Duck

So my little brother is shipping off to basic training soon, and I thought that, in honour of that, I would tell you a story about him. He is a grown man now, but once upon a time he was 2 years old. One day we came home from church, and in class my brother had made a little puffball with 2 googly eyes, a beak, and two webbed feet. He was very proud of it and showed it to everyone. All the adults oohed and aaahhed over his puffball. My Aunt T (who was in her 30's) said to him, "Kurt, that is a nice chicken."

Kurt sagely corrected her, "It's a duck."

"No, see Kurt, it's a chicken"

"It's a duck"

"Chicken"

"Duck"

"Chicken"

"Duck"

This continued for about two minutes, until my mother stepped in. Now I was raised in a fairly conservative household, and we were taught to respect our elders, even when they were wrong. So my mother said, "Kurtis, do we argue with adults?"

Kurt hung his head."No."

"So what is it?"

Through clenched teeth, my brother replied, "It's a chicken."

"Good, now go get ready for bed."

"Can I sleep with my....chicken?" The last word was said with a grimace.

"Yes, you may."

Later, that evening as my mother tucked tiny 2 year old Kurtis into bed, she asked, "What are you going to name your chicken?"

Clutching his puffball tightly, he blithely replied,

"Duck"