On the edge of a lovely medium sized town lived a pretty lady named Brenda. She is an athletic lady who likes to walk and take care of herself. Brenda's neighbors will usually see her leave her home loaded down with bread. You see, there is really two reason's Brenda walks everyday. Yes, one is to exercise, the other is to feed her ducks at a pond a couple of miles behind her house.
The lake is large and beautiful especially in the morning when the sun is coming up over the water. There are many different kinds of ducks that Brenda feeds, many who stay year round, others are seasonal. This day, Brenda is in for a pleasant surprise. Peaking out from behind a bunch of tall cat tails she spots a cute mallard duck. It is the first one Brenda has seen at her lake.
Brenda was always pleased to see new and different ducks at her lake. This little guy was real pretty. He had a glossy green head and a cute little waddle when he walked. Brenda immediately thought, "I'll call him Twiddle Twaddle" and so it was from that day forward, everyone came to know the little green headed duck as Twiddle Twaddle. Speed Demon the turtle agreed with Brenda that it was a perfect name for his new friend.
Mae Ling is a little girl that lives near the lake too. Brenda and Mae Ling have become good friends. Today is breezy so Mae has a kite she is playing with. There are all kinds of people who come to the lake. Many boy and girl scout troops camp out over night and always have lots of fun fishing, swimming and boating.
Summer was just starting to arrive and Brenda's favorite tree by the lake was still waiting for his new leaves to appear. She usually took a little nap under the tree after feeding the ducks. Today she decided just to sit by a stump since her tree had no leaves yet anyway.
The weather was really getting warm. There was a boy out on the lake riding a jet ski and even a lady getting ready to water ski. Summer was definitely here! All the animals in the lake had learned to stay away from the boats and skiers so they didn't get hurt. All the people watched out for the animals also, no one wanted to hurt anyone.
When Twiddle Twaddle first flew over the lake he was so glad to see a no hunting sign posted by it. Right away he knew this would be a great place to set up home and maybe have a family. He was already making lots of friends. One of his favorite was Speed Demon. Twiddle thought his name was so cute because of course it took Speed Demon hours just to get from one side of the lake to the other.
If Speed Demon was swimming, now that was a different story. He could swim pretty fast. Sometimes a friend would carry him and that helped a lot. Speed Demon was easy going and never in to big a hurry. He really didn't mind that it took him longer than most of his friends to get where he was going. He was just happy when he got there.
Frogs where another large group that lived in the lake. Jamal, a friend we have met before in other stories, had a great friend he came down to see a lot. Toadly the bull frog. He was one handsome frog and liked Jamal a lot. Jamal always brought him jars of flies to eat. Maybe that was one reason he was such a BIG frog. There was one other frog even bigger than Toadly. The giant King Kong!
Now this was a toad no one wanted to mess with. Motorboats steered clear for fear if they hit him he would tear up there boats or motors. Kong got a lot of respect from everyone. He went pretty much wherever he wanted to and everyone cleared a wide path for him!
Summer was in full swing now. People were water boarding, skiing and doing all the fun things that summer brings. Twiddle Twaddle was one happy duck, he had made lots of friends and loved living on the lake. Brenda kept him well feed along with all the other ducks. She fed them only the best great wheat bread. It kept them all happy and healthy.
This beautiful morning as Brenda walked up her path to the lake she stopped to pick a plant to take home. When she looked up the path she saw her favorite tree all leaved out and it was such a pretty scene, it almost took her breath away. Everyone around the lake was so happy. Brenda was happy too.
She laughed when she saw Toadly goofing around doing a hand stand on a lily pad. Then along came Twiddle Twaddle headed fishing. He was a very happy duck these days, you see Mrs. Twaddle was going to have babies and they were the happiest couple you could find. Brenda couldn't wait to see the babies. The whole lake community was very excited!
Then early one morning the most feared thing of all happened. Duck hunters snuck on the lake grounds and everyone became very afraid. These hunters knew what they were doing to. They even had a duck whistle to lure the real ducks out into the open.
While one hunter had a hot cup of coffee, two of his friends were in a boat on the lake watching for ducks. The poor animals were helpless unless the Game Warden came along and caught the hunters. The only problem was, he only came around once in awhile.
Luckily Brenda headed out early that morning to feed her ducks. The first unusual thing she saw was Twiddle Twaddle hiding in a crop of cat tails in the lake. He was also being very brave because he had Mrs.Twaddle and the eggs hidden so that if anyone was found it would be him. Fortunately, Brenda knew just what to do. She went to see King Kong!
When Kong showed up at the lake there were hunters running in every direction. You could be sure no one would see those hunters at this lake ever again! When Twiddle Twaddle saw the hunters running away he was so happy he flapped his wings and turned around and around in circles.
The next day was the most special day in Twiddle Twaddle's life. His babies were hatching and he was very nervous. Poor Twiddle just swam around in circles. He thought it was going to take forever. Mae Ling got to go and tell Twiddle that he had three new babies. Every one started to celebrate. Mae Ling picked flowers for Mrs. Twaddle and a few of the guys even shot off fireworks.
A neighbor friend Henry offered to grill some burgers for everyone. It wasn't long though before he was in trouble and had to put out a fire with a hose. Henry was a great guy but had never been known as a great griller. Brenda just smiled and drank some soda to celebrate.
Just a few days later the lake community saw the cutest thing they had ever seen. Twiddle Twaddle walking along with his three new babies. He was so proud! You could sure tell they were his babies, they all had that special Twaddle walk. Brenda brought some extra wheat bread and headed for the lake everyday to feed all the ducks including the Twaddle gang!
HAPPINESS IS HAVING GREAT FRIENDS TO SHARE THE BAD TIMES AS WELL AS THE GOOD!