At four years old Brittany Susan Pierce was certain of one things, ducks would always be the one thing she could count on. It had started out so simply, her grandmother taking her to the duck pond every afternoon so long as it was warm enough for little Brittany to be outside. From two weeks old on, that was their routine almost every single afternoon. It was funny, like a pack of wolves the ducks had accepted Britt as one of their own.
They never angry quacked at her, never bit her, never ran away. They saw Britt coming and new one thing: bread, lots and lots of bread. Some little girls liked puppies, some bows and other fancy things, Britt loved Ducks.
Sitting in her usual spot closest to the water, Britt threw small pieces of bread towards the flock of ducklings that had surrounded her. The mothers floating carelessly in the water, almost as though they knew that they had a baby-duck sitter that wouldn't let anything happen to them.
Glancing up from throwing bread, Britt was shocked when she saw Quinn Fabary come running towards her. Normally the three girls went their own separate ways when they came to the park all together.
"Britt! Britt you have to come quick! It's one of the ducklings!"
Britt didn't have to hear another word, getting up quickly, she followed the other blonde, dropping the bag of bread she'd been shielding from the angry ducklings. Something was wrong with one of her ducks...her ducks...something was wrong. Nothing had ever been wrong with her ducks before...other then them flying off for the winter. The thought of it made her stomach swirl and tighten up all at the same time.
"What is it? Where is he? Which one is it?" Britt begged as she followed Quinn, stopping short once Quinn did.
"See! There! He's not moving, he's just huddled up...somethings wrong Britt! Fix it! You know how to fix the ducks! I didn't break him I swear!"
Britt moved past Quinn and looked closely at the smaller duck that was huddled up. She recognized him immediately. Norton. Her special duck. She wasn't surprised to see him under the tree or the way he was, he was a creature of habit and every day she could find him the same way. Britt started to laugh as she kneeled down beside the animal.
"Why? Why are you laughing! He could be dead!"
"Silly Quinnie!" Britt laughed "This is Norton, Norton always does this! It's his nap time, he's just sleeping. Duck's sleep in little balls like this. It's how they keep safe."
Suddenly the other blonde felt dumber then most people said Brittany was on a daily basis.
"Oh" Was all she could mutter.
Standing up Britt laughed and walked over to Quinn enveloping her in a big hug. So much for the fear that had been built up in her, for less then seven seconds.
"Don't feel stupid" Britt said as she pulled back, her eyes going back towards the group of ducks that had found the abandoned bag of bread and had gone after it. "We all make mistakes, but before we make another one...we need to go get that bag away from the babies before they decided to eat everything and the Mommy's get mad at me.