Sandra Lynn Lynxleg

T —

bank.”What! What!” each cried as it rose to flight.

“What! What! What! What!™ The leads circled in search. Nanabush
quickly ran to hide amongst the willow bushes. “Food;” he thought.
“Succulent. Mud duck food. My favourite meal.”

The ducks continued to search for the sounds. Flying into the heat of the
conversations, words bounced off their wings and backs hitting each other.
The leads noticed and warned the others, “Go! Go! Go! Go!”

Nanabush, fearing his meal would leave, jumped from behind the bush.
“Neeshtows, I hear your frantic quacking. What’s wrong?”

“It’s Nanabush! It’s a trick! Go! Go! Go! Go!” squawked the leads.

The fluttering of the wings and the warmth of the afternoon sun had
lessened the volume of Nanabush’s many voices. Only dribblings of con-
versations could be heard. “Wait!” he cried to the fleeing ducks, “I can quiet
the voices and make them go away.” With that he scooped up the last of the
falling words, which were reduced to burps and gurgles, and shoved them in
his mouth.

Licking his fingers and lips he said, “I came to this valley from the high
country. My friends up there said I would become filled with words and
song when I visited here. They spoke truth. I am so fulfilled and in awe of
this beautiful valley, I am speechless.” With that he sat down on a nearby
log.

The ducks, still confused from the now silenced noise and sudden
appearance of Nanabush, cried, “It’s a Nanabush trick! Go! Go! Go! Go!”

Nanabush continued to sit quietly on the log. Calmly he said, “I do not
want to frighten you, my friends. I only want to sit by the water and watch
you dip and swim. It’s been a long time since I have been with friends.”

“No! No! You lie. You want to eat us. We know you Nanabush. You are
always hungry.”

“You misunderstand me. I have just eaten and I am no longer hungry.
Believe me, I want to be among friends. I miss my friends from the high
country. We would laugh and sing. We’d dance all day because there is no
night. Life in the high country is a party, and the people are hospitable. For
weeks we laughed, sang, danced, and ate. I am so full of food I will not eat
until next year. I wouldn’t eat my high country friends; otherwise, when I
returned nobody would be there to greet me.”

“He speaks truth,” spoke one brave duck. “I’ve heard high country peo-
Ple live like that.” His words were enough to calm the other ducks because
ducks believe each other. They believed this so much that they flew back to
the river bank to settle down.