Lessons From Ducks by Tammy Robinson Read Free Book Online

you’ve broken this year dad,” the boy said behind him.
    “Yes, smarty pants, I’m aware of that. We don’t know it’s broken yet though, might still work.” He stooped down to collect up the pieces, the woman momentarily forgotten. Slotting the battery back into its place, he pushed the two sides of the phone back together and held his breath as he pushed down the button to power it up again. It made a few half-hearted beeps and the screen lit up.
    “Aha!” he grinned triumphantly, turning to wave the phone in his son’s face, “see, still works.”
    “For now,” his son shrugged. “Won’t be long before you drop it down the toilet like the last one, or leave it on the roof of your car and drive off, like the one before that.”
    “Those were all innocent mistakes,” the man protested, “could happen to anyone.”
    The boy looked sceptical. His father remembered the woman then and turned back to her, but the seat was empty. He hadn’t heard her leave.
    “Hey, where did she go?” he muttered, scanning the playground.
    “She left while you were trying to fix your phone –”
    “– I did fix it –”
    “Whatever. She’s over there.” The boy pointed towards a path that led from the playground across a small playing field – where children played soccer and cricket in summer and rugby in winter – and back to the main road. The woman could be seen weaving her way up the path at a pace the purpose of which the man assumed was to put as much space between herself and them as quickly as possible.
    Well, he wasn’t having any of that.
    “Quick come on,” he gestured to his son, “let’s catch her up.”
    “Why?”
    “To make sure she’s ok of course. You saw her; she might need some help getting home.”
    They both observed the figure rapidly disappearing in the distance.
    “Looks like she’s doing ok to me,” the boy commented.
    “Yeah, well who’s to say she won’t collapse into a heap around the next corner and lay there all night, helpless, just waiting for someone to help her? Could you really live with that on your conscience?”
    The boy sighed. His father clearly had a bee in his bonnet and from past experience he knew the only way to remove it was to let his father do whatever it was he wanted to do. “Fine,” he said, rolling his eyes.
    “I saw that.”
    “You were supposed to.”
    “Quick, we’ll have to hurry if we want to catch her.”
    “Even though she obviously doesn’t want to be caught.”
    The father chose to ignore this last statement. He couldn’t explain to his son why he needed to follow the woman, because he couldn’t explain it to himself.

Chapter five
     
    “Keep up,” he said over his shoulder when he saw his son’s shadow fall away.
    “You have longer legs then I do.”
    The man stopped. “You want me to carry you?”
    “No.” But the offer had the desired effect of making the boy pick up his pace.
    “Sure?”
    “Of course I’m sure. I’m eight, dad. Eight year olds don’t get carried around by their fathers, it’s totally embarrassing.”
    “Really? Since when?”
    “Since forever.”
    “Guess I missed that memo.”
    They had rounded the top of the path that disappeared over a small grassy hill and down to the road. The man held his breath, worried that she would be gone but there she was, standing next to the road, her face upturned to the sky, her eyes closed. Was she praying? As they neared her he slowed down a little. He hadn’t actually planned what to do if they managed to catch up to her and now that they had, it seemed kind of creepy, following her like this. His son sensed the change in pace and looked up at him questioningly.
    “Well?” The boy said loudly. “There she is. Hasn’t collapsed or fallen down dead. We’ve done our duty, now can we go back to the playground?”
    The woman’s eyes flew open. She gave them a look that suggested she thought they were kind of creepy.
    “We meet again,” the man said with a