If I Were a Duck

By Charles Parker

This story is based on life experiences with my family and dear friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Mar 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490727622

Charles Parker

Charles grew up in the village of St Peter’s in Thanet (now part of Broadstairs) and sang in the church choir. Following a career in the Home Office and Department for Business he returned home to Broadstairs and now spends his time writing and supporting his local churches.

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© Copyright 2014 Charles Parker.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-2763-9 (sc)

978-1-4907-2762-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014902719

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Trafford rev. 03/13/2014

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Contents

Charlie

Po-Ko-Mo

Whip Brown Back

Timber All Muscles

Goldie

Greg to the Rescue

It was fall. The trees were almost naked; the leaves, one here, one there, seemed to be hanging on for dear life. The sun was shining with that comfortable warmth only the sun can give. It was a perfect fall day, the kind of fall day when a sweater feels so good. I had just come in from the pond when bursting through the front door all the grandchildren appeared. They clamored, Oh boy! Hey, Gramps! Hi, Gramps. After everyone took a turn in the cookie jar and then got comfy, my eldest grandson said, Grandpa, please tell us a story!

Well, it was the best day for sitting around, gathered under a blanket, to listen to a good story. Okay, I said. You’re lucky! I’m in the mood for storytelling! It just so happens that I have a story I’ve been holding on to for a very long time. This is a story I have had to wait to tell. It will be difficult for you to believe what you are about to hear, but this actually happened to Grandpa!

The grandchildren began pleading, Tell us, Grandpa, tell us!

We used the blanket to wrap ourselves in warmth and gathered on the big couch. Well, I said, okay, here goes . . .

It was a day just like this. I put off the raking I was supposed to do and headed far up north to the one trail I knew so well. When I parked the car and got out, I noticed that there was no wind at all. It was strange for that time of year way up in the woods. It was a little cool, so I put on an old hiking sweater I had in the car. It was one of my favorite sweaters, with a big collar that smelled of the dozen or so campfires beside which I had warmed myself