A Question of Love

By: Phoenix Ride

Ch.1: The Unanswered Question

Pain flooded through his blue eyes as Donald Duck slowly shook himself awake and struggled desperately to stand. Darkness consumed every corner of the room around him, not letting in even an inkling of light.

"Where am I?" Donald thought, trying to make sense on how he could have ended up in a black and eerie place.

There were no signs of light in this darkness, no life, no sound, except for that of a distant thunder, beating loud like the banging of a thousand drums.

The thundering noise disturbed Donald, as he slowly felt his mind focus in on its rising tempo. The more he listened, the more nervous he began to feel. Sweat started to pour down his white feathers as the icy grip of fear suddenly clutched his heart.

This noise was eerie, evil, signaling of doom! Desperately Donald tried to cover his ears, begging with all his heart for the thundering noise to finally stop.

"Stop! Stop!" he screamed in his mind, but the noise didn't obey and only increased.

Suddenly, Donald was aware of something sloshing around his legs, and looked down to see water slowly rising up above his feet.

"Wha? Where did this come from?" Donald wondered, confused, before a massive tidal wave suddenly slammed into him from the abyss, pulling him off his feet, dragging him in a powerful current that raged and whirled like a beast.

Instantly, the poor duck found himself buried deep underwater, struggling to breathe against the terrible tide that was threatening to take his life away. He had to find his way back up to the surface and fast, before all hope was gone for good.

Paddling desperately with his arms and legs, Donald fought bravely against the current, trying to control the direction of his swim.

There were dark shapes bulging in the water, which he could only assume to be rocks, rocks that lay scattered out near an edge, that Donald knew could only mean a deadly fall to his doom.

Fighting hard, Donald tried to grip firm onto the rocks as the water swept him past. Once. Twice. Three times he failed!

The waterfall was aiming ever closer! For a fourth time Donald reached, and this time, finally managed to maintain his grip.

With great relief, his beak finally broke the surface, as he gasped in a mouthful of fresh, mostly damp, air. The current still pulled harshly at his body from below, pushing him towards death, mocking his desperate attempt to live.

"Help! Help!" Donald screamed out into the dark, hoping that someone would hear his cries and at least try to save his life.

"Uncle Donald!" suddenly called out a trio of voices, which made the panicked duck greatly sigh with relief.

He could see the riverbank now, with his nephews standing along the edge. His boys were here now, they would save him, and when they did Donald would be extremely grateful to them all.

Within seconds, a rope was thrown into the water, and slithered near Donald's rock, touching the white-feathered duck's side.

Exchanging his grip on the rock for that of the rope, Donald clutched the finely woven strands tightly in his hands, and waited for the boys to start hauling him to shore.

However, by the time Donald had grabbed the rope, the look that was in his nephews eyes had changed. What once held care and worry had now changed into anger and disgust. No love could be found in those eyes, and Donald could feel a sharp, stinging pain clawing deep into his heart.

No love. No life. Always looked down on… Alone… No one cared…

The rope was let go, and Donald screamed as he plunged over the waterfall and fell deep into the abyss, drowning in the dark.

His screams faded. His throat seized. And Donald Duck woke up, starting back to reality, his eyes wide with fear.


Clank…went the refrigerator, as moments later Donald Duck went into the kitchen to pour himself a drink, in hopes of erasing the nightmare that had plagued his mind.

Oh, if only that dream had been just a nightmare, but it was real, and it had happened today.

Earlier this morning, his nephews had come to him asking if they could keep a stray dog. Donald was very adamant with his answer and said "No!", demanding that the dog be taken back to wherever it was found.

But not long after they left, Donald discovered that there was a reason to keep the dog, and went after his nephews to get him back. The plan didn't go well, and Donald ended up falling into the river, nearly plunging over a waterfall to his death.

The only reason he had managed to make it out alive was because his nephews were able to rescue him in time, as long as their one condition was met.

The nightmare was a disturbing reminder to Donald on how his fate could have been, if he hadn't agreed that his nephews could finally keep the dog. Would they have abandoned him to plunge straight over the waterfall? Was he so worthless that a mere mutt was considered more valuable than his death?

Huey, Dewey, and Louie never revealed what the answer would be. The question still hung in the air, unanswered, but shadowed a foreboding thought that the answer could be true.

Sighing deeply, Donald fingered the milk that he had just poured, watching the ripples resonate as disturbing thoughts turned back in his mind.

He loved his nephews dearly, but did they love him in return?

Donald still remembered the day when he had been forced to raise them.

One night, his sister Della, had left the three babies crying on his doorstep, no longer able to provide for them on her own. They had been abandoned into Donald's care, and Donald was angry yet joyful at the same time.

Taking care of his nephews had proved to be a hassle, and more than once the little tikes would get on Donald's nerves. But despite his angry outbursts, Donald loved them with all of his heart. He cared whether they all would live or die.

Briefly, Donald's mind flashbacked to when he was working as a truant officer and tried to get his boys to go to school. They had resisted, locking themselves in a cabin, and he tried to smoke them out.

When he finally got inside, he had been tricked into believing all three of them were dead, and that he was accidently responsible for the crime. Needless to say, he was very mad when he figured out what they had done.

That was cruel, even for them! But what they could have done today had been the cruelest. Again Donald shivered as he thought of the waterfall, and how close he had come to death.

"Oh, what did I do wrong?" sighed Donald, sipping his milk " Do they hate me? Maybe I'm not meant to be a parent at all."

Releasing another sigh, Donald sank his head down, little knowing that a little pair of ears had listened in, hiding in the shadows.


Meanwhile, up in the attic, where the boys stayed, Huey and Dewey were busy playing with Alley, the stray dog they had found wondering the street. The yellow retriever was great fun to be around with. Definitely worth for asking to keep.

Who could have believed that only moments ago, Uncle Donald had been asking them to give that dog away. Alley's home was here now, and the nephews would sure that she would stay.

"Hungry girl?" asked Huey, speaking to Alley " Don't worry, soon Lou will be back from the kitchen with grub, hang tight okay."

"Yip, yip!" said the dog.

"If I'm not mistaking" said Dewey " I think I hear our brother coming up now."

Dewey was right, and soon Louie appeared, without the food he was sent to retrieve. Instead, the little duck's face was filled with sadness and guilt, and the brothers knew instantly that something was wrong.

"Hey Lou, what the problem man?" asked Huey " Was there no food in the kitchen?"

Louie just shook his head "No".

"Okay" said Dewey, trying to figure out why his brother was depressed " could you go back and get some?"

Again Louie shook his head, and stalked over to his green-colored bed, his dark expression growing even worse.

Huey and Dewey just stared in silence, waiting for their brother to talk, as Alley walked over and rubbed her nose against the green-clothed duck's leg. Finally, Louie managed to give the barest of expressions, and gave Alley a pat on the head before looking to his brothers with his eyes.

"Did we do the right thing?" Louie asked, tears lining up along his eyes edge " Keeping Alley I mean."

"What are you saying? Of course we did!" said Huey "We couldn't leave her out there all alone."

"Even if our methods were a little irrational," said Dewey.

"That's what I'm talking about!" said Louie "Did we really have to leave Uncle Donald to almost die?"

"What?" said both brothers, suddenly stunned to silence by Louie's words.

"We almost traded Uncle Donald's life to keep Alley" said Louie " what kind of people would do that?!"

"Come on Lou" said Huey, walking up to place a calming hand on his brother's shoulder " You and I both know that we would have never left our uncle to drown."

"Yeah" said Dewey " he may be cranky, but we love him to much for that."

"We didn't act like we loved him today," said Louie.

"Cheer up" said Huey, going over to his bed " we'll make it up to him tomorrow. Come on Alley, you can sleep with me."

"No fair!" said Dewey " I want to sleep with her!"

Moments later, the lights went out, and all of the nephews slept peacefully in their beds, but Louie's sleep was restless as his Uncle Donald's unanswered question flowed through his mind.

If he hadn't said "Yes" to keeping Alley, would they have left him to fall?

Louie snapped awake suddenly as the nightmares began. Quietly, the young duck cried, thinking of the result.