That Summer

Epilogue

I first saw her when I was swimming in a small tank. They brought her home in a baby carrier. I watched her grow up every day becoming more and more like the people who gave me food. When she started to walk, she waddled over to me and stared at me for hours. She gave me her rattles and teddy bears so I could play with her. But I couldn't with these fins. She had an innocent smile. It made me excited to see her face. I left soon after she said her first words. My last wish was to know her name.

The next moment, I found myself hatching out of an egg in a nest that was on the ledge of a hospital roof. I had a beak and wings. I had some brothers and sisters with different colored feathers. I had pale gray feathers. I learned how to float on water and dive for food. When I learned how to fly high, I saw her again. She was bigger and taller now. She had hair as long as the water that flowed out of the fountain in this pond. Even with all these changes, she still had the same smile I've been waiting to see again. She came to the pond I lived in almost every day. I swam up to her and she looked at me with the same awe in her eyes that I saw when I swam around in a tank. I always swam by the edge of the water without my brothers and sisters just so I could get a closer look at her. She used to bring a loaf of bread and fed little bits to me with her father. One day, I quacked at her to tell how much I appreciated the bread. I gently pulled on her sweater to let her know that I was happy to see her again. But, she got scared and ran away to her dad who had the same kind eyes as her.

"The duck is just saying hello, Mirai. Don't be scared." He said.

Her name was Mirai. 

A few days later she had the courage to say hello to me again. This time, she was with someone I didn't recognize. He was very tall and looked kinda shy. But, his eyes were always on her. Even when my brothers quacked at him, he never turned away from her. I didn't know who he was but I felt like he didn't see her the same way I did. On a sunny day, I noticed that the boy and she wore matching necklaces. I wondered how they were connected. Then, one of my brothers pulled on her sweater and her necklace flew off her neck and into the water. I was going to swim and get it but that boy jumped in after it. He wasn't in the right spot where the necklace fell. So, I dived in to get it anyway. But it was too deep for me so I had to keep diving in to reach it.

The next thing I knew, she jumped into the water and swam towards me. But, she fell right into the water. I dived in after her, struggling to swim in deep but I had to save her. I had to protect her. I got closer to her and she was drowning. Her foot was stuck in the moss. I kicked my webbed feet so hard to reach her. I pulled the moss off with my beak and she was free. Right below her feet, I saw her necklace. I grabbed it with my beak and swam back up to the water. I looked around and she was gone. After that, I waited for her to return every day. I swam by the edge of the pond to find her. But I never saw her again. I didn't see her father or that boy either. Instead of migrating with my brothers and sisters, I sat in the water and waited for her. She never came again. I froze to death wishing to be with her again.

I woke up and found myself in a cage with another furry thing sleeping on top of me. I heard barking and whimpering in the dark. The lights turned on and I saw human faces staring at me through a window. I didn't recognize anyone. I spent my time in this cage with my brother every day while the lights told me when it was day and night. Then one day, I saw a smile that I could never forget. It was Mirai. She was even taller and didn't look like a child anymore. She had braces and even longer hair. She and I made eye contact.

Before I knew it, I was sitting next to her in a car while she petted me to sleep. She hushed me to sleep and I felt like everything was okay. Her smile was so beautiful and her voice was so soothing that I could be at peace. Even with the same smile, something about her felt different as if she had changed on the inside. I couldn't tell what it was but she and I could take on the world together.