Week 6.2009: Tarnished Duckling

A chubby 10 year old on his way to being an overweight father of two grabs the silver duck piggy bank, his pocket knife, and a flashlight and hides away under the covers. "They do it on TV, how hard can it be?" thinks the boy as he eyes the lock embedded in the belly of his bank. He takes out the pocket knife, selects the awl, and begins to fiddle with the keyhole. Candy is the ultimate goal of this treasure hunt, his allowance for the week all used up he now looks to other sources of funds. He feels the parts of the lock move around inside of the hole and then CLICK, the lock springs back into place. Frustrated, he switches to the knife and starts to jimmy the lock by prying the door open. The door starts to give and, in his excitement, the boy does not notice that the duck is bending to give way to the lock. PING! The door flies off and money starts to pour out of the ducks belly. Once emptied the duck is tossed aside, the door forever lost.

A nostalgic father who used to be a chubby 10 year old boy finds the duck in a box. His thumb passes over the bump in the belly next to where there used to be a door with a lock and remembers that night but not where the money went. His son sees the duck and asks about it. The father gives the duck to the son and smiles at the thought of this boy's experiences yet to come.