A young duck rested near a tranquil river while the sun set, unsure of what her future held. Her many siblings had dispersed as soon as they were able to, but she stayed near where they all grew up. She liked it there. There was a little pond nearby that humans would sit around, and sometimes, they’d throw her some bread and other foods. It reminded her of when all her brothers and sisters would fight over each piece. Although she needed very little to live comfortably, this duck yearned for something else. She’d see families of ducks around and feel sad not to have another duck to love.

As she paddled along in the pond one day, she was greeted warmly by an old human woman. She placed right in front of her a large piece of fresh bread and sat to watch. When she went to take a bite, she saw another beak coming as well. It was strange to see, as for months, there wasn’t a single other duck around.

The young duck turned to face the duck that bit into her bread. To her, it wasn’t just any duck. This was Duckules, a demi-god among ducks, or so she thought. He looked back at her as they both floated there next to the edge of the pond where the bread sat. The human watching held her face as if she was watching a romantic movie. Duckules paddled closer after a moment and the two rubbed their necks together. The young duck found her love.

Behind the pond, the couple built a nest and started their family. Pretty soon there were eggs filling the nest and baby ducks all around. The pond became a destination for local humans who wanted to just watch the ducks play in the water. The young duck and Duckules were as happy as ducks could be. They continued growing their family as more and more people came to feed the newborns. The young duck had become Mother Duck. She looked around and was thrilled to have everything she desired right in front of her.

One day, a man came to the pond in the early morning and put up a sign. People stopped coming to the pond completely. The water began to turn green and dirty, not suitable for the babies. Not long after that, the ducks were awoken by loud machines and trembling earth. Mother Duck was especially frightened, as she was in the process of laying more eggs.

The pond was being torn from the ground by an excavator. The hand scooped up many of the baby ducks and destroyed their nest in a single grab. Mother Duck screamed in pain and cried out as she lost so many of her children. Duckules put his wings over her to protect her from the machine, but its next grab snagged his foot. She looked him in his eyes as he was carried away and dumped into a pile of rubble.

As the excavator took a break and the ground beneath the pond was settling, Mother Duck laid a trio of eggs. The concave dirt beneath her caused them to roll downward to the lowest point of the ditch, which happened to be a drain pipe. Mother Duck watched her last three babies enter the sewer and realized she had nothing left to lose. While the excavator moved to grab more of the earth, she dove into the pipe, following her fast-rolling eggs.

Nasty water was rushing through the sewage system, pushing Mother Duck and her babies for a long while. The drain let out at a small lake, where the eggs floated only moments before sinking. Mother Duck swam vigorously to grab her babies one at a time and bring them to the shore. She built a small nest under a tree and rested, grateful to have anything left from the destruction of her old life.

A month passed before the first egg hatched. Mother Duck enlisted her oldest to watch her other two children. The other two hatched within the next week. Lightning struck and a fire started at the lakeside trees they rested beneath. Mother Duck had her babies follow her and they found themselves back near the old pond at the tranquil river. The baby ducks followed their mother on the still waters until the speed of the current picked up. The oldest did what his mother asked and protected the other two. The three of them looked on blankly while the current took Mother Duck downstream. They didn’t understand why she was silent. She didn’t fight and she didn’t scream. Just silent, eyes closed in the rapids. Her fight was over.

For days they followed the water but found no sign of Mother Duck. They were on their own. On a search for some food, the babies found their way into Big City and went to cross the street. A car whizzed towards them, something they had never seen before. They stood in fear until the bottom portion of the car vanished entirely while the rest passed over them. It landed behind them and sparks flew as the top half of the car skidded on the road.

“Look what happened to my car!!” the driver angrily screamed. “Somebody get those damn Ducklings!!” 

 

Gully, the oldest of the duckling brothers, awoke to the sound of motors buzzing. Pat was a heavy sleeper, ignoring it completely. He lay flat on his back with his wings out to his sides on the grass. The noises got louder as Biscuit, the youngest duckling, was startled by a weedwhacker trimming the overgrowth on the curb just beside him, clipping the end of his feather. He leapt up and sped over to Pat, stepping on his belly until he woke up. Gully came over and put his wings around his brothers, shoving them away from the landscapers who were closing in on their position.

“We’ve gotta find somewhere we can stay.” Gully told his baby brothers as they fled the roadside they’d been sleeping in.

“Maybe find a nice pond!?” Biscuit excitedly proposed.

“Ooh a nice pond.” Pat said warmly.

“You’re too young to remember.. but we did live in a pond before. That’s where everything went wrong. That’s where mother duck lost all our brothers and sisters.”

“No pond?” Biscuit asked with glistening eyes.

“No pond, Biscuit.” Gully answered firmly, putting a wing around his baby brother.

“What about bread?” Pat asked.

“What about bread?”

“Yeah, bread!” Biscuit flapped his wings as they walked, floating for a moment in excitement.

“Okay.” Gully appeased them, still unsure what they meant.

Finding themselves trapped between two roads, the ducklings got ready to cross. They looked both ways and waddled hard, getting to the middle of the road before a truck approached quickly. The driver slammed the brakes to allow them to cross. Other cars that came upon them did the same, giving them a chance to reach the other side unharmed. In the heart of Big City, they looked around for any signs of grass or water. As they walked the sidewalks, avoiding stompings from pedestrians, they caught for a moment across the way a goose being walked on a leash. A goose would certainly lead them somewhere fowl friendly, they thought.

“Follow that goose!” Gully shouted. Pedestrians let out an “aww” hearing the loud quack from the oldest duckling.

Once the command was made and the intention set, the city shifted around the ducklings. They passed through walls and people, though only slightly moving on their own. The changes seemed imperceptible to humans they saw. Biscuit giggled as he moved through solid matter as if it tickled him. In a moment, they were in line, oldest to youngest, just behind the human walking the goose.

Though Gully arrived slightly dizzy from the swirling motion of reality turning on itself to get them to their target, his feet wouldn’t fail. The trio waddled in perfect unison and harmony behind the lady with the goose.

“What that?” Biscuit asked when he finished giggling.

“I don’t know Bisky, but it got us here. Let’s see where the goose is headed.” Gully replied.

“Do gooses eat bread too?” Pat asked and the three shrugged.

“Geese, Patty.” Gully corrected his brother.

“They eat geese? That’s horrible!”

All the quacking caused the goose walker to turn around and check what was behind her. The boys were fully visible, but the lady just couldn’t see them. As if they were directly in her blind spot. People walking by stepped around them, but there were no “aww” sounds coming. As they followed the goose, they were imperceptible. Gully wondered if they were ghosts, but didn’t share the concern with his brothers.

Past a few roads, the ducklings arrived where they hoped the goose would lead them. They looked at the majesty that was Big City Park, with its expansive pond and sprawling grass fields. There were ducks, geese and turtles everywhere around the water. People walked around, some throwing seeds to birds, some throwing bread to ducks.

“BREAD.” Pat said as the ducklings broke from following the goose lady. His eyes locked on the bag of stale bread being torn apart for the birds.

Breaking out of their formation, the boys heard “aww” from passerbys. They marched over to the pond where the bread was being thrown, but the bag ran empty just as they pushed through the crowd of fowl. Disappointment set in as the rest of the ducks huddled around them and stared them down.

“OUTSIDERS.” a large duck announced.

Two ducks stepped away from each other to make room for the largest duck the boys had ever seen.

“You are not welcome here.” she stated.

Biscuit started happily paddling to the edge of the pond to get out. 

“Where you going, Biscuit?” Pat asked.

“She said we not welcome.”

“Just wait here.” Gully commanded his brothers then faced the big duck. “Who are you?”

“I’m Lilly, queen of Big City pond. You three are filthy. We have no need for yucky duckies.” All the ducks around chuckled.

“We have nowhere else to go.” Gully leveled with the queen.

“You have the whole world to go to.”

“We’re staying.”

The queen demanded the ducklings be removed from the Park. Adult ducks moved to grab the boys. As Pat was about to be touched, the parts of the duck getting close to him were disappearing. It yelped loudly, recoiling to assess the damage. An entire wing was missing as well as the tip of its gill. Gully recalled a car having the same thing happen to it days before, where an entire section of it vanished from existence.

Running with the ability he was realizing the trio had, Gully paddled up to the queen expecting her to start vanishing. She showed no fear and stayed still. Gully’s raised eyebrow fell. All the ducks around laughed at his strange attempt, including Biscuit and Pat.

“Guys…” Gully reminded his brothers what side they were on.

“Sorry, Gull.” they both put their heads down.

“You stupid duckling.” Queen Lilly said. She bent her head down to bite Gully. Her head never made it to him. Gully turned around to see her neck without a head, her body toppling over into the pond.

People walking around the pond screamed, seeing their favorite duck decapitated and another with a missing wing. There was no blood in the water, as if the wounds were cauterized. The humans called animal control, seeing that the three ducklings were isolated from the rest, so they must have been the culprits. When they arrived, the boys were placed in individual cages and Gully was put in an entirely separate truck. The ducklings were divided.