The Ducks

Barefoot I ran through the trees, crying out in pain as the rocks and roots jabbed into my flesh. My ankles sank into mud, throwing me off balancing and sending me crashing to the ground. I screamed and with a push, lifted myself off the mossy floor, and resumed racing through the woodland. The monsters chasing me gave out a battle cry. I could hear them approaching, their groaning getting louder.

“Honk…honk…”

With a burst of adrenaline, I ran faster, my body fueled by fear. The beasts’ webbed feet made slapping sounds on the dirt path.

“Go away, mother duckers!” I screamed, bending over quickly to grab a rock. I hurled it at the creatures’ heads, making them all the madder. “Seriously, I don’t have any food!” The beasts didn’t listen. They couldn’t even understand English for crying out loud. I started running again.

It’s not fair, I thought to myself. I didn’t even do anything. I was just with my writing group at Burke Lake! We were supposed to go off and write, but I stopped to feed the ducks. Now a whole platoon of geese and mallards were after me, hissing and cackling at me. Their demented red eyes pierced into my soul, wild with hunger. I cried aloud again and kept running, all the while thinking I was in some Alfred Hitchcock movie. The ducks surged after me.

“Help, help!” I shouted. “I am about to be killed by woodland animals!” I raced through the forest. Where was my writing group? Where was I? This place didn’t look familiar at all. I was lost, I tell you; lost! My heart pounded as fast as my legs.

“Honk…HONK!”

“Noooo!” I gasped as I fell down once more. This time I was too tired to even try to get up. I screamed loudly as the platoon of waterfowl came closer. Let my death be quick, please! I have a low threshold for pain.

A large gander came up to me. He thrust his face towards mine as his black beak opened in a long hiss.

“No, help! Please, go away!” I could hear the other beasts approaching. Smack, smack went their webbed feet. I covered my eyes as they surrounded me. I could smell them next to my body. Their scent was that of pond water and algae. I shook with anxiety-induced shivers. Let my death be quick. Please let it be quick.

“Melinda, get up!”

I slowly opened my eyes. “Huh?” And then I turned around to see Ellabeth and Rebecca staring at me. I launched upwards onto my feet.

“Oh my God, you saved me!” I cried, throwing my arms around them after seeing that the ducks had backed off a little. “Seriously, these ducks must’ve been on steroids or something, because they wanted to kill me!” Rebecca and Ellabeth grinned.

“Melinda, just calmly tell them to go away and shoo them off.” She and Becca both turned to the feathered beasts.

“Off you go now!”

“Shoo, shoo! There is no food here!” I watched as the platoon looked back and forth uneasily before slowly wandering off.

“There, see?” Rebecca said to me. “The Quack Pack is gone.”

“Thanks,” I replied quietly, and then the three of us started walking back to our group.

On the way there, Rebecca asked, “Melinda, why didn’t you tell anyone you had ornithophobia?”

I pouted. “I’m not afraid of birds; honest! If you were getting chased by these beasts, you would be scared too, that’s all…” A blue jay flew over my head and I screamed loudly, doing a jig whilst doing so. Ellabeth and Rebecca grinned.

“Whatever you say, Melinda,” Ella said and we continued back to the group.

Okay, so I was afraid of birds; so sue me! Others may see them as cute feathery friends, but to me, they are winged bringers of death. Those beasts were trying to kill me and that’s needed to all I know.