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Ducks.

This is a true story that happened while I was on a walking tour of Kent in Great Britain. The weather was warm and sunny as I went through a small Kentish village. I am not going to tell you the name of the village, as I do not want people going there and perhaps make fun of the villagers. The village consisted of ten houses one of which was a tobacconists shop and another was a small bakery. I called first in the bakery where I wanted to buy a fresh loaf of bread. To my surprise there was no one in the shop. Taking a fresh loaf of bread and a pot of honey, I left the money for the items on the counter and walked out of the shop.

The next move I made was to the tobacconists, which also sells newspapers. Here again the shop was deserted no one answered my call and I must admit I was beginning to get a little worried. Even in small villages the owners or someone in charge always tends the shops. I decided to knock on the doors of the other houses in the village. No one seemed to be at home it was as if the village was completely deserted. I did not know of any public holiday that could have caused the people to leave their homes. The village was typical of most English villages a green where on weekends people played cricket or flew kites. At one end of the green was a large duck pond with a few seats arranged around it for people to sit and perhaps discuss the events of the village.

Sitting on one of the seats was a man dressed in black clothes he appeared to be watching a large number of ducks that were either swimming in the pond, or waddling around quacking. It is a wonder that I had not heard them before as they were making quite a noise. I walked to the man sitting on the seat and wished him a good day. “Today is a very good day,” he said. Opening my rucksack I offered the man some bread and honey. He thanked me and took the large slice of bread that I had generously spread with honey. Eating his bread and honey he kept looking at the ducks grinning an evil grin. I asked him what was so interesting that he kept looking at the ducks and smiling.

He then pointed to a large drake that was being followed by many of the ducks. That Drake said the man is the Village Constable. He wanted to chase me away from the village. The other ducks are also the villagers apart from those ducks that are swimming so peacefully in the middle of the pond. I must admit I was shocked to hear what the man had just said. Taking a large handful of magic dust from my pocket I threw it over the man. He stopped speaking and remained perfectly still. I then asked him why he had turned all of the villagers into ducks. “They do not deserve anything else,” he said. “All I wanted was a drink of water and a piece of bread but they all turned me down and then the Village Constable tried to chase me out of the village.” “You must turn them back into people straight away,” I said in a very stern voice. “No way,” said the man and under the influence of my magic dust given to me by Her Majesty Queen Feeana, Queen of all the fairies he remained fixed in the one position.

He then pleaded with me to let him go, I was not going to set him free until he turned the villagers back into normal people. He threatened me with some very drastic measures if I did not let him go. I was not worried the magic dust would take care of him until I freed him of the dust. Then uttering some words in a language that I did understand the village people turned back into their own bodies. I saw the Policeman. The baker. The tobacconist and the rest of the villagers both men and women, no children had been involved and I told the people to go back in their homes and not to come out for an hour.

The wizard for that was what he was, I told to go to the pond and walk right to the middle and to duck his head under the water. The wizard did as I told him then he was free, he had washed all the dust from him, but he could only go in one direction and that was away from the village as far as I know he is still walking but has never been back to the village. I threw some more magic dust over the village so that in future whoever asks for a drink of water or a piece of bread, will always get that what they asked for.