Gleep Gleep

True Story here about a fond memory.

Once upon a time there was a Duck named Gleep Gleep. Well rather Gleep Gleep the 2nd was a Swuck, not a Duck. Half swan, half Duck by our best reckoning...

This of course is not our Swuck, but is the "only image" I could google that best describes what this creature grew up to look like.

Anyways... the story

As an Easter Tradition our father took us to the local pet store to pick up a yellow chick as a temporary pet for the youngest during Easter holiday and into the spring. When it matured we would deposit it in the local park with pond. This would always be hard to do as we grew attached, but we did. My younger brother picked the duck and named him Gleep Gleep.

During this time we sort of had our own pond (a swimming pool) in the back yard. Not always though, this was our new residence and one of the first years we spent there.

Side story: We had to move because our father had a change in employment which resulted in a commute. We had also just lost our mother to illness (our father's soul mate) and with 5 boys to raise, he bought a house with a swimming pool. What better way to keep 5 boys at home?

So.. where was I?

Oh yes Gleep Gleep. There were two Gleep Gleeps...

The original was a pure yellow Chiclet, and as they do they tend to follow you everywhere. This was my younger Brothers Duck and he did love it. But one day he was walking along with Gleep Gleep in tow as I spoke to him. About to answer, he stopped and stepped back; and to his shock poor Gleep Gleep was under his foot and mortally injured. Also to make matters worse, as cruel as kids can be... I laughed and pointed (I regret that). It only escalated the horror of what he mistakenly had done and the guilt he was experiencing from his accident.

That very day we returned to the pet store to purchase the last of the Easter chicks. Luckily there was one left, Gleep Gleep (the 2nd). All was well as Easter came and went, and the Chic grew and grew...

We opened our pool, removed the cover added chemicals and turned the filter on. We had no "pool boy", we managed and maintained it ourselves (a chore we would try and pass off more often than do). Mainly because vacuuming a pool bottom is slow and tedious; it had to be that way though, otherwise you would stir up the dirt you were trying to pick up. As Gleep Gleep was using this as his personal pond, the resulting mess (a product of fine duck food) made cleaning the pool even more important if we wanted to swim in it. Because of the 'swuck' the task became daily rather than weekly.

Another odd but wonderful thing we discovered about Gleep Gleep. His wings were never clipped, he could fly! Every so often he would take off and circle the house, then land in the pool. There were other surprises as well; because now as this swuck grew, we discovered he was no ordinary "duck". He seemed to be part Swan, and could be very very aggressive if he didn't know you! Vicious to the point that no man or beast would dare confront him, unless he was your friend.

Gleep Gleep was a wonderful swimming partner. We had our pool toys... balls and air mattresses, inner tubes, all that stuff. We also had a wooden canoe which we put in the pool capsized, and we would swim under to the air pocket beneath. Gleep Gleep swam underwater also and would join us there. That was a fun summer, and one happy Swuck!

Summer came and went, we closed the pool, and our father began preparing us for what soon must happen. We had to give up our friend and return him to the wild. We could always go visit him, but he'd be happier with his own kind. He would have food as people always fed the ducks at the park, and other ducks to swim with because his new pool would never close.

So one day we took Gleep Gleep to the park and released him. I don't remember much about that day, it was rather an abrupt end to the relationship, and we all agreed he would be better off in the park.

One thing though about Gleep Gleep, his last surprise...

As he flew around the house he would sometimes hang out by the side of our neighbors home, making a full circle around and landing on their side. One day after we let him go I was over there and looked down by the base of the chimney only to see a nest with two eggs in the grass. It was nestled in a corner where the chimney and brick wall joined together.

Turns out Gleep Gleep was a she, and not a he!

That sly old Swuck, she surprised us all by the discovery, we never knew... he was a she

So ends this duck tale.