THE DUCKS IN THE LAKE

Just like every day at the lake, the ducks were waking up to the first rays of sun bouncing off the water and bringing glorious colour to all the beautiful vegetation around there.

Dory, for that was the name of the strongest little duck in the lake, was helping the other little ducks as well as getting her children some food. Life at the lake was an oasis of peace.

But then something unexpected happened… Ever since the lake had been built, a villager called Steven had been in charge of cleaning the lake. Steven respected the ducks as well as all the plants that surrounded them. But Steven wasn’t there today – instead, a man called Horace was now in charge.

Horace did not think the ducks were as important as making the lake as pretty as possible to surprise all the villagers.

One beautiful day when the first rays of sunshine were beginning to peep out, Horace arrived at the lake pushing a wheelbarrow in which he was carrying a strange object. Dory the duck, who was already awake and looking for food for her children, paddled silently over to the place where Horace and his wheelbarrow were, but couldn’t make head or tail of what was inside it.

After a few hours, Horace had finished his work of art. He placed a fountain right in the middle of the lake, with all kinds of pipes sticking out everywhere – poor Dory couldn’t begin to guess what they were for.

Suddenly, there was a deafening noise and a huge mass of water sprang from the fountain. Frightened, Dory quickly sent all the little ducks out of the lake.

All the ducks were terrified to see their oasis of peace destroyed in an instant by this new fountain. They weren’t at all happy and no longer even played in the water: now they only went in to drink and wash. This behaviour was unusual, and Horace realised that something strange was going on. So one day, just before leaving the lake, he disconnected the fountain to see if this was why the ducks were acting differently.

The next day when Horace returned to the lake, he couldn’t believe his eyes… The ducks were playing and splashing about in the water more joyfully than they had ever done before. Then Horace understood in a flash that the ducks, just like people, need peace and quiet, as well as a comfortable environment in which to live. The fountain might be very pretty, but the most important thing in the lake was the ducks that lived there.

THE END

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