Summer Delight

This is in response to upsidedownbee's writing challenge from last Friday.  

club

metamorphosis

meow

sightless

Befuddle

 

            On the way to the club the other day, I saw a metamorphosis of monumental proportions taking place right before my eyes.  At the corner of Fifth Street and Church Streets the ducks were making their way across to the park.  The mama duck and her seven baby ducklings  had been crossing the street to get to the park’s pond for weeks now.  People from all over the county were coming to watch this mother Mallard lead her children from their nest in Old man Cameron’s yard to the pond across from his house.  It had made the front page of our hometown newspaper one day, and people began to arrive every morning about 10 am to witness the sweet procession.  The local police department had even sent Officer Hamilton down at a little bit before 10 am in order to direct traffic, and allow the mama duck to proceed to the park with her ducklings unimpeded.  I had taken the children to see this wonderful site about three times.  Summer vacation took on a whole new atmosphere when we first went to witness this site.  Sometimes she would hold up traffic by standing in the middle of Fifth Street chasing a wayward duckling and putting that charge right back where he or she was supposed to be.  It always amazed me how obedient the little ducks were when they would hear that now familiar Quack-Quacking of their mother getting them to focus on the task at hand. 

            On the way to the club, on this monumental day, we witnessed an even more unbelievable sight to behold.  The children and I had hopped into the car around 9:40 am in order to catch a glimpse of the duckling procession.  They had begged the night before to go to the pool at the club because some of their friends would be there.  What we saw was none other than a miracle, taking place before our eyes.  Officer Hamilton was in place waiting for Mother and duckling, and we were situated on the opposite corner from where Ole’ man Cameron’s house was in order to get the best seat in the house.  There were probably ten or twelve cars there on that particular day filled with excited children tugging at their mother’s clothes wanting to know where the mother “ducky” was.  She, the mother duck, seemed to be taking her own sweet time this particular day, for the clock in the clock tower down the street had already struck 10 am 15 minutes prior.  The children were getting worried about the ducklings and their fate.  Maybe she had been stolen, maybe she had been attacked by Mrs. McGuire’ s mean collie dog that lived next door to ole’ man Cameron’s house.  Just about the time when the children were at their most frazzled, we saw it happen, I should say we actually we heard it happening.  The mama Mallard was quacking frantically.  She began leading a very strange site in deed.  There before our eyes was a sightless, befuddled kitten in the back of her precious duckling procession.  The poor little dear was a mess.  She was dirty, meowing constantly, thin, and very bedraggled.  The mama duck was fussing up a storm for her newest charge to get in lock step behind her ducklings and proceed to the pond across Fifth Street.  The kitten was trying so hard to obey her “mother” but kept running into the her “siblings” that were ahead.  When she would bump into the duckling ahead of her, they would make a racket like you have never heard before, and Mama would waddle back to the kitten and scoot her along will her bill.  All of us watching this were absolutely astounded by what was taking place.  The Mama Mallard and her now eight babies were proceeding across the street to the pond in our park. 

            Once they made it across the street safely, Officer Hamilton stood there with his cap in his hands, scratching the top of his baldhead.  The businessman. Whom Officer Hamilton had stopped so as not to run into the phenomenon stood there and kept shaking his head from side to side.  Ole’ man Cameron stood up on his front porch from his rocking chair and gaped at the sight.  The mother’s and their children in and out of their cars did not have to keep their children quiet, it just happened automatically.  Even my squirming, fidgety three were amazed at seeing the newest member of the duckling family and were standing open mouthed at the site.

            We heard, that later that day Mrs. Stewart had gone to the pond, collected the blind kitten and taken it home to be a companion to her husband that is also blind.  They say that the Mama Mallard did not have a problem with Mrs. Stewart rescuing the kitten.  It was almost as if she knew in her heart that the little, blind kitten was going to be a light to Mr. Stewart, even though both of them lived in darkness. 

            One day in August, right before school started, Mama Mallard and her seven ducklings came no more to Fifth and Church Street or to the pond in the park across from Ole’ man Cameron’s house.  Officer Hamilton went back to his duties at the Police Department, mothers ceased to bring their children, businessmen crossed the street quickly now, and ole’ man Cameron continued his vigilant rocking, watching for the next miracle on Fifth and Church Streets.