Quackers
Joe was about twenty-four years old when he was finally able to move out of his parents' house. He found himself a classy apartment on the west side of town. You know, one that wasn't too expensive, but still offered a few nice things; like a pool and a pond. Joe was very happy with his decision to move into this apartment complex, and he especially loved the pond outside of his window. There were ducks, a lot of ducks. One of his favorite things to do was go out and feed the ducks his left-over bread. He loved the way they would always waddle over to him when he came outside, and some of them even ate right out of his hand! One day Joe was driving home from work and noticed a family of baby ducks on the side of the road. To his horror their mother's body was right next to them, run over by some reprobate, and quite lifeless! Joe immediately stopped his car and ran to see if there was anything he could do to save the dear little babies' lives. There were only two left, and one of them was struck just as he ran to save them. That left just one. An orphan, a dear little yellow and brown baby. Joe scooped up the duck and took it back to his apartment, where he decided it was a girl. Just to be sure, he named her Quackers, a name that could be male or female. So, Quackers lived with Joe, and Joe was very happy. He didn't quite know what to feed her, so he mostly gave her....crackers to eat. There was, however, a no pets policy at the apartments, so the two had to be very descrete. Joe's new favorite thing to do was to take Quackers out to the pond and let her interact with the other ducks. After a few minutes she would always come waddling back to Joe, and Joe knew it was time to go back inside. One day, however, Quackers did not come back, but rather ran off with the other ducks. Joe tried and tried to get her to come in, but she would not heed his calls. Joe had to go to work, so he left her out.....with those other ducks. He knew the time would come when she would return to the wild, and she was now full grown. So off he went, holding back the tears, to his job. Happily, when he arrived back home, there was good old Quackers waiting for him, nestled up against the door. It was a very happy reunion indeed. Joe even cried. Quackers followed him inside and they both slept very happily. Joe in his bed, and Quackers on her special pillow next to the closet. The next day, Joe got up and went to work without waking Quackers. As he was leaving, he patted her on the head and whispered, "It's time for Daddy to go to work now." With that he kissed her on the head and went on his way. It was a good day at work, and as usual Joe went home at 5:00. When he arrived at the apartment, there was something strange. The door was open, and the lock was broken! Had someone broken into the place?! Quickly he rushed inside and called for Quackers. He frantically checked her pillow...empty. "QUACKERS!!" Then, to his horror, he saw the feathers. Joe was absolutely frantic, and didn't even notice that most of his furniture was missing. With horror, Joe followed the trail of feathers into the kitchen. There, in the sink, was the body. Some sadist had shoved her little head into the garbage disposal and turned it on!!! There was blood everywhere! Joe let out a shriek, and ran outside. Still sceaming, he ran out onto the road. He turned just in time to see a semi-truck, eighteen wheeler splatter him all over the road. Ironically in the very spot where Quackers' mother was killed. The End
