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| Wonder Bread and The Ducks by � biidsis We heard them before we saw them. It was a warm summer day and mama was cleaning the lakeshore of the weeds and other things that would wash up from the lake�s floor. The sun shimmered on the lake and it made me wonder if Medicine Lake was twinkling back at the star. But the shimmering lake obstructed our view at first. Eventually our noisy visitors made their way into a shaded part of the lake. We knew by their call that they were ducks, of course. We were accustomed to the mallards that shared this lake with us, even the occasional pair of wood ducks that would grace us. But to our amazement, we saw that our visitors were seven pure white domestic ducks. We ran to mama asking, "Where did they come from?" She told us that someone must have bought them for their children for Easter. She had paused in her labor to take in this sight, but soon went back to work. I was in charge of my little brother and we watched the ducks with the wonder of little children. They continued swimming closer to our shoreline and when they reached our dock they stopped and watched us. It seemed as if they were looking for home. Mama told me to run inside and get that day old loaf of bread. Remember the days when Wonder Bread was 5 loaves for a dollar on Tuesdays? That brings a smile. Well I did as she asked. When I brought it out, she taught us to tear it up and throw it to the ducks. Oh my how they loved it; they gobbled up the loaf and were on their way with a hearty thank you. We felt so very blessed that day. We went on with our tasks, mama with her shoreline and me in charge of my brother. (Not an easy task�four-year-olds don�t you know?) But I had an important job to do and did it gladly, because it meant I was a big girl now. When daddy came home, we told him all about the ducks at supper. Later that evening we took him out and told him about it some more. We could see them swimming up by the point and daddy (my hero) decided to show his children what a good duck caller he was. So he called to them and called to them. Which finally convinced the neighbors that we were all nuts, each and every one of us. But the ducks did come to daddy and we were greatly impressed! He showed off some more for us by talking to them. Before we knew it they were on the lawn and walking amongst us. We had the best time that night, mama gave us some more bread and we fed them again. Some of the neighbors even joined in on the fun. But soon it got dark and we had to wash up for bedtime and stories. Before long we were fast asleep and dreaming of beautiful white ducks. We thought that we were the keepers of the animal kingdom, until daybreak that is. Imagine the house in peaceful slumber, the neighbor hood quiet as it should be at the indigo time between night and day. Then imagine being torn from this repose by the sound of seven hungry clattering ducks that think they own you. The more we ignored them, the louder they got. Finally daddy put on his pants and took some bread out to them. Grumbling, cursing and unwilling this duck caller brought the peace of daybreak back to our tiny neighborhood. This ritual went on for several days. The neighbors called, forgetting that they too had participated in this venture. Forgetting that mama had brought them all cookies and other wondrous treats from her kitchen. Much to our chagrin and the lack of understanding of little minds, daddy convinced us that we could never feed them again. Oh how we cried. "They�re our ducks!!! It�s not fair!!! What will they do?? They might die!!!" But daddy was adamant. Between the calls from the neighbors and the incessant screaming of the ducks, daddy was certifiable. After 8 weeks of these stubborn, willful and down right malicious ducks, so were we. But, there came a day when we woke on our own, waiting and hearing nothing, drifting off only to wake again waiting. It was like waiting for the next hiccup. Glad they are gone but somewhere in the back of your mind knowing they�ll be back any time now. Well they never did come back, we�d see them now and again, in the distance. They were grumbling and unforgiving, but still surviving. The neighbors eventually forgave us, but it took a lot of mama�s magic from her kitchen and there was one holdout that never did forgive us, but that is another story. To this day I have never fed another duck and as far as I know dad never did show off his duck calling abilities again. And I can�t look a loaf of Wonder Bread in the face without wanting to burn down the bakery. biidaaban ps: QUACK!!! (thought i better say it b4 everyone else does) |