A Frog and a Duck

For my grandchildren...

A frog and a duck, a frog and a duck,
Woke up one morning sure out of luck,
Their pond had dried up, their pond had dried up,
Where would they live, with what would they sup?

It was a revolting development to be sure.

Splash, the duck, looked around. What had been their home was gone -- water gone, reeds wilted, insects vanished! All in one night-time. She wondered what to do. She looked around for her friend the frog, Geraldine. All she could see was two eyes peaking out from a lump in the bottom of what had been their home.

Geraldine didn't like to face problems; she most often retreated into the dirt and covered herself up, thinking no one could see her and she wouldn't be called upon to do anything. But Splash knew Geraldine was okay, and up to her old tricks -- they had been friends for a long time.

Splash was not like Geraldine. Her mother had taught her to take wings against a sea of troubles, or even a pond of troubles, and she spied what looked like a sign she had not noticed before, where the pond that was had emptied out onto the meadow.

Splash had taken English as a Second Language when she was a duckling, and she remembered how to sound out small four letter words. She also knew a little Spanish and could say a few phrases like, "Where is the ladies' room? Donde esta la bano? And, How much does this cost? Quantos? And Too much! No mas!" -- so she could manage to get by under ordinary circumstances in border towns.

Let's see, the sign said: The Road Back.

Splash sounded it out. The "The" was easy enough. "Qu-- row- ded -- Qu ack". That sounded pretty close. She was mostly sure about "Road" and everyone knows that roads go somewhere and are traveled by both man and beast, and automobiles and all sorts of vehicles, so that was at least an option.

She waddled back to the lump in the bottom of the pond that was her friend Geraldine and kicked sand in her friend's eyes and said, quite smartly, "Get up! We are leaving. There is a road that will go somewhere, and anywhere is better than here, so let's get going."

Geraldine took directions well and she hopped out, shook herself off, rubbed the sand out of one of her eyes, and she was all packed up and ready to go.

The two friends waddled and hopped out through the slough and found themselves on a dusty path, strewn with boulders and potholes. It was tough making progress until Geraldine, who was closer to the ground, noticed a barditch beside the path, and it had some water in it, enough for Splash to float in if she propelled herself with her orange duck feet. Splash was more at home in the water than she was on land, anyway, and she complimented Geraldine on her acuity and told her to hop onto her back, and away they went going in the proper direction to their new home, wherever that turned out to be.

They traveled the better part of the day. Now, everyone knows that if you are in strange places, it is best to stop before dark and make a shelter, and that is what they did. Splash noticed a tree overlooking the ditch that had an abandoned wood duck nest in it. She was a wood duck herself, a bilingual one at that, so she flapped her wings and was up in that nest: Splutt! Just like that. Left alone, Geraldine found a hollow at the base of the tree and she settled in for the night too.

Before long, it began to rain. Isn't that the truth? Just when you think you have it made for the evening, it starts to rain and everything has to change around. It didn't bother Splash particularly, but the wind began to blow too, and a gust just flipped her out of her nest

and she found herself on the ground beside Geraldine. So Splash did what ducks have always done, she stretched a wing out over Geraldine, tucked her head under her other wing, and settled in.

Now I have spent a lot of time myself, when I was very little, sheltered under a duck's wing. Oh yeah, you say? Well let me tell you -- it is soft under there with the tiny downy feathers under her armpit covering you like a comforter, and the warmth of her body and sound of her beating heart, kerthump, kerthump, lulling you into dreamland, and the strong waterproof flight feathers keeping out the frigid wind and water. You can't find a nicer spot in a five star hotel. Take my word for it. If I had to describe it with one word, it would be Ducky; that's it.

They spent the night warm and cozy and were quite ready for the sunrise. Geraldine found a nest of termites and she breakfasted on them; Splash pulled up some cattails growing beside the barditch and she feasted too. They were ready for whatever that day had in store for them.


Splash noticed that the barditch grew wider, and deeper, and she no longer had to push with her orange duck feet to glide them along.

As a matter of fact, the current had taken hold of them and they were almost hydroplaning across the top of the water; Splash was horrified to see that the water disappeared into a culvert and she did not see where it resurfaced.

So she used one of her orange duck feet as a rudder, and she spewed herself (with Geraldine hanging on for dear life) out onto the bank just before the culvert swallowed the water up. Boy, that was a close one. They took time to rest before they reconnoitered.

They found that the water hadn't just disappeared, it came out a few yards down the hill and ended up in a waterfall.




Splash walked very carefully up to the head of the water fall, and there -- there was -- a beautiful lake. She heard the croaking of about a hundred frogs, and overhead was a flock of ducks, like herself, circling, circling about.


One of them, a young drake, had spied her, and came down and landed close to them.





"Quack," he said, and Splash thought to herself that she would have to teach him to speak properly, but he looked very dapper and she stopped thinking about language and began to feel a very warm feeling in her heart that she had never felt before.



Geraldine, in the meantime, dove into the cool water of the lake and was busily swimming towards the croaking of her kind. She turned her head and was intent on saying "See You Later,", but she noticed that Splash's attention was directed towards the drake, and understanding beyond her years, Geraldine turned back and continued swimming towards the sound she all of a sudden understood.




There were willow trees, rushes, and flowers.
There were shiners, and worms, and butterflies.
The sun shone in a quiet, warm, neighborhood manner.
There was no conflict.
So this story has ended.