The Oddity in the Street

With silent distinction she crossed the intersection in front of a multitude of cars, her dress billowing in the wind and wispy white hair streaming. A duck waddled up to her mid stride in the middle of the crosswalk.

Well, this is an oddity, she thought to herself.

She stopped to stare, as well did the duck. For a brief moment she pondered why this bird was standing in the road, staring at her, head cocked to the side as if waiting for something.

“Quack!”, was it’s response.

“Well, little fellow. We must get you out of the road before you get hurt.”, she said as she attempted to shoo it to the side of the road she was walking to.

“Quaaaaack, quack!”, it replied as it jumped and beat it’s wings feverishly.

She recoiled and took a few steps backward. The duck seemed pleased with this and began to walk forward, continuing his ruckus.

“Help me!”, she yelled as the duck chased her back to the other side of the road.

Amid all of this commotion, she failed to realize the speeding car coming up the far lane, near where she would have been standing if she had crossed. She stood on this corner every morning looking through the newspapers and magazines of this corner store’s unmanned rack and would have been oblivious.

A second later a car crashed through where what would have been a newsstand and an old lady. Today, though, it was only a newsstand.

The duck stood in silence. It cocked it’s head to the side and bobbed it once or twice. Without another gesture, it took off in flight.

“Are you alright lady?”, a young man asked who was responding to her cry for help.

“Yes, that duck saved my life!”, she said.

“What duck?”, the man replied.