Sick Duck… by JoAnn

A couple of weeks ago, I awoke just before dawn to an unsettling noise. It was loud enough to wake me, but that didn’t bother me. What was so unsettling was that I had no idea what or who was making this disturbing noise.

I lay in bed, listening intently to determine exactly what the noise was and where it was coming from. It sounded familiar and close by. The more I listened, the more it sounded like an animal in distress. Maybe a cat, no. Definitely not a dog. It must be a wild animal. I finally settled on some type of bird. Perhaps calling to a mate? I concluded that the rhythmic sound was that of a DUCK. A duck that was indeed injured or sick!

Just as I decided what was making the noise, the noise stopped. Thank goodness! Perhaps the duck flew off to the nearest pond or another neighbor was awakened by the horrid sound and decided to help the creature. I got up, made my coffee, and started my day. I didn’t give the sick duck another thought until later.

Later that evening, I was sitting in my living room, watching a favorite television show, when I heard something making noise. It was disturbing my enjoyment of my show. I muted the television. There it was again! The sick duck sound from that morning. In perfect rhythm, it made its request for help. But wait, something wasn’t right. This noise wasn’t coming from my back yard, it was coming from my kitchen. The sick duck wasn’t a duck at all. It was my refrigerator!

With my fave TV show ruined, I went to the kitchen. Yes, it was definitely my fridge making that horrible squawking noise. The one that sounded exactly like a sick duck. Ugh! What on earth was causing my fridge to make such a sound? I listened carefully and placed the root of the problem in the back of the fridge. Perhaps the motor, or maybe a belt? I know nothing about refrigerators, except that they should always be cold. Which mine is. In fact, I have been very pleased with my fridge for the seven years I have had it. It was bought used, but it has always worked perfectly. I had not noticed my fridge malfunctioning in the least, so what was making that noise? I tapped the back of the fridge and even pushed it hard enough to make it wobble a little. Nothing made the noise stop. I was stuck with a sick duck inside my fridge.

I continued to hear my fridge make the sick duck sound off and on for the next two weeks. I tried not to think about it, but it was like a dripping sink. There was no way to ignore it. Then we received some storms. On Saturday, December 9th, a front moved through our area, bringing a tornado to 2 small towns only a few miles from my home. Damage was done, a handful of injuries, and many shaken nerves. But our little town was spared once again. We did have to endure a couple of hours of no electricity as the lineman replaced many poles that were broken like toothpicks.

Later that night, I noticed that I had not heard the sick duck noise. When the electricity came back on, my fridge came on like always, but there was no more sick duck. Could it be possible that the downtime took care of whatever was causing that dreadful noise? It has been four days since the power outage, and my fridge is working perfectly and quietly! I am hoping that whatever was holding that duck captive has released it for good.