Growin' Up

Ducklings

(Welcome to the revised version of Growin' Up! This story will not include OCs like Alex Falcon from the last book. If you do not like the fact Growin' Up is being redone, then don't read this. I really don't like hate comments, thank you very much. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this story!)

7-year-olds

Huey's POV

"Oh come on, Louie! It's just a fish!" Dewey tried to get Louie to touch the fish. Louie darted away, squealing. His short, white hair waved as the wind picked up. I watched my brothers, holding the red cap on my head. Maybe it was bad idea to make them help me earn this fishing badge...

"Boys! Time to come in for dinner!" Uncle Donald called from the houseboat. Louie quickly ran towards him, nearly tripping over his own feet.

"What a wet blanket," Dewey sighed, tossing the slimy fish back into the water. "last one there is a... uh... rotten duck?" Dewey took off, chasing after Louie. I rolled my eyes, watching him disappear through the door. He won't wash his hands and will probably try to rub all the slime onto Louie. I collected the three fishing poles and followed them.

Uncle Donald smiled at me as I walked through the door. "Always being the most responsible, right?" I shrugged.

"Why run straight into the houseboat when walking is perfectly fine?" I hung the fishing poles onto their pegs then turned to go into my room. Inside, Louie was tossing his pillows at Dewey, who was trying to slime him. "Dewey! Wash your hands and Louie stop tossing the pillow around!" Dewey took one last glance at Louie before walking past me.

"Thanks, Hue, I owe you." Louie tossed his pillow down and laid on top of it.

"You owe me for a lot of things." I pointed out, climbing up to my bed.

"Yea, yea. I can do your math practice that the tutor said we have to do." Louie looked up at me, a grin on his face.

"Oh yea, hilarious Lou. We both know that you doing math is like Dewey trying to do the laundry." Louie huffed, folding his arms.

"First of all, Dewey doing laundry? As if. Second of all, I bet I could place better than you if I tried." I shook my head at him.

"Why don't either of you try? You both know school is important yet neither of you try." I asked, starting to climb down my ladder. Louie had moved to the blue bean bag chair in the corner of the room.

"It's not even real school. I saw articles online about real schools, where kids like us go and make their dreams come true!" Louie sighed, shaking his head. "Not like Uncle Donald would ever send us there. 'It's too dangerous' Like we can't handle school. If we are all together, then it should be fine."

"Oh come on Lou," I jumped a little, not expecting to hear Dewey's voice. "being home-schooled isn't so bad. The big schools have us getting up at like 6:30 am!" Louie shrugged, watching Dewey flop onto his bed.

"Maybe he'll let us if we convince him at dinner. Who wants to talk first?" I asked, picking up my red tablet.

"I'll do the talking. Dewey, do your puppy eyes, Uncle D is a sucker for those. And Huey, try to find some facts to support our speech." Louie commanded. He walked up behind me, watching me swipe through websites.

"Speech? You mean argument?" I asked, looking at him from behind my shoulder.

"Yea, yea. Not everyone can have a big word brain like you." Louie rolled his eyes.

"Vocabulary..." I whispered, snickering while doing so.

"Do you want to go to a real school or not?" Louie grabbed the tablet out of my hands. I tried to grab it back, but he ran around the room, dodging me. Dewey sat on his bed, watching the madness unfold.

"Dewey! What are you doing in here?" Uncle Donald burst through the door, looking at me and Louie with wide eyes.

"Oh come on! Why do I always get the blame?" Louie and I burst out laughing, forgetting about our chase for the tablet. Dewey watched us, his eyes down in slits.

"Sorry, Dewey. You two," He pointed at me and Louie. We had both started to regain control and were now catching our breath. "Stop making it sound like elephants live in here. Dinner is ready." Uncle Donald walked away, with Dewey on his tail. I grabbed my tablet and turned it off. Louie had already left once I set the tablet onto our wooden desk. 

When I arrived into the kitchen, it was oddly quiet. Dewey and Louie were whispering to each other, neither of them yelling at each other or Uncle Donald. Looks like we were all pretty serious about getting into this big school. I wonder what'll it be like...

I walked through the halls. Kids all sat nicely in their desks, smiles plastered onto their faces. I walked into a classroom with the numbers 2017. Inside sat about 10 other kids, all with neatly organized papers on their desks. I took the only desk in the front of the room. I pulled out my completed essay, all the words were clearly written.

"Ok class," A tall, female duck walked into the classroom. "please take out your homework assignments!" She smiled brightly as she collected all of the papers. Then, she settled down in her desk, reading through the papers. 

Only a couple seconds passed when suddenly she stood up. "Wow! Hubert Duck, please come up to the front of the class!" I walked up, smiling at the lady. "Your essay is so incredible that it deserves to be seen by the whole world! Please take this medal," She pulled a gold medal out of her pocket. "as a sign of your great achievement!"

"Huey! Huey! Huey!" The chants got louder and louder...

"Huey!" I blinked, shaking my head. "Finally! Get your head out of the clouds, we got some convincing to do." Louie grabbed my hand, dragging me towards the table. I sat down in between Dewey and Louie, across from Uncle Donald.

"So, did you boys complete your math sheets yet? The tutor is hoping it won't be too hard for you." Uncle Donald asked.

"Well, Uncle Donald, we want to ask you something. We, as in all three of us, were hoping we could attend the big schools. I've seen pictures online and they look so great! The tutor is great and all, but we barely get out. How will we even learn how to cook when you don't even let Dewey touch the toaster?" Uncle Donald nearly dropped his knife as he listened to Louie explaining. He connected eyes with Dewey, and I could see him out of the corner of my eye giving his famous puppy eyes.

"I don't know, it's such a big place and all the kids. What if you get sick? Or hurt?" Uncle Donald sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know if I can bare to lose you guys." Besides me, Dewey stiffened. He knew what Donald was talking about, and it was a very sensitive topic to him. I looked over to Louie, who was sneaking glances at me and Dewey.

"I know, but we will be fine. We will protect each other. Plus, is putting bubble wrap around us for our whole life a great idea?" Louie folded his arms, watching Uncle Donald. He fidgeted in his seat, staring at all three of us. 

"Also, we will learn how to protect ourselves better. Together. Right, guys?" I looked at Dewey, who gave his adorable, small smile. Louie nodded, his eyes hopeful.

"Ok... fine. But I'm going to do research on all the schools around. It has to be close and safe, and if there isn't one like that, then you will not be going to school. Got it?" We all nodded, nearly bouncing in our seats. "Now, eat. Then do your homework." Pretty much that meant 'end of conversation'. So we all ate our pasta quietly, not even poking each other.

"Can I be excused?" Dewey asked from beside me. Uncle Donald eyed him, then slowly nodded his head. Dewey rushed off, his head low. Maybe it was just me, but it seems like he definitely had something on his mind.

(Thanks for reading! It is shorter than normal, but I really wanted to make sure this part got out! Hope you will enjoy!)