The Adventures of Surrender Duck, Chapter 17

Surrender Duck paddled past the banks of Bigfork.

On the shore was a man lying on the ground, barely conscious

in ragged pants and a bloody shirt

“Are you okay?” Surrender Duck asked.

“Ooohaaoowww,” mumbled the man,

mostly to himself.

“Where are you headed?”

The man did not respond.

“What is your name?”

This duck is quite persistent

the man thought.

“Christopher.”

“Christopher,"
Surrender Duck encouraged,

"I will help you. Hop on!”

So Christopher did

and rode Surrender Duck downstream

all through the afternoon.

They came to several rapids

and each time Christopher was afraid

they would be destroyed by the rocks,
Surrender Duck would shout
"You just gotta roll with it!
Whippeeee!"

Sure enough, every time

Christopher and Surrender Duck

emerged unscathed.

As it got dark,

Surrender Duck and Christopher were laughing,

telling stories of where they came from

and of the family and friends they missed so much.

They built a fire

and Christopher caught a rabbit for them to eat.

As they curled up in the dark woods,

Surrender Duck hummed a lullaby

and Christopher felt the world

and all of his troubles

fall away into the night.

When morning came

and Christopher awoke,

Surrender Duck was gone.

The coals were still hot
in their makeshift fire pit,

so Christopher caught another rabbit

and had breakfast.