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ONE DUCK POND

He waddled along the pebbled shoreline eager to make new friends. All the other ducks were on Mills Pond playing "catch the toad." Freddy figured the best thing to do would be to introduce himself.

"Hi, guys! I'm Freddy," he said as he swam right into the middle of their game.

He was a very excited little duck, quacking out question after question.

"Can I play?" "What are we playing?" "Whose team am I on?"

Freddy felt them staring, beaks open.

"Too much Too many questions?" he wondered. One by one they turned their tails to him and continued their game.

Freddy tried one last time, shouting, "I'm a really fast swimmer!"

Sammy, one of the larger ducks, stopped the game and swam right up to Freddy. He looked him over a couple of times before disappearing under the water. Freddy began paddling in a circle, looking for him. When Sammy finally popped back up, he laughed and quacked.

"Those are some mighty big feet you've got there," quacked Sammy. "I don't see how you could play catch the toad' with such big feet."

Freddy didn't like being teased. He decided to challenge his new friend. "Oh yeah?" said Freddy. "I'll bet I can swim faster than you!"

A sudden silence spread across the pond. It was quickly broken as the other ducks laughed, quacked and splashed.

"He thinks he can swim faster than Sammy," quacked one duck.

"What a joke where did this kid come from?" spouted another.

"Well now little duck," quacked Sammy. "If you think you're so fast, let's have ourselves a race around the lily pads."

"You're on!" squawked Freddy.

Freddy wanted to prove he was just as strong as any of the other ducks on the pond. He headed straight up to the pebbled shoreline. Sammy waddled right up next to him. Freddy looked down at Sammy's feet his beak fell open.

"Yeah, yeah as big as yours," whispered Sammy.

Mr. Toad sounded the starting, "Croak," and the race was on!

The two ducks raced to the other side of Mills Pond, around the lily pads, and back to the pebbled shore. Freddy was doing great, keeping up with Sammy. He actually reached the lily pads before Sammy, by a beaks length. The toads on the lily pads cheered for Freddy!

Whoever made it back to the shoreline first would be declared winner and the fastest duck on Mills Pond. Freddy paddled his feet as fast as he could, but he felt so tired?

"Quakers, this is hard," sighed Freddy.

With still a half pond to go, Freddy's paddling slowed down. Freddy thought Sammy was slowing down a bit too. Both ducks reached the shoreline, but as they predicted, Sammy won the race. Freddy felt really sad about losing. He hung his beak and started to swim away.

One by one, each duck swam up next to him. "Good job, little guy," said one duck. "You'll catch him next time."

"Yeah Freddy, you should be proud," quacked another. "After all, you beat Sammy to the lily pads.

Sammy swam up and placed his wing on Freddy's shoulder. "Good race, little guy. I'm proud of you for hanging in there."

"Thanks, I guess," said Freddy staring at his reflection in the water.

"Well, little duck, you've earned your place on this pond," Sammy quacked, "And someday, when you grow into those feet, you might even be the fastest."

"Really?" said Freddy as he started to flap out his feathers.

"Really!" Sammy quacked. "Now, no more quackin' Freddy. It's time to catch us some toads."

Learn more about this author, Mikki McLeod.
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