The Remorse Of Della Duck
"Mom, wake up!" shouted Turbo, jumping up and down on Della's bed.
Della opened her eyes to see her middle son staring down at her with a wide smile on his face.
"Good morning, Mom." said Turbo. "I'm your alarm clock this morning."
"Is that so?" said Della, playing along. "Well, I don't think my alarm is working properly. I'll need to check it." She playfully tackled Turbo and tickled his exposed belly. "I think there's some loose parts down here."
"Okay, Mom, I give up," said Turbo, laughing and kicking his webbed feet.
Della swung her legs over the side of the bed, and as she looked down, she felt something was wrong. She reached for her left leg, which was in one piece as it should be. She even experimentally wiggled her toes to confirm they were there.
"Turbo, I know this may sound strange, but...did I always have two legs?" asked Della.
"Uh..." Turbo hesitated, not sure what his mother was talking about. "Is that a trick question? Of course you've always had two legs."
"I'm sorry," said Della, with a laugh. "I guess I'm not fully awake."
Della approached her dresser and got out clothes to wear. Upon her dresser was a mirror, and as she looked at her reflection, she noticed something else was off. In the mirror, she saw she was wearing a necklace she did not recognize. The band was a short gold-colored chain, closely wrapping around her neck so the pendant up front would rest on her collarbone. The front had a gold plated amulet that looked like a disk with a red jewel at its center and a feather-like pattern surrounding the jewel in a mandala configuration. She put her finger to the amulet. It felt warm, but not from her own body heat.
"Hey Turbo, do you remember where I got this necklace?" asked Della.
"I don't know," said Turbo. "You've always had it. Are you sure you're feeling okay, Mom?"
"I'm fine," said Della, quickly changing the subject. "Go down to the dining room and tell Mrs. Beakley that I'll be down there in a minute."
"Okay, Mom!" Turbo ran out the door and down the hall.
Della watched her son with a smile that then changed into a frown when her focus again turned to the necklace. "Why can't I remember where I got this necklace?" Deciding it was not worth worrying about, she decided to just get dressed and go downstairs.
#
Wearing her typical aviator attire, she went down to the dining room where her family was waiting for her. Scrooge was at his usual spot at the front of the table. Donald sat at the table next to Scrooge with Della's seat across from him. Next to Donald was Webby, sitting across from Mrs. Beakley. And finally, seated on the same side of the table as Webby were her sons, Jet, Turbo, and Rebel.
"Good morning, boys," said Della. She leaned over and kissed Rebel on the forehead.
"Ew, Mom!" whined Rebel.
"Good morning, Turbo." Della leaned down and kissed him on the temple, and he happily accepted. "Good morning, Jet." She kissed him on the cheek. "And good morning to you too, Webby." She kissed her on the cheek.
Once Della was done sharing some love with the kids, she sat down on her seat and admired the spread before her. "Delicious! French toast served with fruit."
"I thought the boys might like something a little different," said Mrs. Beakley.
"Then let's dig in," said Della, holding up her knife and fork.
The family passed around the food, casually eating breakfast. It was when Della reached for the last of the syrup did Donald grab it at the same time.
"Della, I got it first," said Donald.
"No, I got it," said Della.
"I'll get some more syrup from the kitchen," said Mrs. Beakley. "In the mean time, Della has the last of the syrup."
"Awesome!" said Della, grabbing the syrup and pouring it onto her French toast.
"Oh sure, Della acts like a brat and she gets rewarded," whined Donald.
"When was I ever rewarded for being a brat?" asked Della.
"How about the time you nearly got yourself killed stealing the Spear of Selene."
Della hesitated. "The what?"
"You know, that space ship you took a joy ride in," said Donald. "You stole Uncle Scrooge's rocket ship, and when you got home, he didn't even slap you on the wrist."
"Mom flew a space ship?" asked Turbo, excited. "Tell us what happened."
"Oh, you should have seen it," said Scrooge. "I built the Spear of Selene as a surprise for Della, but she found out and decided to go for a test run. However, while she was in space, she ran right into a cosmic storm."
"A cosmic storm?" exclaimed Jet. "How could she have survived that?"
"It was amazing," said Scrooge. "She glided through the storm like she'd been training for it her whole life, whipping around each bolt until she emerged from the other side without a scratch."
Della looked at Scrooge, dumbfounded.
"Is that really what happened?" asked Della.
"Don't you remember, Della?" asked Scrooge. "Of course that's what happened."
"I...I don't remember any of it," admitted Della, worried. "In fact, I think the flight went a little differently."
"That's because that's not what happened," shouted a girl's voice from out of thin air.
"Webby, did you say something?" asked Della.
"No!" said Webby, confused. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I must be imagining things," said Della. She spent the rest of the meal quietly eating and listening. However, the voice did not come back.
#
After helping Mrs. Beakley clean up, Della went searching for the kids, feeling suspicious because of how quiet it was. Sure enough, she found them playing around in the garage, digging through the cardboard boxes.
"Kids, what're you doing in here?" asked Della, sternly.
"Uh, nothing..." said Rebel, tucking away the Medusa Gauntlet.
"We were just...uh...looking for old baby photos," said Webby.
"You kids weren't planning on pawning off some of Uncle Scrooge's stuff again, were you?" asked Della.
"No, of course not, we were just looking at old baby photos," said Jet, his gaze drifting off to the side in a way that suggested he was lying.
"Yeah...in fact, I found the photos," said Turbo, pulling out an old scrapbook.
"Well, if all you want to do is look at old photos," said Della, playing along, "then let's go into the study. We'll be more comfortable there than in a musky old garage."
"Yes, that's a good idea," said Rebel, barely managing to hide his annoyance.
Della led the ducklings into the study with the book in hand. The study looked like a small library with old wooden furniture and shelves of books. She set the scrapbook down upon a nearby table. The ducklings gathered around her as she opened the book to the pages containing baby photos.
"Aw, the boys were so cute," said Webby. "Look at this one with Turbo taking his first steps."
She was pointing to a picture of baby Turbo in diapers waddling toward Della's outstretched arms.
"Yes, he was cute," said Della.
"When did he take his first steps?" asked Webby.
"I..." Della hesitated. "I can't remember."
"Can't we move on to something else," said Turbo, embarrassed. "Look at this cute one with Jet eating spaghetti."
The picture he was pointing to showed baby Jet in a high chair, his face covered in spaghetti sauce and noodles.
"Hilarious!" said Della with a laugh.
"Geez, was I always such a messy eater?" asked Jet.
"I can't remember," said Della, struggling to picture anything from the boys' past. "It was a long time ago, I guess."
"Do we have any cute pictures of Rebel?" asked Webby.
"Uh...maybe we should skip ahead," said Rebel, flipping through the pages until he reached the more current ones.
"Look at this one," said Turbo, pointing to a picture of him holding the Druid's Cup, posing with Della beside him. "I remember that one. That was taken when I won that magical golf course. You were so happy for me, Mom."
"Yeah...I was." Della struggled to remember.
"But look at this one," said Rebel, pointing at a picture with a giant mummy and Rebel half buried in gold. "That's where we beat the mummy of Toth-Ra."
"I don't remember that," said Della. It was at that point that she noticed the necklace she was wearing was getting warmer like it was alive.
"What're you talking about, Mom?" said Rebel. "You were with me and Webby when we discovered the mummy was a fake. Don't you remember?"
"I..."
"Maybe you will remember this one," said Webby pointing to a picture of the whole family—including Della—posing from within the Money Bin with a huge hole in the wall behind them.
"I remember that," said Jet. "This was after we beat Magica after she broke into the Money Bin. You must remember this, Mom."
"I..." Della struggled. "I don't."
"Why not?" asked Turbo. "It happened less than a year ago."
"I don't know," said Della, beginning to panic. "This all sounds so unreal."
"That's because it's not real," shouted a girl's voice.
"Who said that?" exclaimed Della.
"Said what?" asked Jet, concerned. "Mom, maybe you need to lie down."
"Yeah, maybe you're right," said Della. "I'll just go to my room."
With the necklace growing hotter and seemingly starting to throb, Della ran up the stairs and into her room where she locked the door. She panted, pacing back and forth with her hands to her head.
"What's wrong with me?" said Della. "Why can't I remember?"
"Miss Duck!" said the voice.
"Leave me alone."
"Miss Duck, listen to me..."
"What's going on here? Am I going insane?"
"You're not insane. You're just trapped."
As Della grew more scared, she saw a humanoid aberration materialize in her room.
"Ack, a ghost," shouted Della. She habitually reached for her leg to use as a weapon, but then realized her leg was still attached. Before she could question why she would think she could take off her own leg, the aberration continued to grow more solid and opaque. Right before her eyes, a teenage girl dressed in a striped shirt and sneakers appeared out of thin air. The girl rapidly examined the room, looking dazed and confused.
"Wait a minute...!" said Della. "I know you. You're Webby's friend..." This time, the memory emerged much more easily. "Lena...That's your name, isn't it?"
"Yes, you remember me," said Lena, looking relieved. "Then there's still hope."
"Hope for what?" asked Della. "What's going on here?"
"Miss Duck, I know this may sound weird," said Lena, trying to be as gentle as possible, "what you are seeing is not real. This mansion and the people inside it are all a part of a dream."
"But my family..."
"Don't worry, they're all safe. It's you who's in danger, and I'm here to help."
"Well..." Della was so confused, "if this is all a dream, then how did I get here?"
"It's because of that thing," said Lena, pointing to the necklace.
The necklace immediately responded by throbbing even faster, and it was growing so hot against Della's neck that it was causing her to sweat.
"That necklace is called the Pendant Of What Could Have Been," said Lena. "Magica left the Pendant in Scrooge's mail as a trap for him, but instead, it latched onto you. As soon as it did, you were trapped in this dream world, an illusion born from your mind."
"Well, if it's holding me hostage," said Della, reaching for the chain, "then I am taking it off right now."
To her surprise, the chain was seemingly fighting back, pulling with equal force against Della, resisting coming off.
"Argh! Why won't this stupid thing come off?" shouted Della, finally giving up.
"It feeds off of negative emotions," said Lena. "There's something about you that drew the necklace to you. Is there something that makes you feel depressed or sad?"
"I don't think so. I mean...I feel fine here. I was just at the dining room table talking to the kids, and Uncle Scrooge was talking about the Spear of Selene and..." Della could feel her heart race. "The Spear of Selene... Uncle Scrooge was talking about it, said I flew it through space and came down safely, but I can't seem to remember it. Also, I was showing baby pictures of the boys, but I couldn't remember their childhood at all. Why can't I remember my own sons' childhood?"
"Because you weren't there for most of it," said Lena.
"Wait..." said Della as memories began to well up. "I did miss my boys' lives. I got into the Spear of Selene...then there was that cosmic storm...then the crash..." Della put her hand to her left leg. "I lost my leg. Then I was trapped on..." Gripped with fear, Della immediately shoved the memories aside, too scared to see where her memories were taking her.
"Here, Miss Duck," said Lena, holding out her hand. "I can help you remember."
"Well...maybe this isn't so bad," said Della, nervously.
"I don't think we have to draw out my memories just yet."
"Miss Duck, don't do this."
"This dream or whatever it is just seems to me like a perfectly fine place to live. I got my family and everyone's happy."
Lena began to fade out of reality. "Miss Duck, stop it."
"I-I mean...we don't have to dig up bad memories, do we?"
Before Lena could object further, she entirely disappeared.
"Lena, where'd you go?" asked Della. She noticed that her necklace had stopped throbbing and returned to its normal warm temperature. "Lena? Please answer me."
Not sure what else to do, Della went out to look for Lena. She searched the mansion, looking through every room, down every hallway, calling out for Lena and listening for her. It was while she was searching the pantry in the kitchen when she encountered Webby raiding the refrigerator.
"Hey Webby, do you know where Lena went?" asked Della.
"Lena?" asked Webby. "She's not here."
"Well, do you know where I can find her?"
"Never mind Lena, the boys have been looking for you."
Before Della could object, Webby took her hand and led her through the halls and out the door.
"Webby, I can't..." Della was led into the backyard where the triplets were armed with hockey sticks and batting a puck back and forth.
"Hey Mom, want to play with us?" asked Turbo.
"I really need to find Lena," said Della.
"You don't need Lena," said Webby. "You should be with your boys."
Webby shoved Della toward the triplets before skipping away back into the mansion.
"Come play with us, Mom," said Jet. "We are about to play a game of hockey but we need another player so we can have even teams of two."
Deep down, Della wanted to be there, even longed to be with her kids, but she knew this was wrong. More of her old memories were creeping back. The memories were too painful, but she couldn't bury them. The reality of what was going on was too much, and she couldn't fight it anymore.
"I can't play with you boys," said Della, "because I'm really confused."
"What's there to be confused about?" asked Rebel.
"I want to spend time with you three, but I..." Della was nervously fidgeting.
"Mom, what's wrong?" asked Jet.
Della put her hands over her ears, trying to tune them out, her head racing with confusing thoughts.
"What's going on, Mom?" asked Turbo.
"Yeah, what seems to be the problem?" asked Rebel.
Della was shaking with emotional agitation.
"Tell us what's wrong?" asked Jet.
"What's the problem?" asked Turbo.
"Just tell us, Mom," said Rebel.
"I'M NOT YOUR MOM," shouted Della.
There was a stunned silence. She could feel the necklace growing hot and throbbing again.
"What do you mean you're not our Mom?" asked Jet, concerned.
"What I mean is you're not real," said Della. "My real sons' names are Huey, Dewey, and Louie."
"But those aren't the names you gave us," said Rebel.
"I know it's not," said Della, angry. "In fact, I'm not supposed to have two legs or remember your childhoods, either."
"Why not?" asked Turbo.
"This all can't be real because..." the words caught in Della's throat.
"What's going on here?" asked Jet. "Why can't it be real?"
"BECAUSE I WAS STUCK ON THE MOON."
Della was horrified, not just from shouting at the boys, but from the sad memories that came back to her. Eleven years of despair, frustration, anger, danger, fear, and loneliness all came rushing back to her, and it was so overwhelming, Della couldn't stop the tears from dripping from her eyes. She ran away from the triplets, once again heading into her bedroom and slamming the door. She leaned against the wall with her hands to her head, feeling the growing migraine consume her.
"I..." Della was still sobbing. "I was trapped on the moon for 11 years."
"MISS DUCK!"
Della saw Lena phasing into existence. She looked like a blur, struggling to become solid. She reached for where Lena's hand was, ignoring the rebellious necklace, and clasped the insubstantial hand as if it was solid.
As Lena manifested back into a solid form, she continued to hold Della's hand, squeezing it tightly as if afraid she was going to be pulled out of reality again if she let go.
"What happened?" asked Della. "You suddenly disappeared."
"The necklace feeds off of your negative feelings," said Lena. "When you worried about learning the truth, it fed off of that, and it was able to push me away."
"Oh..." said Della, her eyes watering. "I'm so sorry."
"That's okay. You didn't do anything wrong."
"But I'm the reason why the necklace latched onto me." Della sat down on the bed with her hands in her lap.
"What's wrong?" asked Lena, sitting down next to Della. "Please tell me."
"The necklace latched onto me because of my regrets."
Lena put a sympathetic hand onto her back. "Go on."
"When I'm around my family, I'm happy and supportive, but deep down, I feel a lot of regret and sadness."
"Is it because of the Spear of Selene?"
"Yes! When I got onto that rocket, I only intended to be in space for a few hours. Instead, I wound up trapped on the moon for 11 years. Because of my mistake, I broke up my family, I caused them so much grief and sadness, and my boys grew up without their mother. All because of one stupid mistake, I caused so much pain, and I can't help but feel guilty about that."
"That was all in the past," said Lena. "You can't change it."
"That doesn't make the regret hurt any less," said Della, openly crying now. "Believe me, I tried so hard to just put it aside and move on, but no matter how hard I try to bury or rationalize it, it doesn't take away the pain of regret."
Lena swallowed a lump forming in her throat. "I know how you feel."
"How can you know how I feel?"
Lena fidgeted, embarrassed to admit her secret. "I'm the niece of Magica De Spell."
"Really?"
"She created me so I could help her get Scrooge's dime, and in the process, I made friends with Webby. At first, I only used Webby for my own ends, but when I realized Webby was showing me more love than Aunt Magica ever did, I turned on my aunt, but by then, it was too late. She was powerful enough to take control over me, and forced me to help her."
"Well, Magica clearly controlled you," said Della. "You had no choice."
"But maybe if I had acted sooner I could have stopped her," said Lena, on the verge of tears. "I try to tell myself it was all Aunt Magica, but I had my role to play, too. I lied to and betrayed my best friend, and I do feel guilty because of it, no matter how many times I tell myself it was not my fault. At times, I wished I could just curl up in a hole and escape all that."
"I know how you feel. Every time I forget a detail about my boys or had to be caught up on their childhoods, I'm reminded of my mistake. In this fantasy world, I can at least pretend like nothing happened, but in the end, it would all be nothing more than a dream to mask my guilt, not fix it."
"In a way, I had my own fantasy world, too. Back when I was Webby's shadow, at times, I felt safe in the Shadow Realm. I was in someplace where I couldn't hurt Webby. However, every time I saw her researching black magic in the library or see her cry herself to sleep, I couldn't help but be reminded of my past mistakes. Looking back, I secretly dreaded having to come back and face Webby with what I'd done to her and the McDuck Family."
"So how do you live with it? How do you live with yourself with that burden on your head?"
Lena had to consider her answer carefully. "I mostly just try to appreciate what I have now. I'm no longer under Aunt Magica's control anymore, Webby and the McDuck Family forgave me, and I have a new family who loves me for who I am. You have it good, too. You've been gone for 11 years, but your family treats you like you never left."
"I do have it good, but it doesn't take away the regret, either."
"No but it does put things in perspective. After all, you and I may not have a happy past, but we both have bright futures ahead of us. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we should learn from our past mistakes to make our futures better, not letting our guilt weigh us down."
Feeling more determined, Della stood up, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said, "You're right. I don't know if I can do anything about my past regrets, but that doesn't change the fact that I have my family now."
"That's the spirit," said Lena.
"My real boys need me," said Della, "and I will—"
Suddenly, the necklace tightened around Della's neck. Her words caught in her throat as she gasped for breath.
Lena telekinetically grabbed the necklace, and forced its grip to loosen.
Della took in a deep breath and inserted her fingers, clasping the necklace. She pulled. With Lena's help, the necklace was giving way.
Suddenly, the bedroom door opened. In stepped Jet, Turbo, and Rebel, looking at Della with sad faces.
"Boys!" exclaimed Della with shock.
"Mom, what's going on here?" asked Jet, his voice shaking with emotion.
"Don't leave us, Mom," begged Turbo on his knees.
"We love you," said Rebel, giving Della a hug.
Della felt a twinge of motherly love, but then her rational mind took over. She shoved Rebel away.
"You three are not my sons," shouted Della. "You are all fakes."
The triplets as well as the background itself were dissolving away like dust in the breeze, leaving behind a black void. It was now just Della and Lena fighting against the necklace. It was throbbing furiously, and was getting so hot that it singed Della's feathers. However, its hold was rapidly fading, and with a hard yank, Della ripped the chain on the necklace in two.
"I want my real life back," said Della to the still throbbing necklace.
She threw the necklace onto the solid void that passed for a floor, then stepped on it, cracking the jewel...
#
Della opened her eyes. She was lying on her bed. She looked over to Lena whose hand she was holding. Lena looked like she was waking up from a deep sleep.
"MOM!"
Out of nowhere, Dewey came running in and hugged Della. She quickly noticed the rest of her family: Huey, Louie, Webby, Scrooge, Donald, Mrs. Beakley, and Launchpad were all in her room, looking on out of relief. As Della sat up, she noticed the broken pieces of the necklace sliding off of her chest. As she swung her legs over the bed, she was relieved to see her prosthetic leg was back. Huey and Louie ran into their mother's arms to join Dewey, embracing her out of unadulterated relief. Della lovingly kissed her boys on their foreheads, overjoyed to see her real children.
"I'm so sorry I worried you all," said Della. "How long was I out?"
"It's only been a few hours," said Huey.
"And there's still time for the surprise," said Dewey.
"Surprise?" asked Della.
"We'll show you," said Louie.
#
Della was led down into the dining room, and upon arriving, she was amazed to see a large banner with the words "Happy Mother's Day, Della" written in colorful letters. On the table were presents and a large cake.
"Oh..." said Della, "I forgot today is Mother's Day."
"And we have a very special gift for you," said Donald, holding the largest present of them all.
Curious, Della took the present, and removed the wrapping paper to find a pink plastic box decorated in colorful flower patterns painted on the sides and lid. The box had chipped paint and traces of dust on the top, indicating the box was old and used. She opened the box, and to her surprise, she saw what looked like white cards with drawn images on them. She sifted through the cards, and each one was different. Some had crayon drawings. Others had pictures drawn with pencil, marker, or pen. Some were colored with paint or markers. Some had objects like magazine clippings, buttons, and uncooked mac 'n' cheese noodles glued to it. Some had well written text on it while others had broken or incomplete English writing. The one similarity that all of the cards had in common were they were all written by Huey, Dewey, and Louie as evident by the names written on the cards in varying degrees of quality.
"Uh...what's this?" asked Della.
"You see, Mom," said Huey, "because you weren't there for Mother's Day, we would instead celebrate by creating cards for you and put them in this box."
"But now that you're here," said Dewey, "we can now give you all the cards we made."
"As well as the new ones we made for you this year," said Louie.
All three boys pulled out their cards, and presented them to Della. Huey's card had a poem written on the front, Dewey's card had a crude drawing of Della fighting a reptilian monster with a sword, and Louie's card had a simple stick figure drawing of himself hugging Della.
Moved to tears, Della knelt down and gave each of her boys a loving hug.
"I love you boys so much," said Della.
"And we love you, too," said Dewey.
"Mom...do you regret all of the Mother's Days you missed?" asked Louie.
Della glanced at Lena, standing next to Webby, who gave her a supportive thumbs up.
"It doesn't matter if I missed a decade with you boys," said Della. "I got more coming up."
The End