This is a story about a duck who was very plucky. His real name was Ducky, but we will call him Plucky Ducky because he was so plucky. This Plucky Ducky was determined to become an Olympic swimmer; it was Plucky Ducky’s dream.

It was a typical day for Plucky Ducky. He got up at 4:00 in the morning to do stretches for the Olympics, determinedly. The problem was that Plucky Ducky was a foot and a half feet tall. But Plucky Ducky was still determined, even while facing these difficulties. At 7:00 in the morning Plucky Ducky stopped and had breakfast. Plucky Ducky ate it determinedly. “I can feel myself growing already!” Plucky Ducky exclaimed with great confidence. Breakfast was usually raw bread with organic butter and algae flakes with water to substitute for milk. “What a determined way to start my day!” Plucky Ducky exclaimed with all of his pluck.

Plucky Ducky lived on the pond side town of Pondtopia. It was an icon of swimming. All the Olympic swimmers were from here and were Plucky Ducky’s heroes. “I can’t wait for another great day of work and breaking records for exterminating bugs!” Plucky Ducky said in a determined way.

On his way to work, Plucky Ducky met up with his friend Senor Candid (says the truth about everything), who worked as a tour guide. They talked about a new video game called Robo Bros. They also talked about the truth behind certain celebrities because that was what Senor Candid does. Senor Candid always said the truth about everything and nothing but the truth. As Senor Candid and Plucky Ducky approached the end of the walk, they both parted ways.

You see, Plucky Ducky worked at an extermination agency called Whack! There it is!  Plucky Ducky was on the elite extermination team. They dealt with the worst types of bugs. At his job Plucky Ducky was excited, “Bring on the worst bugs you got!” Not even moments later the phone rang on the emergency number.

“Hello?” Plucky Ducky said.

“Help! I have bugs that look like water striders in my pool, they are really big!” the anonymous person said worriedly.

“Pool?” Plucky Ducky thought. Plucky Ducky did not question anything and got his gear and went into the car. Plucky Ducky changed frantically and moved at a determined type of speed to get to his destination.

When Plucky Ducky arrived at the door he was already covered in full body gear. Plucky Ducky knocked on the door and a few seconds later the door opened up. His beak dropped (inside his suit of course), the person who answered the door was none other than Coach Butterfly. She had coached all the great Olympic swimmers of Pondopia like Speedy Froggy, a master at the breaststroke three-time gold medalist! Anyway, Coach Butterfly was kind of startled at the short animal in a full body suit that had green splotches on it, with a mask that covered the face, and a backpack that was full of gear, and a tank with a hose attached to it.  

Plucky Ducky was still shocked when Coach Butterfly said, “Follow me, the bugs are over here”.

And what Plucky Ducky saw he was pretty sure his beak did fall out. There were so many water bugs in the pool you could not even see the water under them.

Coach Butterfly said, “See, I told you it was a big problem”.

Plucky Ducky still surprised by the bugs said “I will get rid of these bugs if it is the last thing I do!”

“My, you are very determined to get this done,” said Coach Butterfly.

“It’s because I love swimming and I’m offended that they chose a pool to spend their time in”.

“You don’t say,” said Coach Butterfly.

“Ok let’s cut to the chase, why do you think they are here?”

“Well, I put in some new chlorine that smells amazing! It smells like honey.”

“Oh so its sugar they like, I will be back soon!”

“Wait you can’t just leave!” Coach Butterfly says.

So a few minutes later Plucky Ducky returned with a giant jar of sugar. Plucky Ducky poured some of the sugar on the side of the pool and all of the bugs hopped out of the pool and followed Plucky Ducky through the house, outside, and through the town. People were surprised and confused about what was happening.  They see a small duck in a bodysuit with a jar in his hand with a huge group of bugs following him. But Plucky Ducky was focused on the task at hand and did not care about what the other people in the town of Pondopia thought. Plucky Ducky wanted to get the task done and impress Coach Butterfly.

When they got to the pond Plucky Ducky chucked the giant jar of sugar into the pond and all of the bugs chased after it. Coach Butterfly thanked Plucky Ducky.

As Plucky Ducky was walking home he was disappointed that he did not make a bigger impression on his lifelong hero. But Plucky Ducky did not give up, he still had hope and was very determined to get recognized. So Plucky Ducky sent Coach Butterfly flowers from his own garden.

The next day Plucky Ducky got two pieces of mail at his desk one said “to Plucky Ducky from CEO of Whack! There it is!” He opened it and it said “Because of your quick thinking and creative use of materials mixed with determination to get the task done, we want to promote you all the way up to the president of our company”.  Plucky Ducky was so thrilled he wanted to run straight to the manager’s office and say he accepted the offer. But before he did he saw the other piece of mail it said “to Plucky Ducky”. Plucky Ducky’s eyes almost fell out of his head.

It said “From Coach Butterfly”. Plucky Ducky opened the card with hesitation because he was so nervous. Plucky Ducky read it quietly to himself.  “Dear Plucky Ducky I could not help but notice how much you loved to swim and I want to offer an opportunity for me to train you and maybe make it to the Olympics.” Plucky Ducky just downright passed out.

THREE YEARS LATER

Plucky Ducky woke up at 4:00 in the morning and did his stretches until 7:00. Plucky Ducky stopped and ate his breakfast. Breakfast was raw bread with organic butter and algae flakes with water to substitute for milk. Plucky Ducky then got ready to head off to work. He ran into Senor Candid and they talked about the new game Monster Fight. They also talk about the truth behind celebrities because that is what Senor Candid does, he talked about the truth. Instead of going down the road to Whack! There it is! Plucky Ducky got on a bus and headed down out of town to Coach Butterfly’s training pool to begin swimming exercises. And now he goes and does his job for fun and in a very determined way.

Note: Plucky Ducky, over his career of being an Olympic swimmer has earned 5 gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal.