Dollop

“Pffff, that was a long walk,” Squirrel says, “but fun!”

“Because I carried you the whole way,” Panda grumbles.

“True,” Squirrel laughs. “It’s nice, swaying along like that.”

Panda and Squirrel are just sitting down when eight newly hatched ducklings appear. They waddle down the bank of the river after Mother Duck.

“Look,” Squirrel points. “One of the eggs is still whole. There must be another duckling inside!”

They bend over the egg.

“It’s already pecked a hole in the shell,” Panda says. Carefully, she picks up the egg and holds it to her ear. “It’s squeaking and creaking and tapping.” She lets Squirrel listen too.

“It will hatch soon,” Squirrel says. “But its mother and brothers and sisters have already gone—down the river. So what now?”

“We have to rescue it,” Panda says.

“Let’s take it home.”

They set off with Squirrel on Panda’s shoulder again, holding the egg in her warm paws.

In Panda’s den they lay the egg gently on the floor. They watch and wait. Peck peck, crack crack.

At last, the shell cracks open. A dollop of wet feathers crawls out, falls over, cheeps, scrambles up and falls over again.

“This is how you walk.” Squirrel shows the duckling.

“Follow me!” she calls. “Don’t give up!”

The duckling tries to follow, falls over, scrambles up, veers right, veers left, and falls over again. But after a while he manages, more or less.

“We have to give him a name,” Panda says.

“Dollop,” says Squirrel at once.

“Why?” Panda asks.

“Because it sounds cute,” says Squirrel.

“Come on, Dollop, walk!” Panda says.

Dollop cheeps and waddles around.

“He needs water,” Panda says. “To drink and to swim in. But how do we get water up here?”

“I know where there’s water!” Squirrel says. “That boulder near the big pine tree has a hollow on top. It’s always full of rainwater.”

They carry Dollop to the rock. He sticks his beak in the water, drinks, gasps, splashes into the pool, then paddles in circles, cheeping.

“He’s a happy little guy,” Panda says.

Dollop sticks his head underwater.

“I think he’s looking for food,” Panda says. “What do ducks eat?”

“Insects,” says Squirrel. “And snails and worms and fish and small plants, like duckweed. But we’ll only find that at the river. I’m on my way!”

She runs down to the river and returns with her paws full of duckweed. Dollop slurps it up. Then they play tag with him and hide-and-seek. They give him careful hugs and sloppy kisses.

That night in the den they build a mossy nest for Dollop.

They watch over him until he falls sleep.

And so it goes for four weeks, until Dollop is a grown duck.

“Now we have to let him go,” Panda says a little sadly.

“Yes,” Squirrel sighs. “A duck needs a river. Not your den, or a nest of moss.”

They carry Dollop down the hill.

At the river, he tumbles down the bank, quacks in fright, then paddles away.

Panda and Squirrel watch until he disappears around the bend.

“I’ve got a strange feeling in my stomach but I can’t find the word for it.” Panda lets out a quiet sigh.

“Sad?” Squirrel whispers. “Is that the word you’re looking for?”

Panda nods.

“You understand me, Squirrel,” she says, resting a heavy paw on Squirrel’s back.

“That’s no reason to squash me!” shouts Squirrel.

She waves at the bend in the river. “Bye, Dollop! Come and see us again one day!”