David the Yellow Duckling

A modern children’s fairy story written March-April 2004 in Bristol, England by Philip Graves.

Story commissioned by Siham [born c. 1983], a citizen of the Netherlands, for a charity book intended to be gifted to child refugees from the 2004 Al Hoceima earthquake that struck Morocco that February, with the loss of 630 lives, and of the homes of about 15,000 people.

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There once lived a happy family of ducks upon a beautiful lake in the countryside. Daddy drake was a fine drake with a majestic green head. Mummy duck was his beautiful wife, with a wealth of warm white feathers and a pretty beak. David was their baby duckling, just four weeks old. He was always very noticeable to the other ducks in the lake because of his unusual colour: David was covered in yellow feathers from his head to his webbed feet! The other ducks gossiped to each other and quacked at him as they went past. Some of the drakes were jealous of his unusual beauty. Others regarded him as a misfit because he was a different colour from the rest, and were hostile towards him; but good Daddy drake scared them away and protected David from any harm. The young female ducks admired him and watched him with interest.

Life on the lake was calm and tranquil for everyone. Each day, Daddy drake and Mummy duck woke early in the morning and took turns swimming around catching food to keep them and baby David sustained and nourished through the day, while whichever of them was not currently out hunting for food stayed behind with David to make sure he was safe. Once they had caught enough food to last them for the rest of the day, they all huddled together in the afternoon and rested in blissful contentment in their very own quiet corner of the lake. Then in the evening they often swam out adventurously to other areas of the lake to take exercise and to explore and watch the other ducks.

*****

The ruling duck of the lake, King Claudius, was a noble, kindly drake with an upright, graceful posture on the water and an air of worthy regality. The ducks of the lake had enjoyed seven years of peace under his rule, but now his vision was failing and his joints were becoming sore and tired. He no longer had the energy to patrol the lake every day and make sure all the ducks were treating each other well. Daddy drake was a good friend of King Claudius, and kept a careful watch over developments on the lake on his behalf. Now that the King was no longer able to check on the lake himself, Daddy had the habit of swimming over to where Claudius dwelt every Sunday to inform him of any important news affecting the harmony and peace on the lake that Claudius might need to know. King Claudius was very grateful to Daddy drake, and had publicly named him as his chosen successor, to whom the rule of the lake would be handed over the day he (the King) lay dying. The ducks of the lake all approved of Daddy drake and were pleased by the thought that on Claudius’s death Daddy would take over the reins of goodly rule.

In the increasingly unpoliced, permissive climate afforded by The King’s declining health in his old age, a group of younger drakes who resented King Claudius’s power formed, and became increasingly savage and threatening to the local ducks in the area of the lake where they were based. Daddy warned King Claudius about them, but the King was by now too tired and unwell to face them, and merely trembled and wept at the news, without taking any action. The drakes knew of Daddy’s favour with the King, and hated Daddy, since they wanted power themselves. So they plotted against him.

*****

One Tuesday afternoon, the leader of the savage gang of drakes, a young adult drake who was especially jealous of the admiration David duckling received on account of his yellow feathers, hatched a plan out of spite for Daddy drake and David duckling. The drake, whose name was Duncan, carefully planned to kidnap David the following morning while Daddy drake was out catching fish, then to pull David away by the scruff of his neck and set upon him with the rest of the gang of drakes and pluck out all his handsome yellow feathers!

Duncan’s drake-friends agreed to the plan, and scoffed at the fate that would surely befall young David, since they too had been jealous of him for a long time. And oh, how this would hurt Daddy drake’s feelings! They wanted to wear down Daddy’s resolve to serve as the new King of the lake, leaving him a sad and broken man, and laughed with malicious pleasure at the prospect.

“Not long before the lake is all ours!” scoffed Duncan, cackling diabolically.

*****

As the following morning came, Daddy drake woke up early as usual, kissed goodbye to Mummy duck, and told David duckling, just as he told him every morning, to be very careful and stay close to Mummy.

“I will!” replied David, and smiled at Daddy drake one last time before Daddy drifted off to the feeding areas of the lake to catch the morning’s haul of live food for the family.

That morning, Mummy duck was tired. She had slept poorly from bad dreams. She had a feeling something was not right, but didn’t know what. She took David to her side, lowered her head into her feathers, and drifted back to sleep again.

All this time, Duncan drake was watching with two of his scouts from a nearby lookout point. Seeing Mummy duck apparently asleep, he signalled to the others with a whistle to wait for him, and drifted stealthily and silently over the water towards Mummy and David.

As Duncan drake arrived by David’s side, he could hear Mummy duck snoring. She was fast asleep. David duckling was resting his head on Mummy’s feathers, with closed eyes, listening to the birdsong and wind rustling the trees in the beautiful open sky above. Poor David was completely unprepared for Duncan’s plans.

Duncan drake craned forward his slender beak unnoticed, and grabbed hold of David by the neck, then pulled him away with a quick tug from Mummy’s side. This woke Mummy up with a start, so Duncan accelerated rapidly away from the scene, pulling poor David along with him. Mummy squawked angrily, and set off in pursuit of her baby.

As Duncan passed by his two scout drakes again, he whistled at them more loudly, squinting in the direction of Mummy duck as she pursued him. The two scout drakes raced into action, directly into the path of where Mummy duck was swimming, and blocked her from advancing any further. Poor Mummy tried hard to push her way onward between them, and bit at the young drakes furiously, but they determinedly clung onto her and stopped her advancing any further. Mummy duck cried, as she was overcome by the drakes and could no longer chase after Duncan to recover her baby.

The scout drakes, whose names were Ned and Jim, whispered to each other, wondering what to do with Mummy. How could they go back to their gang where Duncan was taking David, without Mummy following?

“We’ll have to kill her” said Ned, who was a senior member of Duncan’s gang, and had few qualms about doing whatever was necessary to uphold its aims.

Jim, who was the younger of the two scout drakes, and had only been a gang member for a few weeks, complained.

“That’s a wicked idea!” he quacked back at Ned, in horror.

Ned glared angrily at Jim, and continued severely: “If you don’t co-operate, I’ll have to kill you too!”

At this, Jim swam away, wanting to play no further part in Duncan’s and Ned’s evil plan. He began to cry, and regretted that he had ever joined Duncan’s gang.

Ned was shocked to see Jim defecting, and let go of Mummy duck as he wondered what to do next. Quickly he set off along the lake again and chased after the younger drake to stop him doing any further damage to the gang and its aims.

Meanwhile Mummy duck took advantage of the opportunity to swim away, heading back in the direction of the part of the lake that was her family’s home. She knew that Daddy would be back soon, and needed to tell him what had happened to David. Duncan had escaped out of sight across the lake into the distance while she was being restrained by the scout drakes; and she had no hope of finding him and recovering him on her own now.

*****

At length, Duncan arrived back at his gang base on the other side of the lake. A gaggle of other drakes who were all members of his gang quacked approvingly at the sight of his return with the prize he had sought. Duncan deposited David among them, stood back, and signalled to the first drake in line to pluck out David’s first yellow feather.

Poor David was exhausted; and his neck was sore. He was lost and had no idea what to do. Where was Mummy? Where was Daddy? Why was he now without them, and among all these hostile drakes? He cried.

The drakes laughed at him uproariously, and began taking turns to pull out his yellow feathers. With each feather they removed, David felt a tug of pain on his back, side or front where it was plucked out. The drakes had no mercy, and continued to pull out his feathers until every last feather from his body was gone. He was now just a bare duckling, unprotected against the weather, and with all his fine yellow feathers scattered on the surface of the lake.

Duncan laughed and applauded the efforts of the other drakes.

“Now little yellow-head is the ugliest duckling in the whole lake! All the girl-ducks will laugh at him, and he will find it difficult to swim!”

The other drakes laughed loudly in a chorus, and patted Duncan on the back. Then Duncan pulled David away one last time to an abandoned corner of the lake, far from where any of the other ducks lived, and dropped him under the trees to die from hunger. Next, Duncan swam back to the base of his gang again, and told the other drakes of how he had left David all alone.

“He will be dead within three days!” laughed one of the other drakes; and the others all agreed. Together all the drakes in the gang celebrated, and feasted on twice as much food as usual, pleased with themselves for what they had done to David duckling.

*****

Mummy duck had been waiting anxiously in her corner of the lake for Daddy to return. When Daddy arrived back with a large haul of fish and other food to eat, Mummy greeted him with sad eyes, and told Daddy what had happened to David.

Daddy was horrified. He had enough food for Mummy, for himself and for David. But now David was gone.

Dolefully, Daddy and Mummy ate all the food between the two of them, and hoped this would give them enough extra energy to search for David and overcome his captors the following day. They moved to a different part of the lake where Duncan and his friends would be less likely to find them, and went to sleep early together, bewailing their lost son, and planning to wake up very early the next morning and set off in search of David.

*****

Ned had caught up with Jim, and overpowered him.

“Nobody leaves Duncan’s gang and is heard from again!” spoke Ned, menacingly. With no mercy, he drowned Jim under the water and left the young drake floating lifelessly on the surface of the lake for the birds of prey to devour. Ned swam all the way back to the gang of drakes, and told Duncan proudly of how he had killed Jim after Jim refused to kill Mummy duck.

Duncan was shocked at first to hear what had happened, but congratulated Ned on doing a good job. However, he was worried to learn that Mummy duck had escaped, as she had been very angry.

That night, it was Duncan’s turn to dream bad dreams. He slept very little; and in the morning the other drakes mocked him because he lacked his usual dynamism and vigour and appeared to be a drunken fool. They could not respect him in this state as their leader.

Even Ned laughed at Duncan; and with some of the other drakes he plotted to kill his leader and take over as the head of the gang. They whispered instructions to all the drakes in the gang quietly, and swam a short distance away from the area for a conference among the trees at the lakeside as Duncan slept.

*****

Daddy and Mummy, who had been out on the lake since the crack of dawn after their early night’s sleep, arrived at the headquarters of Duncan’s gang of drakes, and were surprised to see just Duncan there on his own.

Mummy pointed to Duncan and said ‘That’s him! He is the one who took our baby away yesterday!’

The stirrings of an inner fury arose within Daddy’s normally gentle temperament as he heard this from Mummy duck and looked on at the captor of his baby son; but Daddy remained calm and collected outwardly, and approached Duncan in silence, just as Duncan had approached Mummy and David the previous day.

Daddy craned his beak towards Duncan, then pulled him by the scruff of the neck, waking him up with a sudden start! Duncan, who was still sleepy, stood wide-eyed and helpless, taken entirely by surprise, and frightened for his life as he saw Daddy drake leering over him.

“WHERE IS MY SON?” interrogated Daddy drake. Tell me NOW! Have you killed him?”

Duncan, who was really a coward, despite all his bravado, trembled in fear, and shook his head.

“WHERE IS HE? What HAVE you done with him?” continued Daddy, gripping Duncan more tightly about the neck.

Duncan, fearing that Daddy drake would kill him, nodded in the direction of where he had taken David, and pleaded for mercy, promising that David was still alive. However, he didn’t tell Daddy that all David’s feathers had been removed.

Daddy let go of Duncan with contempt, and vowed to return again the next day in vengeance if he discovered David was dead or not where Duncan had said he was.

*****

Ned was busy among the trees nearby plotting with the other drakes in the gang to overthrow Duncan and replace him as their leader. Not all of them agreed that Ned should take over or that Duncan should be killed.

Ned had left two scout-drakes watching Duncan as Duncan slept. The scout-drakes had seen how Daddy had frightened Duncan and how Duncan had given away the location of David.

The scout-drakes waited for Daddy and Mummy to swim away in search of David, then themselves swam back to report to Ned and the other drakes on what they had witnessed.

On hearing of Duncan’s cowardice, even the drakes loyal to Duncan changed their mind; and they all agreed that Duncan should be killed and replaced by Ned as leader.

Ned and the other drakes set off in their gang back to their usual place where Duncan was resting.

*****

Duncan was now awake and scared. He saw the other drakes approach again, and told them nothing of what had just happened.

“What has happened while we’ve been away?” asked Ned.

“Nothing”, replied Duncan. He was too afraid to tell the drakes the truth.

“THAT’S A LIE!” quacked Ned loudly.

This response startled Duncan so much that he fell over and lay helplessly on his side.

“You betrayed David’s location to his parents!” continued Ned. “We all agree you are no longer fit to be our leader. We are going to have to kill you!”

Duncan cried like a baby, as the rest of the gang of drakes converged on him and drowned him. They then proclaimed Ned their new leader, and celebrated the start of his reign over the gang.

*****

David was shivering in the cold and starving hungry when Daddy and Mummy finally found him.

“Oh my, is that really our baby?” cried Mummy sorrowfully, seeing David trembling, unprotected from the elements without his feathers.

“My son!” exclaimed Daddy, recognising David at once from his face, despite the lack of feathers. “My poor son! What have they done to you?”

Mummy rushed over and nestled David on her feathers to warm him up. David cried and cried, but was relieved that his parents had found him again.

Daddy caught some more fish in the area, and fed them to David, who still had just enough energy left to swallow them.

Then David slept among Mummy’s feathers for three hours, while Daddy stood guard looking out for the drakes just in case they came back.

*****

The drakes had decided to return to where David had been dumped by Duncan, and kill David, Daddy and Mummy. Ned, who was even more evil than Duncan had been, believed that Duncan had left his job unfinished, and that all of David’s family should be killed. The other drakes, who were proud of their new gang-leader and his strength, agreed; and they all swam off together as a team, in the direction of the part of the lake where David and his family lay nestling.

*****

David woke up again, and told Mummy and Daddy of how all the drakes had taken turns to pull out his beautiful yellow feathers.

Daddy, who was by now increasingly anxious and agitated, sensing danger, told Mummy that he didn’t think it was safe for them to stay on the lake any more, the same lake that had once been so peaceful. The drakes’ plan had succeeded. Daddy’s spirit was broken. It meant more to him that his family was safe, than that he become the next king of the lake.

Mummy agreed. So she nestled David more securely among her feathers; and she and Daddy drake, after swimming clear of the edge of the water, spread their wings and lifted off into the air, using all their strength to fly high above the lake and into the distance.

They flew over the valley beyond the lake, around a corner between the hills, and landed on a small pond far away, inhabited by only nice ducks, and rich in fish.

Exhausted from the flight, Daddy drake and Mummy duck landed there and began to fish straight away in order to replenish their energy levels.

*****

A few minutes later, Ned and the gang of drakes arrived where David had been, and were surprised to find no trace except for one of Mummy’s feathers. They looked around everywhere for the family they were intent on killing, but saw no sign of them.

“Perhaps they have all drowned in the cold?” suggested one drake called Tim.

Ned looked suspiciously about the place for an hour longer, but there was no sign still of Daddy, Mummy and David.

“We must search the whole lake” he insisted. “And first we must kill the King!”

“KILL THE KING! KILL THE KING! KILL THE KING!” chorused the other drakes in approval and delight. They scented victory in sight, and made directly for the King’s quarters in a distant part of the lake.

*****

Night fell as Ned and his cohorts arrived on the verges of King Claudius’s territory. They heard him groaning in slumber, and formed a strategic pincer movement around him, closing in gradually in silence. As they arrived within twenty yards, Ned signalled to the others with a quiet whistle to halt. And he advanced onward himself, approaching the King behind his back where he would not be seen so easily even if Claudius were to wake up again.

Poor Claudius was completely unprepared. He was still snoring as the evil Ned pulled him by the throat under the water, and held him there until he had drowned. The King’s body sank to the foot of the lake, never to be seen again.

Ned laughed wickedly, and pronounced to the other drakes with a wild, victorious air in his eyes: ‘The King is dead!”

“THE KING IS DEAD! LONG LIVE NED! THE KING IS DEAD! LONG LIVE NED!” chorused the other drakes excitedly; and they began to dance around their leader gesturing tribal salutes and voicing primeval war cries.

“But wait!” cautioned the murderous, despotic gang leader, who had now drowned three other drakes within two days: firstly Jim, then Duncan, and now King Claudius. “We must still search the rest of the lake for Bald Yellow-head and his wretched, snivelling parents before we can be sure that they have drowned!”

So it was that Ned and the other drakes set off around the whole of the rest of the lake looking for Daddy drake, Mummy duck and David duckling everywhere, as well as King Claudius. And they spent a whole week searching, but still failed to find them.

Finally Ned called off the search, and told Tim that he must have been right.

They collectively declared that Daddy, Mummy and David had all drowned, and celebrated their victory, as unchallenged rulers of the lake, with a feast of fish. The other drakes crowned Ned as the new king of the lake with a fearsome and ugly adornment to his head fashioned of twigs, stones and dead worms. They moved their gang headquarters to the King’s territory, and defended it from all approaches by the many ducks of the lake who didn’t accept the legitimacy of their sovereignty. And so began a year of terror on the lake, when all the other ducks lived in fear of the evil ruling drakes.

*****

Little did the drakes know that Daddy, Mummy and David were now all living safely happily in another, much smaller lake, far away.

Over a period of a few months, all David’s feathers regrew; and the young female ducks of the pond greatly admired him. He grew into the most popular young drake of the pond, and lived a blissful life among friends and family. Both Daddy drake and Mummy duck were also very contented in their new habitat.

In time, a beautiful female duck named Susan came to pay particularly close attention to David, and courted him. David was flattered and delighted by the love shown to him, and resolved to marry her as soon as he was fully grown up at the age of 18 months the following year. Susan agreed to this plan, and was very happy at the prospect of spending the rest of her life with David.

*****

One cold winter’s morning, on the exact anniversary of the drowning of King Claudius by Ned, a storm beset the lake where the gang of drakes still dwelt under Ned’s terrible leadership. They were all hustled together at their headquarters on the lake when a typhoon came their way, setting up a whirpool in the water.

One by one, all the drakes in the gang fell into the whirlpool and drowned. Ned was the last to go, resisting the current strongly and paddling furiously to stay afloat. But his efforts were all in vain against this indomitable force of nature; and he too went under and perished, his body sinking to the lake floor not far from where the skeleton of Claudius still lay.

The wind then left the lake and subsided harmlessly in the valley beyond. All the other ducks in the lake were relieved as the evil gang had been wiped out completely, but none of the other ducks had been touched at all, since the typhoon had been confined to the area of the lake occupied by the gang of drakes. The ducks celebrated their freedom joyously; and they lived safely, collectively ruling themselves, without an appointed leader, for the next six months. But still they wondered what had really happened to Daddy drake, Mummy duck and David duckling, as they had disappeared so mysteriously, and many wished Daddy drake was there still to lead and guide them.

*****

The following summer, David and Susan were wed in the pond where he nowadays dwelt. It was a joyous occasion.

But Daddy drake, who was now himself becoming elderly and tired, felt guilty for having abandoned the ducks on the lake they left, and besought David, now that he was a fine, full-grown, strong drake himself, to return to the lake and restore order.

“Please, dear son, if only for the sake of my conscience, go yonder to the
lake of our past, and see that the troubles are put right!”

On hearing this plea, David remembered vividly how the drakes had plucked out all his feathers, and was moved to return and teach them a lesson. He beckoned Susan to fly with him; and together they bade farewell to their respective parents, and set off in the air in search of the lake where David had been raised as a duckling.

Arriving on the surface of the lake with his sweetheart, David was instantly recognised by many of the ducks who had known him in his babyhood.

“Hooray!” they proclaimed. “Young David is back, and look how he has grown!”

With glee, all the ducks on the lake converged on David, who had become a legend among them since his disappearance.

“We all thought you had drowned!” they declared.

Then they told him of how the drakes had murdered King Claudius, and of the storm a year afterwards, in which the gang of drakes had all perished.

David was at once deeply saddened at the news of the death of the King, and astonished by the news of the storm, relieved that he had not been on the lake at the time, lest it might have drowned him and his parents too.

“Where is your Daddy, heir to the rule of the lake?” asked the ducks.

“Daddy is alive and well, but feels too old to rule the lake now” replied David, truthfully. “He commanded me to return on his behalf, and to settle the troubles caused by the gang of drakes. But I understand they have all now drowned in the storm.”

The ducks were glad to hear that Daddy was still alive; and although they were sorry that he was now too old to rule them, they accepted his instructions to David, and crowned David their new ruler, knowing he was a good drake; and everyone feasted on fish in celebration at his return to their midst.

“Karma brings its own rewards” chuckled an elderly wise duck.

David the yellow drake and his beautiful sweetheart Susan reigned on the lake for many happy years, much loved by and caring towards all the ducks and drakes who dwelt there; and there were never any troubles again. They had four children, two of whom were drakes who shared David’s beautiful yellow feathers, and all of whom were strong and fit, and eager to take over the benevolent rule of the lake when David in his turn became too old and tired.

*****

One day David had a feeling that his parents were in trouble, and flew back on his own to the smaller pond, where he found his father weak and dying. He had left the lake in the temporary charge of his eldest son Nathan in the meantime.

“My son!” cried Daddy drake, in a broken voice. “Thank God you are still alive!”

“I have done my duty by you, dear father. The gang of drakes was all drowned by an act of celestial retribution, through the agency of a whirlpool, while we were living here on the pond. Upon my return, the ducks all asked for you, but I told them your instructions to me, and they accepted me as their new leader in your place. I have abided in my position and kept the lake free from strife ever since. I am only sad that I was separated from you and Mummy all this time.”

A smile spread across Daddy’s face, and a tear to Mummy’s eye.

“My son, I am so proud of you. Go back and look after the ducks as you have been doing! My hour has come. I failed in my duty as their next leader, fleeing in order to keep you and Mummy safe. My conscience has plagued me ever since. Yet you have compensated for my failings. Now I can die at peace.” And with those words, Daddy closed his eyes one last time, and instantaneously stopped breathing.

Mummy wept and stayed by Daddy’s side for hours until his body was quite cold. David hugged her and consoled her, then offered to fly her back to the lake with him, so she would be well looked after in her final years of life. She agreed to the offer; and though she was getting old too, she still had just enough energy to fly to the old lake in short stages over three days, stopping for long rests overnight between flights.

*****

David and Mummy duck arrived back on the lake; and Mummy was greeted with rapturous delight by the old ducks who remembered her. They all treated her with great kindness, and conducted a memorial service in Daddy’s honour when they heard he had just died.

Mummy duck lived another two years, and finally died peacefully at the age of eleven when David was nine. This saddened David deeply, and he decided to retire as ruler of the lake, passing over the role to his eldest son Nathan, who was six years old and still fit and strong, and shared his yellow feathers.

All the ducks of the lake agreed to having Nathan as their leader, since David’s entire family was equally fair and good-natured. And its successive generations still rule over the lake with benevolence, preserving a spirit of peace, love and harmony to this very day. All the inhabitants of the lake co-exist in caring co-operation, rest without fear, and eat in plenty.

THE END

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