Mr. Peeps!

This story is almost a year old.

I wanted to write about it before now but just never got around to it. I think the new life that spring bring to us inspired me to put this story together.

Until August of last year, Lisa and I had our camper at Dummers Beach in weld Maine. Our seasonal site was along the brook that led into the pond. It was a great location as we could sit at our lot and had direct access to the brook that slowly flowed by. My chair was often feet from the brook.

When I first saw Mr. Peeps he was with his mother and little brother. No, I don’t know for sure either of them were boys but it’s my story, so I get to decide.

I knew Mr. Peeps and could always pick him out of a ducky crowd because unlike other ducks he had a small white patch on the side of his head.

I was never close enough to be able to see what it was, but it was how I identified him. That and he was also ALWAYS peeping, Peep, Peep, Peep!

Not only was he always last in the line of ducks with mom and brother leading him, he seemed to be always falling behind. A fact that only increased the peeping that came from Mr. Peeps.

The brook we camped by was a great place for a mama ducks to raise their ducklings. There must have been 5 or 6 families swimming up and down the brook each day. Some with up to 4 or 5 ducklings.

They grew fast as the weeks went on, but nothing changed. Our brook was full of duck families and one was always Mr. Peeps and his mom and brother.

When we would arrive at the camper from being away, I would always check out the brook and see who was there. By early July the Ducklings were about half the size of their momma’s.

We had been gone on a camping trip to Lubec Maine for a long weekend. When we got back to the camper something was different. The duck families were doing their usual swimming up and down the brook, but this time Mr. Peeps was alone? No mom? No brother? Mr. Peeps just went up and down the brook loudly peeping, in my mind, looking for his family. A family who clearly was not there.

As I watched Mr. peeps for the next couple of weeks he would try to merge in with one of the other families but unfortunately none would have him. They would always scurry off leaving him alone, peeping loudly as they left him behind.

Mr. Peeps never stopped peeping but finally gave up on trying to find a new family to join.

The last time I saw Mr. Peeps he was the size of an adult duck. He was still swimming up and down the stream and he was still peeping, only now it was a quack, an adult quack.

Although he never found that surrogate family, I knew he was going to be alright. He had grown into a full-size duck and with all indications was healthy.

I do not know what happen to mom and brother. It’s a wild area and I have my suspicions, but I cannot be sure.

Depending on your outlook on life, this story is either a terrible tale about of the cruelty of life and the pain it can bring. Its about lose, loneliness, and the worst of what can happen in life.

OR

It is the story of triumph and the strong desire to survive of a little duck. A duck that beat the odds and survived to become an adult.

I choose to believe in the triumph and strong desire to live angle.

I hope this spring he has a family of his own and he teaches them how to .............PEEP !