Robber Ducky

            by Leslie Lu

 

            Robert was a duck.  Everyone called him Robby. 

            “I’m hungry,” Robby thought after he finished his snack after school.  He walked over to a table of birds.  There was a green bird, a blue bird, a baby bird, and a whole bunch of orange birds.  “Oh my god, look it’s a cat!” Robby announced. While all the birds turned their heads to look for a cat, Robby took all the crackers in the middle of the table and hid them in his mouth.                                                                                                               

            “Where?” said the green bird.

“There?” said the blue bird.  They then looked at Robby wondering where the cat was, but all they saw were duck prints and crumbs. 

“He robbed us!” said the baby bird.

            “I’m still hungry,” Robby thought after he swallowed the last crumb in his mouth.  He looked over at the birds to see what they were doing.  They were setting up a store by the town playground.  Robby waddled over to investigate.  “What are you selling?”

            “Crackers,” said the green bird.

            “How much?” asked Robby.

            “Three rocks a cracker,” said the blue bird.  The blue bird looked up and saw that the customer was Robby.  “Hey!  You stole from us earlier.  For you, the crackers are not for sale.”

            “Oh yeah?” Robby picked a sharp stick off of the ground and pointed it at blue bird.  “Give me all your crackers.  Now!” 

            “Squawk!” all the birds screamed at once and ducked.  “Do as he says!”  The blue bird packed the rest of crackers into a bag and gave it to Robby.

 “He robbed us again!” said the baby bird.  Robby took the bag and ran away.  He ate all the crackers.

“I’m full, but I still want dessert,” Robby thought.  He sniffed.  “Mmmm, I smell cake.”  He followed the smell and arrived at a house that belonged to one of the birds.  “Ooh, its birthday cake!”  He waddled to the front door and knocked on it.  The green bird answered the door.

“Welcome to my birthday par-” the green bird noticed who was at the door and slammed the door in Robby’s face.  “You’re not invited cracker-stealer.”  Robby heard the door lock and walked away. 

“Maybe I should go home…”  As he walked home he saw a clown in a hat with balloons.  “Excuse me; are you on your way to green bird’s birthday party?”

“Why, yes I am,” said the clown.  Robby grinned, and then he bit into the clown’s leg as hard as he could.  “AHH, get off me you crazy duck.”  Then the clown fainted from the pain.  Robby took the clown’s red nose, funny hat, and balloons.  He dragged the clown to the side and dumped him in a trash can.  Then he put the red nose on his nose, the funny hat on his head, and tied the balloons to his wing.  He went back to green bird’s house.  He waddled to the front door and knocked on it.  The green bird answered the door.

“Welcome to my birthday par-” the green bird noticed who was at the door.  “Hey guys,” he turned his head.  “The clown is here!!”  The green bird showed Robby to the living room.  When all the birds finally settled in the living room Robby jumped up and down. 

“You kids ready for a trick?” he used a deep voice.

“Yeaaah!!” the birds cheered.

“But first I need to use the bathroom.  Just wait one minute.  Can you do that?”

The birds nodded, and with that Robby ran.  However, he didn’t run to the bathroom.  He ran to the kitchen.  “Mmmm, cake.  Chocolate cake!”  First he blew out the candles, then he licked off the pink frosting, then he ate the chocolate cake.  He ate so fast he forgot to take out the candles.  Some frosting even came off of the cake and covered the floor. 

Just as he was leaving, he glanced over at the dinning table and saw lots and lots of presents.  Once again, Robby grinned.  He grabbed a giant bag and stuffed all the presents inside.  Then he began carrying it home.

“What’s taking so long?  I wanna see a trick,” green bird sighed. 

“I’m thirsty,” said blue bird.  “I’m gonna go to the kitchen to get a glass of water.”  A few seconds after blue bird left, the rest of the birds in the living room heard a scream.  They all rushed to the kitchen.

“Where are my presents?” said green bird.

“Where’s the cake?” said blue bird.

Baby bird looked on the ground and saw duck shaped footprints in the chocolate frosting on the ground.  “Robby robbed us again!”

“That’s it!” said green bird.  “That’s the last time he steals from us.  We’ll follow his tracks and punish him.”

“Yeaaah,” all the birds screamed.  Then they followed Robby’s tracks.  Soon the group of birds arrived back at school.

“There he is!” said an orange bird.  Robby was sitting on a bench unwrapping a chocolate bar.  “And that candy bar was the present I gave to green bird!”

The birds made a huddle and started to discuss a plan. “Let’s shove the bar down his throat.  First he’ll choke on it, then he’ll stop breathing, and then he’ll never rob us again,” suggested green bird.  All the birds nodded and stormed over to Robby, but when they reached the benches all they saw was an empty candy bar wrapper.  The birds sighed and continued following Robby’s tracks.  They stopped when they saw Robby across the street at the playground. 

“There he is!” said another orange bird.  “And there’s the present I gave to green bird.”  Robby was jumping around the playground with a toy gun. 

“Bang! Bangbangbang, Bang!”  Robby was chiming his voice along with the sounds as he fired the toy bullets in random places.  One even made it across the street and poked green bird in the head. 

“Let’s tie him to the monkey bars.  I can take back my toy gun and use it on him,” urged green bird.  He was very eager for revenge by now.

“And we can nudge him with sharp sticks!” chorused the orange birds. 

The birds looked both ways before crossing the street, but when they arrived at the playground, all they saw was the toy gun lying on the sand with a crack in the middle.  The green bird ran over to pick it up, and when he did half of the gun broke off and fell back to the ground.  Green bird made a fist with his wing and continued to follow Robby’s tracks.  Soon they saw Robby’s home.  They marched up the front steps and knocked on the door, but there was no answer.  Shortly after, they heard a noise coming from behind the fence.  “Vroom.  Vroooom.” 

“That’s Robby!” said yet another orange bird.  “And he’s probably playing with the remote toy car I got green bird for his birthday.” 

“He’s not getting away this time,” the green bird whispered.  There were many little holes in the fence and one bigger hole.  “We’ll watch him play by looking through the hole in the fence.  When he gets close to the big hole, I’ll hold him still by biting him while everyone else hops over and makes sure he stays where he is.  Give all your attention to where he is and nothing else.”  All the birds nodded and settled in front of their holes. 

“Vroom Vrooom.  Crash!  Vroom…”  Robby moved the toy car around his backyard.  "Vroom… vroom!"  The car got stuck on a rock by the fence, so the duck had to walk over and pick it up.  That’s when he felt something sharp sink into his shoulder.  “Ow!” he shut his eyes.

“I goft him.  Clifmb the fence,” mumbled the green bird.  Robby opened his eyes and saw a bunch of orange birds land in front of him, followed by a blue bird, and then just as he felt his shoulder being freed, he saw the green bird.  They all evilly glared at Robby.  They all chanted.

“What if we ate your crackers?”

“What if we took your cake?”

“How would you like it if we stole your toys?”

Each one of the birds, moving faster and faster to their victim.  And when they were near, they prepared to take turns to jump up and down on the duck.  “Give us back our crackers!” they chanted.

“And my gifts,” green bird added.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The birds froze and squinted at the limp figure on the ground.  “It’s not Robby!”  The birds all looked at each other.  “Does Robby live here?” they asked the duck on the ground. 

“Who?” said the duck.

“We lost him again!” said blue bird.

The birds headed back to green bird’s house.  They thought and thought and thought.  “I have an idea,” the baby bird blurted.  The baby bird whispered to green bird. 

“It’s in the kitchen,” green bird grinned.  The baby bird left and returned.

“Green bird’s mom uses this to get rid of rats.  She sprinkles it on food; the rats that eat it don’t come back.  It should do the same for us,” said baby bird.

“I’m hungry,” Robby thought after he finished his snack after school the next day.  He walked over to a table of birds.  There was a green bird, a blue bird, a baby bird, and a whole bunch of orange birds.  “Oh my god, look it’s a cat!” Robby announced. While all the birds turned their heads to look for a cat, Robby took all the crackers from the middle of the table and hid them in his mouth.                 

And Robby never stole from the birds again.