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.