subject: The Adventures Of Elvis And Priscilla [print this page] A few months ago we were blessed with a gift of two little ducklings. When we received them they were only days old. They were quite a surprise, but yet a welcomed addition to our already growing animal family. Their names came to me immediately: Elvis and Priscilla. Elvis, because he has a beautiful black mane of feathers on the top of his head, and Priscilla because it only seemed appropriate, being they were going to live their lives together. Their names came with great ease, but finding a place for them to grow and flourish in the house of 5 dogs, 3 cats, 4 horses and 2 goats turned out to be quite a challenge. The first step in their little journey was a little wooden house. That was where they would sleep when evening fell upon us. During the day we would move them to their outdoor playground, complete with a mesh top to keep them safe. There they would bask in the sun, play in the sand and feast on baby duck food.
That was all fine and good, but swimming in a large Tupperware bowl was their favorite thing to do. It was quite an event. First Elvis would place one foot in then the second, he'd bob up and down, float, back stroke, breast stroke, dive, he did it all. He was the master of that Tupperware pool; it was Elvis' favorite playground feature. Priscilla, however, would nervously quack at him on the side. Screaming, it sounded like to me, the dangers of swimming after eating, calling him a show off and a loser boy duck. She would pace back and forth in uncontrollable worry. If she would have had hands she would have been nervously wringing them. But, if you watched closely, you could see her facial expression change as she would decide enough was enough. Her face would go from worry to determination in a matter of minutes. Priscilla was heading into the Tupperware pool. Her little yellow webbed feet weren't made for sprinting, but she made them move, not with grace but with sheer grit! She'd get a good running start with her wings flapping alongside her, her head down willing her lagging body forward. Her eyes were closed tightly as she leaped forward into the pool. You would think she'd make quite the splash, but no. Once her body hit that water Priscilla turned to a thing of grace. After her feather-like landing she would turn her head to Elvis and quack "What? I'm here, aren't I?" and then she'd quickly paddle off as if she had better things to do than float with a boy duck!
Their sky was covered by a mesh screen that was in place to keep others from the interrupting Elvis as he performed in the Tupperware pool. That is what Elvis thought at least. He and Priscilla would argue about this daily. Elvis would puff out his chest and say, ''What else could it be? Look how they love me! The other animals sit atop the mesh every day and watch me perform; they watch every move I make. As a matter of fact they even fight amongst themselves to get the best seat!" Every day Elvis and Priscilla would be carried to their sandy playground and every day Elvis would boast about his performance as the crowd above would start to gather. Priscilla would again warn Elvis of the dangers of swimming on a full stomach, call him a show off and pace nervously until she could no longer stand Elvis having all the fun and hogging the spotlight.
The day finally came that Priscilla had been envisioning for weeks. Something went wrong. Terribly wrong. It was the day Booger the cat managed to get his great big meaty paw through the mesh screen. After hearing Elvis screaming, we rushed outside to find him hanging upside down in the clenches of Booger's paw. (Fortunately, Booger might have been able to get his paw in there, but no way could he get it out with Elvis attached!) That was the day Elvis and Priscilla moved to the garden.
The walk to the garden would have been pleasant enough if Priscilla hadn't been giving Elvis a piece of her mind. "Show off," she would quack at him, "look what trouble we're in now. When will you learn to be more cautious?" Elvis just ignored her. He was still in shock that his somersaulting and twist dive was so rudely interrupted.
When we all arrived at the garden, Priscilla and Elvis both were amazed at how clear the sky was and how much space there was to roam about freely. "No more mesh overhead," Priscilla quacked happily. "Yeah, no more crowds," Elvis said, kicking at the tomato plant in front of him. Priscilla was absolutely delighted to be living in the garden. She'd run up and down the rows of plants quacking "What's this one... what's that one?" She would quack in pure delight "This is what the Garden of Eden must have been like, don't you think Elvis?" Funny thing is she never noticed that Elvis didn't respond back to her, Priscilla was far too busy going on to the next thing. "Bugs! Elvis look!", she quacked, "Look at all these ants and flies! Look there goes another one!" Priscilla could hardly stand still. She would just waddle from one row of plants to the next, searching out bugs. She was a girl on a mission. It was Elvis this time who would shake his head in dismay and quack "Be careful Priscilla, don't go too far!"
But Priscilla never listened; she would mumble something about a loser diver boy, but Elvis could hardly hear her these days because Priscilla had taken up eating not only the bugs, but the beautiful leaves of lettuce and kale. "Come on Elvis!" she would quack. "Look, all you have to do is jump up here and you won't believe all the stuff. There are amazing red balls that hold this delicious juice and green leaves everywhere of different sizes and tastes. You've just got to see this Elvis. Come on," she'd quack. For days this went on until Elvis finally gave in. "Ok. Fine Priscilla, but I'm not jumping up there. If you want me to taste whatever it is you're talking about you'll just have to drop some down for me." So that's exactly what Priscilla did. She went row by row and pulled, then dropped, lettuce leaves, kale, tomatoes and even green beans down to Elvis. One by one she'd pluck, then drop, pluck, then drop. Suddenly Elvis forgot all about diving and his large fan base. He decided to join Priscilla on top and taste more of these special delights. That's the night Elvis and Priscilla ate their way through an entire vegetable bed.
The next day Elvis and Priscilla where moved out of the Garden of Eden. They now live with the goats. As you can see, this story is to be continued....
