Life by the river Chpt I

Waddle-waddle-waddle sit!

"hrmm... so this is my new home?" thought the duck

He got back up on his feet and waddled along, observing the calm river.

"hrmm..." he thought to himself "not bad, this river is quite clean and it's cool and breezy too! I hope I can make a good living here, the other residents here seem quite ok."

It was migrating season and all the creatures of the woodlands were finding a new home. This particular river was one of the many places the creatures checked out. It was quite a small river or it would be more appropriate to call it a stream. It was tucked away in a quiet corner of the woods and was rather remote, not the most happening place definitely. But that was enough for Bill the duck, his previous home was no better than this. So he was waddling down the stream checking out who his new neighbours might be when suddenly....

"Quack! what's that?" He squinted to get a better look. It seemed like a large stone but with perculiar markings on it. "It's moving!" he thought to himself. So he waddled closer towards it, taking care to keep his distance, but without warning! It turned around and a head came out of the stone.

"Quack! Well, it turns out to be a box turtle. He looks... quite fierce, I think I'd better stay away from him..."

So Bill carried on with his tour when a large mother goose swooped down onto the soft grass and with her loud voice called out

"AHEM!! ALL CREATURES WHO HAVE JUST RECENTLY MOVED INTO RIVER DIVAN PLEASE ASSEMBLE BY THE APPLE TREE QUICKLY FOR A QUICK TOUR OF THE RIVER SQUUAAAWWWK!!!!"

So all the creatures of the woodlands came hopping, scurrying, crawling, gliding and of course, waddling to the apple tree. Then the mother goose started counting all the creatures.

"Squaak! Everything seems to be in order, come let us proceed with the tour!"

Bill waddled along with the entire group. They went to many of the landmarks of the river, there was the field of clovers, the great oak tree, the crystal fountain and many other charming features of the river. Then, the mother goose led them to the eldertrees where the history of the river was carved on the trees for all it's inhabitants to see. Mother goose puffed up her chest, brimming with pride as she started speaking about the history.

"Now, this river is a relatively young river, only 100 years since it's formation when the rocks of Rush mountain burst forth and......" Now it just so happen that Bill was standing quite close to the turtle he had seen earlier. He kept his cool but in his heart he kept wondering what it would be like to live with a brute such as him. He observed the turtle from the corner of his eye but the turtle did not even notice him. Bill had nearly calmed himself, listening to the mother goose's tale when suddenly the turtle remarked quietly,

"This is so depressing....."

Bill giggled quietly, "well THAT was unexpected!" he thought "Looks like life by the river is going to be truly exciting and hey! It's only just begun."