Little Duckington – The return of the prodigal duck…

If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it, but I was there when it happened and I witnessed it all.

I don’t know what Danni was doing at the pond, after all he hates water, swimming and all that – but when I turned the corner there he was wading in to rescue the little chap. I had to do a double take, they were so similar – same makings, blue crest, bill stud, the other one was a bit smaller, but apart from that they might have been brothers.

Anyway, as I said by the time I got there Danni was in the water and guiding Donni – yes, that’s what he said his name was – back to the safety of the bank.

Out of the water they looked even more alike, different crest styles, but apart from that so similar, so similar that… no, it couldn’t be. Could it?

Brothers?

Donni told Danni that he was an orphan. He’d been found as an egg by Father O’Mallard the local vicar and taken to the orphanage where he’d hatched and then run away. They hadn’t treated him badly, but he’d felt that there were other ducks out there who belonged to him and whom he belonged to. So, he’d crept away one night and started searching. He’d been living alone ever since, finding food where he could and sleeping rough. He’d gone into the water to see if he could find anything to eat, he was starving, hadn’t eaten much for three days - but he’d never really learnt how to swim, had got out of his depth, and got into trouble.

I saw them looking at each other, I don’t think that either of them could believe the similarity between them. I think it was Danni who first realised who Donni was; the markings, the crest, the nose stud, the poor swimmer thing, but most of all the feeling of familiarity was simply too much to be ignored.

“Welcome home brother.” I heard Danni say quietly. “I’ve missed you, but it’s all right now.” And with that they rushed towards each other and gave each other a brotherly hug. “Come on Donni; let’s get you home. I know some other ducks that are going to be very pleased to see you.”

I heard afterwards that Dilly recognised him immediately. She held Donni tight, and sobbed, and laughed, and quack-a-doodle-dooed, all at the same time. Debby and Dolly made such a fuss over him, stroking his crest, feeding him, asking him question after question, and billing and cooing over their little brother. Apparently, Dubby was down the pub – so I have no idea what he made of it all.

And Danni? Well, Danni just stood and smiled at Donni. He felt good, his long-lost brother was back and he was going to make sure that he never got lost or went away again.