(This story is just me “winging” it and hoping for the best, based on the random title I came up with. All names, actions and events within were added as I was writing, with no prior thought put into it. Enjoy!)
Todd started out like any other duck, born (hatched) to head towards the water and be with other ducks. He had a family or raft he would float with and a park to visit for a few bits of bread and whatever else the humans decided to throw out at him and the others at times. But one day, in the midst of eating the bread, one of Todd’s brothers, Frank, nipped Todd in the tail-feathers and urged him to come along to explore a nearby stream. Todd, being a duck who never failed to turn down adventure, happily gobbled up the last bits of bread and headed out with Frank to the stream.
Across the park and to the stream they went, only to be followed by a duck of another raft, known as Amy. Amy had known Todd and Frank for over a year and would occasionally join them in their little journeys elsewhere. And as the humans weren’t throwing much bread out today, she thought this would be a good idea to stretch her wings a bit. Todd had noticed Amy joining them and greeted her with a warm “Quack!” The three quickly made it to the stream, being overly eager to explore and found it beautifully placed, tucked away in the nearby woods, which they’ve never seemed to have noticed before. Frank had gone ahead to show them a fun spot, which was quite deep for them. He swam around in an excited manner before dunking his head into the water, flailing himself about in fun. Todd and Amy then joined him in the spot and quickly began to splash and play.
As the three of them were playing around, there arose a rustling in the bushes nearby. Amy was the first to notice, stopping her splashing to look in the direction of the sound. Todd quickly took notice, then Frank, causing them all to halt their fun. They kept an eye on the bush for a moment, Frank, playfully taking his focus off of it to dunk himself in the water here and there. Todd and Amy continued to watch the bush, listening to Frank make his splashes behind them. The rustling seemed to have ceased for the time being, so Todd and Amy decided to bring a bit more focus on the play spot again, as it seemed safe to do so. They turned around to continue their fun, but to their surprise, Frank was nowhere in sight.
Todd notices and immediately reacts, looking left and right, forward and back, up and ducking his face down into the water, looking for frank in a panic. Amy notices the change in Todd’s demeanor and becomes a bit concerned herself. She starts to swim around the waters nearby where they were playing, assisting in finding Frank. For a few of moments, they seemed to have had no luck, when suddenly they hear a splash behind a nearby rock. They both cautiously proceed over to it, only to find that Frank was not there either! Todd, now in a mad panic begins to quack aloud and flap his wings, very scared for his brother. He begins to flap about in a panic as Amy quacks out with him, calling for Frank.
Amy and Todd continue their frantic search, now leading them to fly around the area. Todd, quacking as loud as he ever has before, leads Amy down stream, thinking that Frank may have wondered down that way while their attention was away from him. They fly for less than a mile as Amy notices the distance may have been too far for Frank to have traveled in that amount of time. She quacks at Todd to notify him that she’s turning back and that he should as well, but Todd was overly focused and continued on as Amy turns herself around. Todd soon notices and slows his pace, starting to come to his senses. He eventually turns himself around, flying back up stream.
*Bang* A gunshot is heard in the distance, a bit up the stream of where Todd was. That dreaded sound that Todd has heard, which took another one of his siblings and friends before, struck immediate fear into him. He raced in the direction with almost no care of consequences of his well-being. He soared fast through the skies and heard another shot. This one closer now… much closer than the last. Making it to the area of the shots, almost unknowingly, strategically, flying behind the direction of the hunter, Todd has sight of them and as he flies by, watches them in case there are any clues of the whereabouts of his brother and friend. And there he sees it… he sees two ducks, floating in the water, being grabbed one after the other by a dog and brought back to it’s owner. Todd would perch himself on a nearby tree, a feeling of dread and despair running through him. He began to weep…
To be continued…(?)
(If this goes well, I will write part 2 in a similar manner!)
