The Ugly Ducklings Chapter 2

That morning, Gale and his family waddled to the marshy grounds to see the monarch duck. There he saw many duck mothers and saw Ember’s family. He saw her wave her wing at him and he waved back a little nervous about what could happen to ducklings like him and her.

“Bring forth the ducklings everyone has been complaining about,” demanded the king. He was a very old mallard duck with a glare that was more intimidating than Ember’s eyes.

With the command, both Gale and Ember waddled forward, keeping their heads bowed low to avoid upsetting the king.

The mother ducks all started whispering at each other, wondering what the king would do to them for being so repulsive to the eyes of everyone.

Gale and Ember’s mothers were worried, and were hoping nothing bad will fall upon them, for they were only youngsters.

Having a closer inspection, the monarch king just smiled at the young ducklings and chuckled, looking at the mothers of the two ducklings. “These children are capable of swimming in peace with the others corrected?” asked the duck monarch to both the children’s mothers.

The mothers simply nodded, hoping they have given the king the right answer.

“Then they may stay in this pond with their brothers and sisters,” he has stated with no hesitation.

Gale and Ember were relieved by the king’s noble words, that left many ducks confused and angered even, but the two ducklings didn’t care as they ran to their families and hugged them in their wings.

“Your majesty, why would you want to let them stay?” asked majority of the ducks, but with the lift of his mighty wing they all were silenced to hear his answer.

“We may not know it, but these two little ones will become something even greater than duck kind,” he simply answered. If his subjects of the pond know one thing, they know he is very wise and the words he says are true.

Even though they have the approval of the monarch of the pond, the two ducklings still felt as though it would be unbearable for them to stay at the pond. Late in the night, the two planned to run away from the pond to find somewhere else to live, but being unaware of the dangers the forest had in store for them left them to be afraid, even the headstrong Ember felt a little hesitate.

Shaking off the hesitation, Ember took her first step into the forest and was soon followed by Gale. Secretly, the both of them were happy they didn’t have to face the journey alone. If they were going to be labeled as ‘ugly’, they would be ‘ugly’ together.