they be worried about? It is the humans who supply our food for us. And shelter for quite a few of us too."
The father looked shocked. His daughter was watching, though he couldn't tell what she thought of this situation.
"But, kind pigeon, whyever would they do that? The whole reason we're homeless and fleeing is that humans were attempting to kill us. In fact, they killed most of my" he broke down into tears, "..family..."
"Why, not all humans are like that! The humans here are kind, most of them. And they would never attempt to kill us." and here, the pigeon flapped away, down, onto the ground and joined the rest of his flock. At least he had a family. he thought sadly. But he still had a daughter and that was his family and he would protect her and raise until she was ready to go where she liked and look after herself.
With this in his mind, he made a decision. We will stay here, in this haven he thought and flapped down, followed closely by his daughter.
*****
"That's not a 'duck thing'. It is a duck!", said Lyeba, looking out at the birds that had appeared out of nowhere in their backyard. "Is there only one?"
"Ohhhh." replied her brother, "No, there's two, I think."
"Cool they're just waddling around next to the pool. Let's feed them some bread." With this, Lyeba went into the kitchen and came back with some bread. "I hope they don't get scared and fly away!"
She slowly slid open the door and tore a piece of bread off. She chucked it out to the ducks, who flinched at first and waddled back. She threw a few more pieces and, finally, the ducks realised that it was food. They slowly, tentatively walked up and hesitated. Then, the younger one, who still had some down on its head, waddled forward and started gobbling up some bread. The older one quickly followed, picking at a few pieces, but mostly letting the other one eat. The youngest one was racing towards every piece of bread she threw, and she wondered why the older one wasn't trying to get to it first.
Then, when they had had enough, then waddled back and hopped into the pool, floating around like little boats on the water.
"I want to make a video of them!" said her brother, and he rushed to get a phone.
"Uhh, stop being so annoying and just enjoy the ducks", she called back to him.
They came to eat more food, this time the older ate some too. But he never tried to compete with the younger one for food. The older duck suddenly looked into her eyes, opened his beak and made the same sound, twice. She stopped throwing the food, unsure of what she was supposed to do. Animals didn't usually look you in the eyes themselves. The other duck made a noise that reminded her of human laughter. Hoots of laughter. Of course, she knew they weren't laughing, but all the same, she wondered what they were saying. They then went back into the pool.
Where did they come from? she wondered. She decided that she would write a story about them and went onto the computer to start. Every now and then she got up and checked to make sure the ducks were still there. Everytime she couldn't spot them, her heart skipped a beat. But she always found them a second later, camouflaged against something.
For some reason, she really wanted those ducks to stay.
*****
They'd been exploring the place, taking a swim around the pond every now and then, when the humans appeared. First, something moved, and suddenly, these humans were throwing things at them, They'd quickly moved back, startled, until he remembered what the pigeon had said. "It is the humans who supply our food for us."
Of course! This must be the food!
So they waddled up slowly and cautiously towards the food. Even though he was starving, he let his daughter eat first. The poor thing must be so tired and hungry! he thought. Their flight had been a long one, lasting several days.
Then his daughter waddled back to the pond and hopped in, enjoying the feel of the cool water on such a hot day. He quickly followed her, still a bit weary about the human. The next time they went to feed, he ate some too, unable to resist his hunger. And anyway, he thought, She isn't that hungry anymore and there's plenty for both of us.
(And then he waddled up to the human and asked, 'Got any grapes?')
He decided to thank the human and looked up into her eyes. "Thank you!" he said, as the human froze.
"Daddy, let's go back to the pond now", his daughter said and so they waddled back and hopped in.
*****
The ducks are still there. Sometimes Lyeba would get writer's block and would be unsure of what to type next. But then she'd get up to look at the ducks that had arrived so strangely in her backyard and would instantly know what to write next.
*****
They were enjoying themselves, picking out food from between the grasses and plants, floating and paddling in the water and resting in the shade.
*****
They seem to feel right at home. Maybe they have decided to stay. She hoped they did. It was fun watching them snuffle their beaks in the grass and under the water, picking out whatever they ate. She'd spot them melted underneath the pool chair, enjoying the shade. Sometimes. when they were in the water, they'd splash about, making a loud noise, or just float peacefully. They were always chatting to each other in that strange laughter kind of sound. She really did hope they would stay.
*****
They had to find somewhere to sleep. The father looked around, telling his daughter to stay in the pond. He had spotted some overgrown vines that had turned into a bushy area that would be perfect to sleep in. He decided to investigate them.
As he shuffled into the bushes, he felt something rush out and panicked for a second, flapping around blindly. He realised it was a small brown rabbit with floppy ears. It seemed to have something hanging from his neck. As he hopped away, a sweet chiming sounded with his movements. The duck decided to ignore this and continued on.
There! The area inside was practically hollow. It made a perfect hollow where they could rest for the nights to come. He went back to tell his daughter the good news.
*****
It's been a few days now and the ducks are still here. Lyeba wasn't sure where they were sleeping until she spied on them one day and saw that they were sleeping in the bushy plants at the back of their yard. The place where her rabbit sometimes rested. The younger duck's down was scarcely there anymore and it was turning into a full-fledged adult. She wondered how they were getting along and hoped the bread she was giving them every day wouldn't make them unwell.
Lyeba was really happy that they were staying but she was also worried that it might clash kitten she was going to get.
*****
His daughter was turning into a beautiful adult. He was sure that her mother owuld have been as proud as he was right now. Though he was sad too. Soon, she would leave him forever and find a duck she would spend the rest of her life with. But{/i}, he thought, pulling himself up straighter, [i]this was why I've done everything.
For the moment that would come soon. Inevitably.
He watched his daughter splash around playfully in the pond, in the last stages of her childhood. His childhood had never been so full of danger and sadness, and he felt pity rising in his throat. But maybe that fact made their victory all the more sweeter.
*****
The younger one was fully grown now and had a beautiful layer of feathers. It was now swimming around gracefully in the pool more often than splashing. Lyeba was convinced, for some reason, that she was a girl.
The ducks were acting strange lately, the older one acting more hostile towards the younger than usual. It was squacking at the younger one fiercely whenever it got too close, and was generally keeping to itself. She wondered what had happened to create this change between them.
I, for one, wonder too much, she thought.
*****
He was sad to do this, but he had to separate her from him to get her ready to leave. She was sulking in the corner, confused by his sidden change of nature.
Once again, grief rose in his throat. But this was all for the best. For her.
*****
The ducks were squabbling now, reminding Lyeba of a father and daughter arguing. These were funny ducks. But she liked them quite a bit she considered them almost like her pets.
Her rabbit had learnt to keep away from them ever since and incident regarding the older duck. She laughed, remembering how rabbit and duck had both rushed and flown at each other. In the end, her rabbit ran inside and huddled into a corner, shivering.
She stroked her rabbit now. The incident had been a few days ago, and he had never gone near either of them since.
Lyeba watched the animals outside, enjoying everything just as it was.
*****
It was time. Time for his daughter to leave. He'd take her to the traditional nesting ground and she'd start her own family there.
He got up and went to her. As soon as she realised what he was trying to say, she started flapping around, quacking everywhere. She was content here and din't wish to leave.
"Now now, you know we could never stay here forever.", said her father, trying to calm her down.
"No! I don't want to leave! What's the use?", she cried out.
He waited for her to settle down and then tried to speak to her again. "I'll take you to the biggest pond you've ever seen, with plants greener than anything. If you come, you'll be safe forever. It's what your mother would have wanted as well."
At this, his daughter grew sad. "Very well, Daddy. I'll go."
*****
One day, coming home from school, Lyeba saw a peculiar sight. The two ducks were standing next to each other peacefully, not squabbling, and were in a strange position. Looking closely, Lyeba realised what they were doing. They were flying off!
She decided that she would go outside and watch them go, for there was no way she could stop them. She slid open the door and went into the backyard. The ducks suddenly ran and jumped into the air, flapping their wings hard. Then they started gliding smoothly on the air, slowly getting further and further away from where they'd been staying for the past month.
She caught her last glimpse of them as far away dots before they vanished. Forever.
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