It was a sunny autumn day and several Debs were around the pond feeding the ducks. They enjoyed the warm light as they tossed pieces of bread and corn on the lawn and the water. HoneyBunch and Kymscrazy used some bread they had left over from sandwiches,
Channdrah and Yvenna brought corn kernels they’d picked up from a nearby farm, and Aphrael used up some hot dog buns that had been left out too long and were stale. But the ducks loved it all, quacking and crowding them for more.
In a flash, they were standing in a bricked-up path where the bricks came up to their waist. The path was narrow and would only allow two of them to pass at a time.
“Nice hat,” said Aphrael, noting the yellow plumage on everyone’s heads.
“You should talk, ducky,” said Channdrah. “You have one too.”
“Agh, these are heavy,” said Kymscrazy, trying to pick up her feet with difficulty.
“No wonder, there’s bricks on our shoes,” noted HoneyBunch.
“This can’t be good. I see a bunch of people down there.” Yvenna squinted her eyes to see what they were up to. Suddenly an arrow came flying through the midst of them. “That was close!”
“Duck!” yelled Aphrael, but they couldn’t. They were somehow unable to bend.
“Duck,” said Kymscrazy. “That’s funny.” She pointed at her feathery head.
“We’re target practice, genius. At least we can make it harder for them.” Channdrah started hopping back and forth to avoid the arrows that were starting to sail in.
“It’s just like the carnival!” panted Yvenna, running with major effort.
“Great, we’re moving duck targets,” HoneyBunch said. “Quack.” And THUNK, she caught an arrow in the head.
“Ha! Like Steve Martin. Only, you know, it’s real.” Aphrael got her arrow next and slumped to the ground.
The others tried to avoid the rest of the arrows, but it was hard to jump over corpses, and pretty soon HoneyBunch had one in her head. Yvenna made the mistake of looking down the field and caught one in the eye. Channdrah finally gave up, out of exhaustion and because she just couldn’t get around the bodies, and the last metal tip pierced her skull.
|