The “House Critters” Ducky's Story

 

  Normally the house critters did things together, so where Henrietta Bobbie Bunny was so were the rest of the gang that included Blue Booby, Big Bunny, Ducky Duck and Rainy Reindeer. Today was going to be different as Ducky told them he was going to visit friends in the outlet.

  This might not sound like a big deal to you, but to a well feed house critter that could not fly very far it took planning. The big decision was where to cross the street, because the best place to cross did not get him to the best place for getting to the outlet. Living on East Main Street where there was not lots of traffic during the day meant that crossing in front of the house was best, but walking down East Main and crossing over Lake Street got him to the stairs that went down to the outlet. He thought about it and just could not make a decision when Blue, the actual flightless bird, mentioned sliding down the bank on the East Main side and coming home by way of the stairs and crossing Lake Street. Ducky liked that idea and when he heard Bob going out he waddled as fast as he could for the kitchen, so he could get out the back door and head to the outlet.

  Now crossing the street was the big issue, he looked both ways then back up the street, because that is where the cars would be coming from once he got halfway across the street. When it was clear both ways he did the same fast waddle as in the kitchen and soon was hopping over the curb on the other side of the street. He did not have far to go and with waddling and few short flights the way down to the outlet was soon in front of him. The path down was steeper than he expected and his walk soon turned into a tumbling duck that arrived in the water with lots of quacking and a big splash which got laughter from all the ducks already paddling about. Ducky saw a number of friends and made a few more, while the afternoon passed with lots of fun duck activities which included some insects and small fish to eat. When some of the other ducks started to leave to go to the lake he decided it was time to go home.  

  The trip back was scarier than going down as he first had to go under Main Street Bridge, which had been in place for well over a hundred years. There was a narrow opening made out of large stone blocks that had a curved ceiling to let trains go under the bridge. It was dark and creepy and seemed to go on forever with a bit of light at the other end. Ducky waddled so fast through the tunnel that he actually lost a few tail feathers. Now he was at the stairs and just hopped up them one at a time to get to Water Street, which he had to cross to get to East Main Street. This was a busy street and while thirty miles per hour may not seem very fast to you it is quite speedy to a duck trying to waddle across the street. He did the look both ways and then up the street for a safe crossing that he had been taught, but it seemed that every time he thought to go something else showed up. This went on for a bit when suddenly he got picked up from behind and taken across the street. He did not even quack, as he was so scared, but the girl that carried him across the street just put him down on the sidewalk, rubbed his head, told him to be careful, and walked down Water Street. Ducky gathered himself by shaking all over and went straight home thinking about what a fun day it had been and that he had made another human friend!