A Duck’s Sacrifice – Short Story
- February 2, 2016
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Our story begins in the magical forests where a duck was living along with her three children near a suburban area. Every day the duck went to town and bought food for her three children and that has been the pattern of their everyday life, living happily together until one shadowy night.
It started as what appeared to be a normal day. The mother duck got up and woke her children for breakfast. Soon after, the mother decided that it was time to go to the City as usual and buy food for the next day. However, before walking out, she was stopped by the youngest of her children, Sophie.
“Mom, I wish you would get me a present . . .” she said. “Me too!” shouted all the children at once.
After seeing their enthusiasm, the mother could only smile at the innocence of her children.
“How can I say no to them?” she thought. “Very well, I promise to bring you the best gifts I can!” The children screamed and cheered at the delightful response.
“Bye mom! Stay safe, I love you!” said one of the children.
Excited, they could barely wait for their mother to return.
The mother was walking ever so happily, but soon, her train of thought was cut by the raging sound of thunder. She looked up, staring at the clouds, and as she lowered her gaze, she was shocked to a see a bloodthirsty wolf staring at her.
“Oh no! What do I do now!” she thought.
“Going somewhere?” the wolf says sarcastically.
Time quickly passes, and the sun is almost set, and there were the children, patiently waiting in tears of excitement and joy as they wait for their mother’s return with gifts and food. But fate had decided otherwise…
As it was getting late, soon, the feelings of joy and happiness were quickly substituted for worry and sorrow.
“Mom’s late… this isn’t like her…” said Sophie.
“Maybe we should go look for her!” said one of the children.
“You’re right… we should” said the eldest as they decided to go outside and look for their mother.
As they went out of the house, they stood there ever so shocked due to what they saw. Their heart did not wish to believe what their eyes were seeing. A cold body, filled with open wounds, blood scattered everywhere . . . their mother, laying dead . . . after a coldblooded attack.
“MOM!!” they shouted as they rushed towards their mother lying in a pool of her own blood . . .
“N..no… go back… I.. its.. not safe…” she warned the children, but they did not listen… they would not listen. They rushed towards their mother, and tried desperately to bring her back to the house.
But as they were picking their mother up, they turned only to see their house surrounded by a pack of wolves, one, very familiar to the mother duck . . . it was the wolf that had once attacked the mother, and now returns to inflict death and finish where he once started, only this time with his entire pack as well.
“Oh oh oh, what do we have here… going somewhere?” said the pack leader, the same wolf that had attacked the mother duck while grinding his teeth.
Then came the hardest of trials of the mother, where words would not escape her lips, only tears. Tears she shed for the fate that she knew awaited her children. Tears that dropped in the knowledge that her children loved her so much that they would not heed her warnings.
But then the unexpected happened. Ruki, the eldest, bravest and most beautiful of her children, spoke, and where one flower should’ve fallen, there she stood, proud and strong in defiance of the pack’s tyranny, and an attempt to restore hope and wash away the teary eyes of her siblings.
“Stop it all of you!” she screamed at the pack. “If you think that you can scare us by doing whatever it is that you are about to do, you’re wrong.”
“If this is really our end, then I am thankful to meet the end without regret, without anything!”
The mother smiles, and tears keep falling down her face. And the children begin to tighten their grip and hold each other crying. Afraid but feeling overpowered by the words of Ruki.
“And if this is really the end, then we will meet it with our pride and with our mother! And be grateful to meet it and we’ll make it such an ending, that it would shake the skies from above!”
Upon hearing Ruki’s words, the children explode in tears… sorrowful tears… brave ones…
And as the wolves were getting prepared to attack, the pack leader smirked, then commenced the attack, and along with his pack of wolves . . . slaughtered all.