DUCK!

It was a bright, sunny Sunday afternoon on an otherwise boring winter day. And after being cooped-up in the house for the week, I wanted out! Thus, Ann and I went for a ride.

The traffic was light, almost non-existent as we drove along Illinois Route 154. The sun was shining through the car’s windows and the heater was softly blowing warm air. In short, I was soon becoming the victim of road hypnosis. I was oblivious to the outside world.

Suddenly Ann yelled, “Duck! Duck!”

With that warning, I snapped out of my daze and immediately hunkered down as far as I could from the windshield. My eyes were scanning the road before us as well as the sky above us. I did not know what danger was about to befall us, but I was frantically looking for something. Anything!

“What? What” I worriedly asked.

Ann, pointing to my left side replied, “Over there. A duck.”

I looked to my left and caught a fleeting glimpse of a caged emu. “That’s not a duck; that’s an emu. That thing could eat a duck”, I angrily replied. “Why did you say ‘Duck!’?”

“I couldn’t think of the name of it and I wanted you to see it. All I could think of was duck,” Ann said.

“Well, the next time don’t yell Duck!” I said. “I thought a rock was coming through the windshield or an airplane was falling out of the sky. I was trying to get as low as I possibly could.”

The rest of that afternoon ride was silent as I fumed over the scare. However, I was no longer oblivious to the road ahead. After all, I might have to duck to see a duck.