What the Ducks!

Humans don’t get it.

What do you mean putting us to bed early is not a game?  Don’t you want us to run away when you try to catch us?

There you were, on your own because that smaller one who usually helps with pen-up had gone to the movies with her dad.  You said, no prob, I can handle it but you didn’t count on the rain coming earlier.  Or the wind.  Better get those ducks inside before the storm gets any stronger, right?

Ha!

Well, you started out easy:  Gladys.  You scooped up sweet Gladdy, popped her into the coop and thought you were doing fine.

Right.

Then you snagged Bonnie, a bit slower than usual–though not any less feisty!– and, okay, two down, two to go.

Then the droplets turned to downpour and as you slalomed on the wet lawn, it may have struck you then:  If you couldn’t get us all inside, you’d have to leave two or, worse, one duck alone.  Unpenned.  In the dark.  At the raccoon hour.

Say, what time was that movie getting out???

Using all the powers of your non-avian brain, you forged ahead– cutting Puff off from Fannie and with some huffing and, er, puffing, managed to safely capture and deposit her.

And then there was one.

Come to think of it, leaving the biggest, toughest, strongest one for last may not have been your best strategy.  In fact, seeing what you were up to may even have given Fannie an edge.  Wasn’t the idea to see how many times you could circle the pen before the human caught you?  Like maybe five or ten or more?

Meanwhile, from inside the coop’s confines, we cheered our still-free sister like fans at a triple-A baseball game.  Hooting and hollering, we egged Fannie on and she gleefully waddled you a wacky race.  And she was winning.

Then, finally, when you couldn’t take another near-spill in that lovely bit of mud, you threw yourself in Fannie’s general direction, swiping the air as you missed her one more time and, in total and complete exasperation, shouted in a Very Loud Voice, a single, simple word:

STOP!

So, Fannie stopped.  And, before she could change her ducky mind, you swooped down and nabbed her, into your arms and into the coop where we greeted her with quacky acclamations.  But admit it.  You probably felt more than a little silly.

Never occurred to you to just ask, did it?

Copyright 2014, Lori Fontanes