May 30, 2009

DUCK AND GOOSE TWINS

Girly Girl Ella Goose was a magnificent creature with a long beautiful neck and white feathers. She fluttered her blue eyes when her friends cheered and clapped as she swam across the warm pond. She had been there all morning but now it was noon and time for lunch. She very much liked to eat. It was one of her favorite things to do! Next, of course, to dancing like a ballerina on the water.

"Honk! Honk! Girly Girl Ella Goose?" called a familiar voice. "Honk! Honk! Where are you, Girly Girl Ella Goose? Come here and see what I prepared for you." That was Abuela, grandmama.

"Honk! Honk! Honk! Honk!" replied Girly Girl Ella Goose. That was her way of saying, "Okay, Abuela, here I come!"

"Yummy!" honked Girly Girl Ella Goose. " Thank you for making my favorite foods. I like grass." Abuela dabbed a wet cloth on the tip of Girly Girl Ella Goose’s beak and smiled. " I’m glad you eat healthy. It will make your wings grow stronger and maybe some day you will fly. When you finish your corn, we will go for a walk."

Girly Girl Ella Goose loved to go on outings because she met other critters and they would play hide and seek or sometimes chase each other on the front pond.

"Tag, you’re it!" shouted Skinny Jimmy Frog. "Ribbit. Ribbbbbbbit." Girly Girl Ella Goose giggled and dove out of sight, under the water. Skinny Jimmy Frog thought she was going for a swim so he stretched out on his water lily pad to take his afternoon nap. But Girly Girl Ella Goose was watching and when he nodded off she swam toward him.

Jimmy was dreaming about catching fat, juicy flies for his supper when all of a sudden he woke to see an orange beak flipping his lily pad. Skinny Jimmy Frog went high up in the air, then right straight back down. Splasssssh! Splasssssh! Girly Girl Ella Goose laughed so hard she rolled upside down. When she did, Jimmy Frog grabbed the end of her pink polka-dot ribbon and jumped out of the water. "Ribbit, ribbbbbbit," he croaked as he shook his finger toward her, "You, you, you tricked me, Girly Girl Ella Goose!" he chided.

Girly Girl Ella Goose left Skinny Jimmy Frog sunning and waddled on to dry land. She didn’t understand why people called this place a park because no one parked. They just rested, played, and had fun. She was thinking it should be called a fun instead of a park when she heard quacking from the back pond. "Is that you, Girly Girl Ella Goose?" "Yes, it is me. It is Girly Girl Ella Goose," she honked, "Who are you?" Someone quacked back, "I am Duck Duck Zaneman, your twin brother."

"Honk? How can you be my twin if I am a goose and you are a duck?" asked Girly Girl Ella Goose. She added, "Besides, I honk and you quack." Duck Duck Zaneman replied, "Because we were hatched together."

Girly Girl Ella Goose was puzzled. For a few minutes she studied Duck Duck Zaneman, who by then had waddled next to her. She stared into his eyes, ran her wing across his beak, and outlined his feet with her right foot. He smiled and let her check him out. Finally, she finished and said, "Your beak is smooth and rounded. Mine has a bump and is sharp. You are gray and I am white but you are nice and have webbed toes like mine." Duck Duck Zaneman pecked her cheek and laid his head on her neck. Then he ran around in circles singing and shaking his feathers because he was so happy, "Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack."

Girly Girl Ella Goose was smart so she decided to give Duck Duck Zaneman a test to see if he really was her twin. She figured that if he could answer her questions then she would know the truth for sure.

"Who is your grandmama?" honked Girly Girl Ella Goose. Duck Duck Zaneman chuckle-quacked, "My grandmama is your grandmama. She is Abuela!" Girly Girl Ella Goose continued. "Who is our sister?" Duck Duck Zaneman flapped his wings and kicked his legs high, "My sister is your sister. She is Ava Swan." Almost convinced by then, Girly Girl Ella Goose asked only one last question. "If Abuela is our grandmama and Ava Swan is our big sister, then how can you be a duck, Ava a swan, and me a goose?"

Duck Duck Zaneman dropped his head, watched a bug burrow in the mud, and shuffled his webbed feet. He cocked his head to the left, looked up at the sky and watched a tall, drifting cumulus cloud. Silence fell over the park but Girly Girl Ella Goose waited patiently. Finally, Duck Duck Zaneman looked her in the eyes and quacked, "Just because we are different but still the same. Come, on. Let’s play!"

Duck Duck Zaneman and Girly Girl Ella Goose waddled as fast as they could back to the pond.

Kerplunk! Splashhhhhhh!

Kerplunk! Splashhhhhhh!

That is how Girly Girl Ella Goose and Duck Duck Zaneman became twins, best friends, different but still the same.





© Coninc, TheBackYardKids.com, Short Stories For Short Folk (Library of Congress 1-147158261, pending)

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