Wednesday 30 June 2010

Clemence the Insomniac Duckling - part 7

By her 7th birthday, Clemence was a mother in her own right.
She’d abandoned the ducklings at birth, trusting a doting admirer would take care of them.

On the eve of her birthday, Clemence had stayed awake, intrigued by a pulsating star above her head. Not for the first time, she felt connected with nature’s elements in an inexplicable way. It was at times like this that she marveled at her luck and the favourable turns fate had dealt her.

She was indeed selfish and self-indulgent, but she also had a knack for silver linings. She was the one who’d transformed the sleepless nights of her ducklinghood into realities so far removed they’d have to be seen to be believed. She was the one who’d defied all odds and surpassed her life expectancy as a stray duckling seven times.

She had moments of clarity, where she saw life for what it was, and it was in these times that she thought of her Mum. She’d feel connected with her mother’s acute sense of level-headedness.

She was unusual, she recognized that, but she also recognized that she was no more than a colourful and fearless version of her own Mum. A true British duck at heart.

Friday 18 June 2010

Clemence the Insomniac Duckling - part 6

It’s the day of their 7th birthday.

The sky is thick with promises of rain and melancholy. Mum has made them a ship shaped cake. She's chosen a grey blue for the sea. She did stop to wonder about her choice of hue, afraid it may expose her sorrows.

She had a sleepless night, reminiscent of her youth. She spent the night stroking the photograph, speaking through it to Clemence, wondering what she’s become. She imagined her to be a beautiful and spirited young woman. Perhaps she’d changed her name from the romantic Clemence to something more modern.

Why was it that being modern was such a concern? She realized now the compromises she’d made for the sake of modernity. She never bought her children toys, waltzed around naked in their presence and discussed politics and war with them as of a young age to fit in with her parenting ideology. But most painful of all, she concealed her daughter’s existence for the sake of a harmonious, albeit modern, family.

Monday 7 June 2010

Clemence the Insomniac Duckling - part 5

Meanwhile, Clemence was indeed still alive. Better still, she was living out her fantasy, alternating between waterbound animals and machines, quite the switchable character. Perhaps in the human world, she would have been diagnosed with schizophrenia or another mental disease involving multiple personas. But Clemence was as healthy as they come, both physically and mentally.

At first, she’d surfed the tide alongside the herons, then, aboard Heron Airways she'd travelled and explored the world. Within the space of 5 seasons, she’d developed beautiful flying techniques and would occasionally school young ducks in in-flight sharp turns and smooth, gliding landings. She did this to earn food and shelter. These were the only times she was happy being a duck.

Otherwise, she’d mosey off to new lands in search of inspiration and new identities. She’d even gone as far as becoming a swimming human. She’d spotted one in the south continent in a very hostile environment. He had been swimming on his back – which unfortunately Clemence was unable to do – but she’d compensated for that shortcoming by deciding that only lame humans swam on their backs. You see, Clemence had soon discovered that life wasn’t a function of limitations, but rather of perception.

Fellow ducks and especially male ducks considered her quite the philosopher. They were without doubt intimidated by her fearless disposition, but fiercely attracted to the mischievous glint in her eye. One of them, Harry from Bangladesh, had even gone so far as to follow her on one of her inter-continental trips. He too had hitched a ride on Heron Airways. He’d been desperately attracted to the way she mystically transcended her duck self into another being. She’d thought him fat and short but quite entertaining. Their idyll came to an end when Harry remembered he was otherwise taken, and Clemence got on with her life.

On the eve of her 7th birthday, she’d spared a thought for her family and wondered whether Mona had lost her baby fat.