In a small pool at an abandoned house, there were eight ducks living there.
They were afraid of their unknown future, the shortage of supplies.
They had no parents to look after them—they were alone in this pool. One of the ducks suggested making teams of two, and every group would have its own task: bring protection, food...
The Teams Formed
The eldest duck, a brown-feathered one named Puddle, paired with Ripple, the smallest but cleverest of the bunch. Their task was scouting—to watch for danger from the overgrown garden and the crumbling roof above.
Moss and Pebble, the two gray ducks who always swam side by side, took charge of food. They learned which puddles held worms after rain, which corners of the yard hid fallen berries, and how to nibble the moss that grew on the old stone walls.
Reed and Mist, the quiet ones, became the builders. They gathered twigs and soft feathers to make nests warmer, reinforcing their home against the coming autumn winds.
And Slate and Dawn, the last pair, took on the heaviest burden: protection. They patrolled the edges of the pool, quacking warnings at stray cats and chasing away the crows that circled overhead.
The First Test
One dry week, the food team returned with nothing. The pool was shrinking. Moss and Pebble hung their heads.
But Puddle and Ripple had noticed something during their scouting—a neighbor's garden, three houses down, had a dripping hose and untended vegetable patches.
That night, all eight ducks huddled together. They made a plan.
At dawn, the protection team led the way. The food team followed. The scouts watched from the fence. And the builders stayed behind, guarding their home.
They returned with full bellies and a new understanding: alone, they were eight scared ducklings. Together, they were something else entirely.
And in their small pool at the abandoned house, the water glimmered a little brighter.