The day started when I was out and about in the morning, and I saw two ducks swimming about in a small creek. That was the moment it all began. I looked at those two ducks, flapping around and being adorable, and I knew. I knew that my day would not be complete until I had fed a duck.
I went home and found a list online of things you can feed ducks, and as rice was the only thing on the list that I had available in my pantry, I went with that. So off I went, armed with my bag of rice and a willing spirit, to find the ducks in that same small creek.
This is when things started to go downhill. I drove to the creek where I had found the ducks that morning, but as I approached I noticed a large group of middle aged people sitting right by the creek having a picnic. I couldn't feed the ducks now! Not with all those people sitting right there! I imagined their judgmental faces as I squeezed past them to make my way down to the bank with my zip-lock bag of rice. They would think I was mental. I mean, if I had of been with a friend I wouldn't have minded so much. But I didn't want to be seen as some sort of lonely, crazy duck feeding lady. I drove right on past the creek. Attempt one to feed the ducks had failed, due to me caring to much about what some middle aged strangers thought about me.
Despite the rough start, I was still determined to feed a duck. There were plenty of other creeks and ponds around! Surely in one of the many other bodies of water, there would be a duck that would gladly accept the rice of friendship from me!
What happened next wasn't that interesting. It was basically this: drive to pond/creek, get out and look for ducks, find no ducks, get in car and drive to another pond/creek, repeat. After an hour of this, thats right, ONE WHOLE HOUR, I started to lose faith. My determination had turned to desperation. I started to feel a bitterness towards all ducks. Why were they tormenting me? All I wanted to do was feed them! Something in me snapped. This had become much bigger than just feeding a duck. It was about honour. It was about respect. "Damn it, ducks!" I thought to myself as I descended further into duck induced madness, "You think you can make a fool out of me? I'll show you! I'll show all of you!"
I drove to another pond, but unfortunately I missed my turn and ended up on a hill. No big deal, you might think, it's just a hill. You could just pull over and do a u-turn and go back to the pond. Except I couldn't. This hill was a trap. It just kept winding upwards, and there was literally nowhere to pull over or to turn. You just had to keep going up.
Again, if I was with someone this would have been fine. We would've had a good laugh about the lack of ducks to feed, and about being trapped on a hill. I imagine being trapped on a hill is fun when you have a friend with you. But when you're alone, and you're lost, and you are going higher and higher up what was turning into more of a mountain than a hill, and all you want to do is stop or pull over but you can't, it's not fun. It's freaking, terrifying. And because it was terrifying, I am not proud to admit it, but I did have a little cry.
Don't judge me. If you were trapped on a hill on your own after spending an hour trying to find a duck, you'd cry to.
Finally, after driving further and further up the hill for what felt like a lifetime, I found a place to pull over, make a u-turn and drive back down. I'd given up. My will had faded. No duck feeding was worth what I had just been through. I just wanted to go home. But then I found one last shred of hope. I would have to pass that other pond on my way home anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I would find the duck I had been searching for all afternoon.
If life was fair, I would've found a duck at that pond. Maybe even several ducks. And I would've spent what was left of my afternoon throwing rice out for them as they gobbled it up appreciatively. But life isn't fair. There were no ducks. I went home, disappointed and without having found a single duck.
And that's it. That is the story. Like I said, it doesn't have much point. But if you feel you must take something away from this story, take away this: Sometimes you'll have a goal and despite all your efforts, you might not achieve it when you thought you would. Life is unfair, but at least when it is unfair, you can sometimes end up with a mildly interesting story.
I went home and found a list online of things you can feed ducks, and as rice was the only thing on the list that I had available in my pantry, I went with that. So off I went, armed with my bag of rice and a willing spirit, to find the ducks in that same small creek.
This is when things started to go downhill. I drove to the creek where I had found the ducks that morning, but as I approached I noticed a large group of middle aged people sitting right by the creek having a picnic. I couldn't feed the ducks now! Not with all those people sitting right there! I imagined their judgmental faces as I squeezed past them to make my way down to the bank with my zip-lock bag of rice. They would think I was mental. I mean, if I had of been with a friend I wouldn't have minded so much. But I didn't want to be seen as some sort of lonely, crazy duck feeding lady. I drove right on past the creek. Attempt one to feed the ducks had failed, due to me caring to much about what some middle aged strangers thought about me.
Despite the rough start, I was still determined to feed a duck. There were plenty of other creeks and ponds around! Surely in one of the many other bodies of water, there would be a duck that would gladly accept the rice of friendship from me!
What happened next wasn't that interesting. It was basically this: drive to pond/creek, get out and look for ducks, find no ducks, get in car and drive to another pond/creek, repeat. After an hour of this, thats right, ONE WHOLE HOUR, I started to lose faith. My determination had turned to desperation. I started to feel a bitterness towards all ducks. Why were they tormenting me? All I wanted to do was feed them! Something in me snapped. This had become much bigger than just feeding a duck. It was about honour. It was about respect. "Damn it, ducks!" I thought to myself as I descended further into duck induced madness, "You think you can make a fool out of me? I'll show you! I'll show all of you!"
I drove to another pond, but unfortunately I missed my turn and ended up on a hill. No big deal, you might think, it's just a hill. You could just pull over and do a u-turn and go back to the pond. Except I couldn't. This hill was a trap. It just kept winding upwards, and there was literally nowhere to pull over or to turn. You just had to keep going up.
Again, if I was with someone this would have been fine. We would've had a good laugh about the lack of ducks to feed, and about being trapped on a hill. I imagine being trapped on a hill is fun when you have a friend with you. But when you're alone, and you're lost, and you are going higher and higher up what was turning into more of a mountain than a hill, and all you want to do is stop or pull over but you can't, it's not fun. It's freaking, terrifying. And because it was terrifying, I am not proud to admit it, but I did have a little cry.
Don't judge me. If you were trapped on a hill on your own after spending an hour trying to find a duck, you'd cry to.
Finally, after driving further and further up the hill for what felt like a lifetime, I found a place to pull over, make a u-turn and drive back down. I'd given up. My will had faded. No duck feeding was worth what I had just been through. I just wanted to go home. But then I found one last shred of hope. I would have to pass that other pond on my way home anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I would find the duck I had been searching for all afternoon.
If life was fair, I would've found a duck at that pond. Maybe even several ducks. And I would've spent what was left of my afternoon throwing rice out for them as they gobbled it up appreciatively. But life isn't fair. There were no ducks. I went home, disappointed and without having found a single duck.
And that's it. That is the story. Like I said, it doesn't have much point. But if you feel you must take something away from this story, take away this: Sometimes you'll have a goal and despite all your efforts, you might not achieve it when you thought you would. Life is unfair, but at least when it is unfair, you can sometimes end up with a mildly interesting story.
