Ducky's Adventure - Lemna minor L.

Laying on the ground and staring up at the sky, Ducky began to sigh to herself. The rays of sunlight visibly made their way through the bundles of clouds, gently caressing the earth with the sun's warmth. Just another peaceful, yet uneventful day. Ducky sat up quickly, sporting a frustrated expression. She was only certain of one thing today; if she spent yet another day staring at the sky then she would lose her mind. Surely there was something out there that could peak her interest. There had to be.

Pushing herself off the ground, Ducky huffed with impatience. She stared longingly at her friends playing in the distance. They had all found their cores, growing into the next stages of their lives while she remained as she is. It was not like she hadn't tried to find her core. She spent weeks searching, inspecting every pretty flower she could find in the fields, only to come up empty handed. Nothing resonated with her soul and the more she looked with no success, the more she felt different and defective.

Shaking her head, Ducky turned away. Seeing them grow without her just seemed to be too much for her to handle. After all, she was the only one getting left behind and everyone knew it. As she turned, Ducky noticed something sparkling in the distance. Ever curious, and not wanting to spend any more time staring into the sky feeling sorry for herself, Ducky wandered toward the sparkles.

The closer she got, the more she realized that what she was seeing was not actually sparkles. She was approaching what could only be described as a marsh. The ground became more squishy, saturated with water, as she drew near a body of water. Through the large trees sprouting from the marsh, light from the sun danced between the leaves and along the water's surface. It was shimmering as the soft wind and the various aquatic creatures made small waves and ripples in the water.

The scene was breathtaking to Ducky. It was a first for her as she never ventured far from the fields before. There was never a reason to do so. All her friends stayed in the fields because it was where all their favourite flowers grew. Obviously it was where her favourite flowers grew too, at least that's what she thought. Sitting by the edge of the marsh, Ducky looked out across the waters before her.

She did not want to admit to herself that she found the greenery growing around it and within it more beautiful than the fields of flowers she was taught to love. The other flowers were full of colours and stood out among the never ending green of the grassy land. To Ducky in the past, she thought it was a no-brainer that they must be the prettiest of all the plants because they stood out. However, seeing the view before her now changed everything. The various shades of green and simple shapes of the leaves called to her.

Tentatively, Ducky stepped into the shallows. The water was not warm, but it was not as cold as she was expecting either. As she moved through the marsh towards a particularly green area, the water swished around her as if welcoming her with an accepting hug. Her movements were slow and steady in order to not cause any major disturbances to the environment. To anyone else it may have looked like Ducky was walking in a trance, captivated by the strange plant before her.

Floating on the water, the plant gently swayed in the waves made by Ducky's movements. The plants appeared to consist of a single, flat leaf that was shaped like an oval. It appeared to be hundreds of the same plant bunching together to create an appearance of a larger plant with a mass of tiny leaves opposed to being many individual plants. The way it grouped together, and how it flourished even in an environment that would have drowned most of the flowers Ducky had come across before, gave Ducky newfound hope. Hope that despite feeling like she was drowning herself, she could bloom one day.

Reaching out, she gently touched the plant before her. As she came into contact with the plant, a soft gasp escaped her. Ducky suddenly was feeling like bubbles began to flow in her veins, sending a tingling feeling throughout her body. It was as if the missing piece of a puzzle had been found and finally put into place. Letting a tear fall from her face into the water around her, Ducky closed her eyes.

She finally found the core she was seeking so desperately. Of course she would never have found it in the fields. She loved the fields of flowers but never truly connected with them because she was trying to be something she was not. She felt more at home, more herself, standing alone in the marsh than she ever had felt standing with everyone else in the fields. The water was where she truly belonged. Free to go wherever the water would take her, as opposed to the ones content to never leave the beautiful fields that she grew up with.

Core: Lemna minor L.