THE CURSE OF THE QUACK
By: BrokenRecord6299

Quack! Quack! Quack! The alarm clock shattered Duke's dreams like a mallet hitting a window. He flicked the off switch and fell tried to fall back to sleep and continue his dreams about ducks and how awesome they are. You see, Duke was a pretty normal kid. He was seven, got average grades, had an average family, and was just plain normal in general. But like all people, Duke had one quality (that sometimes made his parents go nuts) that made him different than everyone else. He was obsessed with ducks! He absolutely loved them. Before his parents got him ANYTHING, they had to make sure it was related to his beloved bird. He had a yellow room, had an alarm clock that quacks, he had countless books about ducks and a whole lot more. But there was always one duck-related thing that no matter how much Duke begged and pleaded, no matter how many pretties he put on his pleases, nor how many cherries, his parents would not budge. They wouldn't let him have his own real, live duck! Over the years he stopped begging. Well, most of it.

"Duke! Get up!" Duke's mother yelled from downstairs. "No! I don't want to go to school!" He yelled back. Duke's Mom entered the room. "You aren't going to school, sweetheart! We're going to the Renaissance Festival!" Mom said, smiling. "Now get up already!" Duke got dressed and trudged down the stairs, still half-asleep. "Hey there, sport! Ready to go to the fair?" His father greeted him. "Yeah! Will there be any ducks?" Duke asked. "There might be some at the petting zoo. But I don't want to hear any whining if there aren't any ducks, otherwise we'll turn around and go home, ok?" Dad said sternly. Duke sighed. "Ok dad."

When they got to the fair, they had turkey legs, and saw fire jugglers, heard pretty music, watched funny shows, and saw ducks at the petting zoo. Duke knew he was going to see ducks; after all, he was wearing his lucky duck hat. As they walked around, Duke saw a yellow tent, and he got very excited. "Mom, dad! I wanna go in there!" Duke said, pointing at the tent. "No Duke, whatever that's in there probably costs money, and we don't have any more money on us." Dad replied. "Not true, I still have the ten dollars Uncle Patrick gave me for the fair." Duke said. Mom started to say, "Well, I don---" Duke cut her off. "PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE?". Dad and Mom exchanged glances. "Well, ok. But don't stay long. It's getting late and you have to go to school tomorrow." Mom said. "Yay! Thanks mom!" Duke said as he ran off.

Duke entered the yellow tent and instantly his smile fell. There were no ducks, despite the deceiving tent. Instead, there was a lady wearing weird clothes, and a table covered with strange little charms and trinkets, including a somewhat large chest. "Hey! Where are the ducks? It's a yellow tent! There should be ducks, or at least a picture of one." Duke said to strange lady. "Aah, young one, there be no ducks here. Just magic treasures and trinkets, for you see, I collect them on my travels, and sell the ones I don't need at fairs and gatherings such as this one. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Scarlet. I am what you might call a gypsy." The strange lady said. "Now what would like, child? Maybe some shrunken heads? Or an inside-out eyeball, or maybe this wig that belonged to my father?" Duke replied, "Eww, no thanks! What's in the box? Is it a duck?" "I sense you like ducks. You may have chest for fifty dollars." The gypsy replied, looking at Duke's hat. "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. I don't even know what's in the chest." Duke said. "Yes you do. The chest contains your wildest dreams, your largest wish, you get the point." Scarlet said quickly. "Aw, shoosh, yeah! I'll take it!" Duke said ecstatically. Scarlet said, "Great. Fifty bucks." Duke was instantly crushed. He only had ten dollars! "Could I have it for ten?" Duke gave her his absolute best sad puppy eyes look. The gypsy thought for a while, and then she finally spoke. "Yes. You may have it child. But hold on for a moment, for I must... prepare it." Then she muttered some strange words under her breath. "Mustas, duckology, oogshwamp, blah!". Then she gave Duke the chest.

"Mom, Dad! Look what I got!" Duke yelled as he came running out of the tent. "How much did it cost? What's in it?" Dad replied. "It cost me ten dollars!" Duke said proudly. Dad asked "Oy, what's in it?" "Umm... I do not know." Duke said. "You got ripped off son." Dad said in a frustrated tone. "What's that mean? Duke asked. Dad replied "You'll find out soon enough." "Well it's time to go! Did everyone have fun? I know I did!" Mom said cheerfully. "My favorite part was the ducks!" Duke said. "They burnt my turkey leg, but other than that, it was fun." Dad said. And with that, they went home.

When the family came home, Duke rushed upstairs, shut the door, and pried the chest open. It was stuck tightly, but eventually, he got it. When he opened it, the was a flash of yellow-orange smoke, when it cleared, there was nothing in the box! Duke was shell-shocked. " NO! IT'S NOT FAIR! WAAAAAAHH!". He cried and cried. Mom and Dad rushed in and comforted him. Soon after, he fell into a deep and restless sleep.

Duke woke up a lot earlier than usual the next morning, he didn't have to be up until 7:30, but here it was 6:35! He got out of bed, everything seemed a lot taller today. He went to the bathroom to comb his hair. When he had to climb up the toilet to see the mirror, he knew something was up. When he reached the mirror, he screamed. "Oh my gosh! I'm a freaking duck! This... is... AWESOME!" He ran all around his room screaming happily. Then he heard a knock on his door. "Duke! Duke, What's going on in there?!" Mom yelled. Duke was so happy he tried to open the door but he couldn't. He was too short. Then dad yelled, "There better be no ducks in there, son! You know what we told you!" Duke was instantly terrified. Ducks in Duke's house were a strict no-no, and now Duke was a duck. Duke gulped. Well, he tried to. It's hard to gulp when you're a duck! Dad opened the door. "I knew it! I knew he bought a duck! That's why he wouldn't show it to us!" Dad said accusingly. "But first, let's get this duck out of here." "Sure thing." Mom replied. Mom and Dad picked up the flailing Duke. As they were carrying him downstairs he tried to tell them, "It's me! Duke! Your son! Don't throw me away! No! No!" But he knew it was no use. All they could hear was quack, quack, quack. They threw him in the bushes and slammed the door.

Duke wandered the streets for a long time. He slept under trees and in backyards and under balconies. For food, he would find a BBQ and ask for bread. Most people gave him some scraps, others kicked him out, and occasionally dogs threatened to eat HIM for the BBQ. It was scary.

One day, he found a nice little park with a pond, a playground, hiking trails, and a big open field. It was beautiful. A perfect place for a boy stuck in a duck's body. After he had explored a bit, he sat under a tree. One of the local ducks came up and talked to him. "Hi, you must be new here. I'm Mac. What's yours?" The duck said. "Uh, hi, my name is, uh, Duke." Duke replied shyly. "Hey, don't be shy. I don't bite. Heck, I CAN'T bite." Mac laughed. "So new guy, where you from?" "I'm not a duck." Duke said truthfully. Mac laughed even more. "Bwahahahaha!! Not a duck?! Not a duck?! You're funny dude! Look at yourself. You are a duck." Duke looked hurt. "Hey, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings but saying you're not a duck... Well, you're obviously a duck. No way around it." Mac said. "I wasn't always a duck." Duke said, remembering when he was a kid. Mac replied, "Sure man, sure. Well anyway, you probably want to know your new neighbors. Am I right?" Duke nodded. "Alright, those two swans over there, their names are Duchess and Derby. They're the self-proclaimed 'leaders' of the park. But all they do is sleep and eat bread." Then Mac pointed to a group of ducks. "That one over there is Zach. Not the brightest streetlamp in the park. That goose over there, he's Puck. He was an outcast. None of the other gooses liked him. So he moved here. He's a nice guy so we let him live here. He's a huge hockey fanatic, he likes peeking through the humans' windows to watch hockey on the humans' TVs. That's Heather, she's a nice one, she doesn't judge you or anything." Then he pointed at the gooses and the deer. "See those guys, stay out of their way. We all have our separate sections of the park. Deer have the woods in the other side of the park, gooses have the lake in the middle of the park, and we have the pond." Mac said. "What about that duck, the one with the black feather?" Duke asked. "I don't know. No one does. He Keeps to himself, hasn't said a word since he got here." Mac said. "Well, you seem like you've had a long day. Get some rest. I'll see you later. Oh and by the way, be extra careful when hanging around the geese. They may not seem strong, but there are like a hundred of them. They won't put up with any nonsense either. They're the real leaders of the park." "Thanks Mac." Duke called as Mac left.

"Hey, Duke! Wake up! Duke! C'mon, wake up!" Mac yelled at Duke. Duke remembered the morning of the fair when his mom woke him up. That seemed like a long time ago. "Mmm... what?" Duke mumbled. "I want to show you something." Mac replied. "Ok, what is it?" Duke asked. "It's a really cool party the humans throw every year." Mac said. "Cool, let's go!" Duke said, now awake. When Mac started to fly away, Duke just stood there, looking embarrassed. Mac came back down to Duke. "Don't tell me you can't fly!" Mac said. "Why can't you fly? You're a duck. We're birds. We fly. That's why we're called birds." Duke wanted to tell Mac why he couldn't fly, but he didn't want to be laughed at again, so he lied. "I, uh, was born an, uh, orphan. So that's why I never learned to fly. So, uh, yeah." Duke said uncertainly. "That's terrible! We'll go to the party tomorrow, today you're going to take to the air!" Mac said happily. "What?" Duke asked. Mac's smile faded. "You're going to fly bro." Duke said, "Ohh..." And with that, the training began.

Mac got all the ducks to help Duke fly (Except for the duck with the black feather, who was nowhere to be seen.). "Ok Duke! Are you ready to do some flying, eh?" Puck said. "Let's see what you got. Try to fly!" "Umm... I think!" Duke said, terrified. Duke took a running start, spread out his wings, shut his eyes tight and jumped! He opened them, and was amazed. He was flying! He was soaring! He was... heading straight for an oak tree. Duke screamed, "Aaaaaaaaahhhh!!" Ka-runch! "Oooh!" The others cringed. They went to go help Duke. Zach laughed. "Ha-ha! You hit tree hard! Just like Zach!" "Ouch! You ok, new guy?" Heather asked. "Dang, you do that again you're going to lose your beak, eh!" Puck said. "I'm alright guys. Let's do it again!" Duke said. "You want to hit your face on a tree again?" Mac asked, confused. "No! No, I want to fly again." Duke laughed, rubbing his now dented beak. After hours of attempted flying, training, and crashes, he had done it. He had learned to fly. He felt the wind in his feathers, and it felt amazing. "So this is what it's like to fly." Duke thought. After Duke landed, Mac said, "Now that you can fly, let's go to the party!"

At the fair, Duke realized where they were. "Mac, we're at the Renaissance Festival!" Duke said, remembering Scarlet. Mac was astonished. "Whoa! You can read the humans' writing? That is so cool! How'd you learn?" Duke replied, "Some kid found and adopted me. I was around him and his parents I picked up some of their language." Duke said. "Oh really? A duck as a pet? Ducks belong in the park. But still, I always wondered what it was like to be a pet. But enough of that. Let's go inside!" Mac said. "Wait! Don't we need to buy a ticket first? Duke asked. Mac looked puzzled. "What's a ticket?" "Err, never mind." Duke said. "Well alrighty then! Let's get going!" Mac said. They watched shows, saw performers, talked with the animals at the petting zoo, ate bread, and did other fun things. As they got ready to go, Duke saw the tent. Inside that tent was the woman who did this to him. Even though Duke loved being a duck, he loved his parents even more. He wanted to be human. "You coming, Duke?" Mac asked. "I'll catch up with you. I need to do something." Duke said. "Ok then. See you later." Mac said as he flew off.

Duke entered the tent and looked around. Scarlet was nowhere to be to be seen! "Where are you Scarlet?" Duke thought. After a couple of minutes, Scarlet appeared with a strange glass object. When she saw Duke she gasped and dropped the object, which shattered. "Now look what you made me do, you dumb duck! Wait, you're not a duck. You a human. You that young boy who liked ducks. Am I right?" Scarlet asked. "Yeah. That's right. Why I am I duck?" Duke demanded Scarlet sighed. "I warned you, child! I warned you would get your life's desire!" Duke was angry. "Your magic or whatever was wrong! I wanted a duck! I didn't want to BE a duck!" "Child, your life's desire was to be a duck, a duck you became." Scarlet said. "Now would you please skedaddle? There's nothing I can do, young one." "There must be some way to get me back to normal." Duke said. "Now that I recall, there is one way, but just for giggles, I'm going to give you a clue. Then based on that clue, you must figure out what you must do. When you figure it out, bring the needing objects to me, and I will undo the spell. Here is your clue. Duck, Duck, I love ducks!" Scarlet said. Duke was getting frustrated. "No, I don't like that idea. How about you just tell me what I need to do?" "No, I don't think so. Now get out please." Scarlet said. Duke started to say, "But---" Scarlet cut him off. "GET OUT NOW!" Duke was startled but ran away fast.

"Well look who's finally back." Mac said. "I was starting to worry about you. It's been hours. We all stayed up, but then they fell asleep!" "Sorry Mac. I had to talk to someone privately, I didn't hear what I wanted to. So I was just hanging out for a while. Sorry I kept you guys worrying." Duke looked at the sleeping ducks. "Hey where's black feather duck?" "He still hasn't come back." Mac said. "Maybe he went to look for a new home." Duke yawned. "Oh well, I'm exhausted I'm going to sleep. Night." "Night." Mac said as Duke left.

"Help!" a voice rang out through the park. Duke woke up instantly. He heard it again. "Please help!" He got up. Everyone else was asleep! Was he the only one who heard the voice? He set out to find the distress signal. "Help me already!" The voice called. "The Lake!" Duke thought. When he got to the Lake, there were a bunch of geese surrounding a duck. Duke looked a little closer. The duck had a black feather! Duke quickly formulated a plan in his head. He very quietly broke a large stick from a tree and threw it at a tree far away. When the stick hit the tree Duke yelled, "I'm going to get you! You dumb geese!" Just as the Duke planned, the geese thought there was someone there. They ran over checking to see who yelled. Duke knew he only had a few seconds to act. He ran as fast as he could, jumped, started flying, and grabbed the duck with his wings. He flapped his wings as hard and as fast as he could. A few minutes later, the were at the ducks' side of the park. Duke knew he couldn't fly much longer. He aimed himself at the pond and stopped flying. "What the heck are you doing?!" The duck yelled. Duke yelled back, "I can't fly anymore! Not with this weight anyway, Aim yourself at the pond! If we hit the pond, we'll be fine!" "What happens if we miss?!" The duck screamed. " Then, Mac and everyone will wake up to the great smell of duck pancakes!!"Duke yelled. "Brace for impact! They both screamed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!"

SPLASH! The duck hit the water and scrambled out. "What the heck is going on?!" Heather said. "I'm see big splash! Every duck alright?!" Zach asked. "What's going on, eh?" Puck said, rubbing his eyes. Mac just stood there taking in the huge splash he just saw. Just then, Duke got of the pond, clutching his stomach. "Oww... belly flop..." He moaned. "I'm going to sleep." "Me too. I'm exhausted said the duck. Mac yelled, "WHAT!? You can't go to sleep!! You just made a huge splash! What the heck just happened!?" "We'll tell you in the morning." Duke answered.

Duke got in his tree and the duck followed him. "Hey man, mind if I sleep here tonight?" The duck asked. Duke yawned. "Not at all." "Thanks. By the way, my name is Duncan." Duke sat up. There used to be a kid in our school named Duncan. Then he disappeared. The police are conducting a search as far as I know. He was the only kid I can think of that loved ducks as much as me." Duncan looked very awake and very hopeful all of a sudden. "Are you saying you used to go to a school humans? As in, you used to be a human?" Duke was hesitant to answer. "Please man, answer the question!" Duncan pleaded. "Yes I used to be a human. Please don't laugh." Duke admitted. Duncan looked as happy as can be. "Seriously!? I'm the kid that went missing! I'm Duncan! Your Duke? I've seen Lost pictures of you all over the place. Your parents really miss you bro." "My parents missed me?" Duke thought. "How do you know it was me?" Duke asked. Duncan thought for a second and answered. "Apparently the spell leaves a part of the body black. I have a black feather, you're right foot is black." "Really? I never noticed that before." Duke said looking at his feet for the first time. "Yeah. It's been a long night. Let's sleep." Duncan said.

The next day, Duke and Duncan told the others the whole story, this time everyone believed them. Zach started crying loudly, Heather kissed them both, Puck tried to hold back his tears, stood as straight as he could, and saluted them. Mac simply waved goodbye. Duke and Duncan both promised to visit. They went to the fair site and their jaws dropped. The fair was gone. It was over. No yellow tent, no castles, no petting zoo, no people, no anything. "Well, I guess we're ducks now." Duke said. "Are we going back to the park now?" Duncan asked. "I'll catch up with you. I have to run a quick errand. "Alright. See you soon." Duncan said as he flew off.

When Duke got to his house, he checked to see if his parents were home; they weren't. He went into his room, snagged a big notebook and a bunch of pencils, and wrote a note to his parents:

"Dear Mom and Dad, I love you guys a lot, though I can never come home again. I promise to write a lot. If you choose to write back, I live near the pond in the park. You won't recognize me, but I'm there. Leave your letters on the bench, or stay and wait. If you wait, a duck will come to you and take the note. Let him take it. All the ducks near the pond are my friends. I love you guys, and hope you come to the park soon. Love, Duke."

He left the note on the kitchen table, and went back to the park. After all, he was a duck, and ducks belong in the park.

THE END

(IT'S AWFUL, ISN'T IT?)