Dances With Ducks

"Quack" (as defined by Dictionary.com):

1. to utter the cry of a duck or a sound resembling it.

2. a fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill.

I decided to go out for a walk to get my creative juices flowing. I usually jog, but I thought I'd walk, just for a change of pace. Walking down and around the block, I eventually stumbled upon a family of ducks.

The greatest thing about them was their confidence. They strutted down the middle of the street, ten of them, unaware of the dangers the road has to offer. I spotted them from maybe fifty feet away (maybe less, I'm no mathematician).

It was clear they had a matriarch, as her head surpassed all of theirs in height, if even by only a half inch. Their heads bobbed almost in unison as they crossed the street diagonally, and I followed them, eagerly wondering where they were headed. I justified my presence around them as a sort of protector, a shepherd (or a duckherd, if there ever was such a thing).

They hopped from the street onto the curb in order, creating a sort of jazzy beat as they ascended. Their twenty webbed feet pitter-pattered on the concrete sounding like an army of disorganized babies wearing little boots, or the sound of a rainy day, as heard from outside, inside.

I followed them for a short while. I had no means of keeping track of the time, but I knew couldn't have been following them for too long. I found them around the sunset, and it was dusk when we parted ways.

One thing that fascinated me about them was their zen level of patience. While they were crossing another street, I waltzed around them to the other side. They noticed me standing there and waited. One of them sat down. The leader was just a foot or so ahead of them, and they wouldn't budge until she did. Once I moved back behind them, they continued on their way.

We eventually walked by a house with a 50's retro feel. The ducks took a particularly peculiar interest in it. Without hesitation, they veered left toward one of its gates that visibly led to the backyard and ducked their heads as they "covertly" sneaked in. They stopped, looked around, dumbfounded. To their left was a green recycling bin and right side of the house. To their right, a massive brick wall. But they were curious, or maybe they smelled something delicious in the backyard. Either way, they ventured deeper onto the property, and I wasn't going to follow them. I realized it was time for me to duck out.

Quack Quack,
-Philip