The Missing Chapter of The Ugly Duckling Story

 

It was a glorious sunny morning somewhere in the woods. All around, the animals, birds and insect were waking up. Mothers hurried to feed their young where as the others, lazily stayed in the nests, borrows or wherever they were. Everybody seemed to be enjoying the cool breeze and the warm sunshine freshly spreading over the landscape except a certain swan who seemed to be quite anxious as she quickly scanned the entire area.

As she sat hidden behind a bush, other animals who lived in this area walked past her greeting their neighbors. She sure was not from around this area! What was she doing here? Why was she so worried?

Her eyes continued to scan the entire area and suddenly, relief swept over her face as she saw something that must have interested her. She relaxed and settled down more at ease now. Her eyes remained on her new found interest and she remained on the spot. It looked as if she was waiting for the right moment.

The swan's eyes were fixed on a mother duck who sat on her nest. She looked so happy and cheerful as she waved at other ducks. She left her nest and joined a group of her friends who were already in the pond. As they happily quacked away, the swan came out of the bush and looked around carefully. It looked as if this swan up to something! 

She was! She quickly made her way towards the nest and placed something in it and went back to her hiding place. She waited for the mother duck to return to her nest. 

When the mother duck returned, the first thing she did was lovingly admire her eggs before she sat on them. She didn't notice anything. The swan who was watching the mother duck looked pleased. She remained hidden behind the bush.

Before the swan flew away, she looked at the mother duck who sat on her nest one last time. It looked as if she wanted to tell her something, but perhaps she wasn't brave enough!

As she flew she hoped and prayed that her friend who was shot by a hunter two days ago would be happy with the home she has chosen for her egg. Her friend's last words were to find her nest and give her baby egg to a family who would take care of him. She felt guilty and sad but there was no way she could carry the egg to her nest which was so far away. She had already put her nest in danger by leaving the nest for three days. She had to hurry home!

"I should have told the duck", she kept on telling herself.

But she chickened out in the last minute. What if nobody wanted the egg! She wanted to get back to her babies too!

"When the eggs hatch, no one will notice the difference!" She told herself.

SHE WAS WRONG!

If she had known that they would call him Ugly, she wouldn't have left the egg in that nest. She thought the mother duck would love the little duckling like her own even though the duckling was bit different.

~ THE END ~

NOTE: After reading The Ugly Duckling story, Maly asked me several questions!

1. Who put Ugly Duckling's egg in this nest?
2. Why?
3. How?
4. What happened to Ugly duckling's mother?
5. Doesn't she love him?
6. More questions....etc

And I made up this story to answer her questions, so this story is dedicated to my daughter, Maleesha. I try my best to give her an answer instead of saying I don't know so that she would think and be creative! But sometimes, she's too smart and my bluff just doesn't make sense to me even!

I never wondered about how a swan's EGG ended up in a duck's nest when I read this story even when I was little!

DID YOU????