At the canteen, there's so much noise, but it didn't stop both Shac and Ivan from finishing their lunch, especially how Ivan treated Shac for the lunch this day.
"Thanks for the treat." Shac expressed his gratitude.
"No problem, you know what to do next time." Ivan replied.
"I know I know, Consider it done." They exchanged waves before parting ways in opposite directions, leaving the canteen. Shac grabs the ducking and places it above his shoulder. "You good up there?"
"quack!" The duck responded.
"I see I see." He smiled. "Don't move too much or else your going to fall."
"quack!"
…
"Haaah… haaah… What happened?" Shac looked around the area, and notices that he was once again inside the canteen. "The canteen? But I was on the hallway…"
I was… brought back???
"quack!"
"The duck!?" Shac slowly breathed in and out, then glanced at the duck on his shoulder. He gently lifted the duck off his shoulder and held it in both hands. "What was that about…"
I thought everyone passed out in the hallway, including me, and this duckling… It supposed to be dead… But, for some reason it is alive and well, it's in my hand, lively and alive.
He walked through the hallway, being careful not to bump into anyone that could potentially avoid the duck's death.
Haaah… It looks like we managed to escape death this time.
Sighing heavily, he couldn't help but feel relieve from the fact that he was brought back. He then again glances back at the yellow duckling. "What are you really?" Asking as if the duck would be able to understand him, but the duckling didn't respond, it couldn't understand what Shac was saying.
There's something about this duckling… Or was it a coincidence? Calling it a coincidence doesn't seem to be the right answer. Since yesterday, strange things started to happen when I've come across about this duck. Hoping I'm not mistaken, then there's something about this little creature that needs to be taken of.
"You're scarier than I thought."
Well, it looks like I need to keep it safe… That's all I need to do right now, I wouldn't want to experience that again.
But despite Shac being just successfully brought back to life, he still needs to attend his next class.
"Haaah… can't believe what's happening."
Not being able to breathe is more worse than I thought.
He thought, as he is walking towards his next class, unaware of the phenomenon that's happening to him, and constantly worrying about not being able to breathe.
× × × × × × × × × ×
An hour has passed and his class just ended, Shac's next class is about to start. Although escaping the death of the duckling is one thing he managed to do, there's yet another problem that Shac is about to face…
No way… I forgot about the quiz…
Noticing how his classmates are being quiet all of a sudden, it looks like they are reviewing for the upcoming quiz, focusing and not looking at anyone else except their notes.
Shit! How could I forget about it!
This would be the second time Shac is going to take the same quiz, the very same quiz he failed last time.
How am I supposed to answer this? I almost forgot everything I learned last time.
Shac took a glance at everyone in the room, they all looked focused on the upcoming quiz.
It looks like I'm the only one who is about to fail this time. Ahhh!!!
He scratches his head and lays down his head on the table, he couldn't help but feel defeated, there's no way for him to do something, he lost too much time for him to even start reviewing the notes. The duckling says otherwise, looking at him at his pathetic state.
Don't look at me like that duckling… But, I should hope for the best, since I might remember something… Hopefully that's the case.
Having no time to prepare, Shac is about to face one of the greatest challenges in his life, with no preparation, going fully unprepared and no idea what to answer.
× × × × × × × × × ×
"quack!"
I can't believe I failed the same quiz again, just 2 days later, even though this is the second time I took it.
Sighing heavily, he exited the room along with Ivan, his face showing how deeply he was bothered by the results of the quiz.
"Hahaha… Looks like you failed this time." Ivan laughed at the current situation of his friend, after all, it's his fault for not reviewing.
"Yeah… I know." Shac said, feeling defeated.
Ivan patted Shac on the back. "It's okay. Try again next time, and be sure to study well if you don't the same thing to happen again."
It's my fault, I didn't prepare enough. Even though I got the second chance but didn't use it properly, this is so dumb.
"Don't worry." Ivan reassured. "If you need help, just ask me, I might be able to increase your points by a single point."
"Thanks, I'll ask for help next time, for that single point." Hearing what Ivan said, Shac's mood lightened a bit as his friend was cheering his up.
Ivan chuckled. "Feel free. Or do you want another treat?"
"No, no. I'll be the one treating you next time, right?"
Shac wouldn't want to increase his debt, it's Ivan, he is too dangerous to have debt with.
"I thought you already forgot about it."
"Of course not, how could I forget about something a few hours ago."
"Hahaha, I'm just messing around… Still don't forget about reviewing for the next quiz."
"Yeah yeah yeah." He knew that failing another quiz would be a bad idea, and he must do something about it.
After a short talk, Shac and Ivan waved goodbye before heading their separate ways.
"Now, what do you want to do?" Shac asked the duckling in his hand.
"quack!" The duckling responded, but Shac couldn't understand what the duckling wanted to do.
"I should treat you tonight, we have lot to talk about after all."
A lot. A lot. A lot.
"quack!"
The school was over for the day, it was an eventful day for Shac, having to experience death like no other, as well as failing the same quiz for the second time. Despite that, Shac and the duckling walked home together as if nothing happened.
× × × × × × × × × ×
"Haaah… Finally done with the chores." Shac muttered, finishing his nightly chores around the house. Now that there's nothing to hold him in the night anymore, he immediately stretches out on his bed, sanking into deep thought.
What a day to be alive… Now, what should I do… At the first place everything happened too quickly for me to even react, especially dying, the dream, and the incident at school. It all happened too fast, it was unexpected.
But this time, I'm certain it's a loop, that I'm repeating the same day, I'm sure of it. To prevent the incident, I must find a way to escape this day without dying. And I know it's all because of the duckling.
The email warned me about not forgetting the duck.
The dream occurred at midnight.
And the death that comes after it.
Those things, there's no denying that It's all connected to the duck.
All I can think of, is that when the duckling dies, it leads to not only me but also everyone dying. This explains why during the incident in the hallway, everyone got killed, they collapsed. Coincidentally, it happened after the duck was killed.
It might be a coincidence, no, there's no such coincidence where students will suddenly faint from not being able to breathe. And if I were not to ignore the email, then, it is truly the duck that is connected to the sudden death of me.
Although I'm not exactly aware of what happened to them, since it looks like they also got suffocated and were not able to breathe properly, leading to them collapsing to the floor. Meaning…
The duck's death means death for everyone, and not only me.
At this point, Shac knew he had to prevent the duck from dying, or else he would die once again. Even though he was unsure, he knew there's something wrong with the yellow creature.
With that thought, he glanced out the window at the duckling. It was in the backyard, roaming inside a large wooden box, enough for it to move around freely and tall enough to keep it contained.
"Well for now, it looks safe. And hopefully this would stop me from dying again." Satisfied that the duckling was secured enough, he returned to bed.
I can make it through this time, that's what I need to believe…
He convinced himself as he is about to sleep, hoping that he wouldn't have to die once again.
× × × × × × × × × ×
"Ah-" Shac squinted as the sunlight hit his eyes.
What about the duckling?
He stood up quickly and glanced out the window. The sun was just beginning to rise, and in his relief, in the box, the duckling was alive and well.
"I see." he murmured to himself, he sighed as he look at the little yellow creature in the box.
We both managed to stay alive.
Shac felt relieved, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, knowing he had found a way to escape the nightmare and stay alive for another day. He walked down to the backyard to check on the duckling. "Good morning, little creature.", greeting it with a smile.
"quack!" the duckling responded.
Shac grinned seeing the alive and well duckling being lively this morning, he couldn't help but be happy that they both had survived the night. "Are you hungry?" he asked.
"quack!"
"Let's go have some breakfast." he said, gently lifting the duckling into his hands.
Ah… It feels good to be alive. Shac thought as they headed back inside.
× × × × × × × × × ×
Time has passed since the day Shac managed to survive, to be exact, six total days. And surprisingly, both Shac and the duckling managed to stay alive, without any problems. No one died, and everything is sailing smoothly. Almost a week since that day, and it's something Shac wouldn't have expected to happen.
"Anything has happened lately?" Ivan asked, looking at Shac smiling at his own.
"Nothing, why?" He answered back, surprised by the sudden question by Ivan.
"Just checking up on you, since you're smiling for some reason. So, how's the duckling?"
"I think it's old enough now, I never thought ducks grew that fast."
"Old enough? It's only been a week right?" Ivan asked, confused to why Shac said that the duck was old enough.
"Yeah, can't say for sure, but it definitely gets bigger faster than I thought."
"Really? Well, tell me if something happened."
"If something happened? I honestly can't tell what you are trying to do." Raising his eyebrows he stares at Ivan, confused, thinking why Ivan is asking too much about the duckling.
Ivan chuckled and said, "I'm quite fond of ducks, so I was curious about how the duckling you're looking after is doing."
"Ah that's what you mean, sure sure I'll tell you if something happens. Didn't know you like ducks that much, that's the first."
But thinking about how fast it grew, I do find it odd for a duckling to grow that fast in a span of less than a week. Feels like it became a teenager from being a baby in just less than a week. Well… It's not that I know anything about ducks, so I can't day for sure. But nothing happened so far, so I guess we're good for now.
They both ended their short conversation about the duck as the class is about to start.
× × × × × × × × × ×
After a long day, Shac is finally back home, immediately approaches the duck as he opens the gate.
"How are you?" he greeted the duck as soon as he arrived home.
"quack! quack! quack!"
"Oh, It seems like you're already hungry. Just a moment." Shac grabbed a bit of leftover rice from the kitchen and fed it to the duck.
Shac smiled at how cute the duck was, taking small bites on the rice bit by bit. "You're growing up so fast, aren't you?" Shac patted the duck gently, feeling up its feathers.
Is this the normal growth? I'm not entirely sure, but I'm just glad you're fine and well.
Smiling, he knew that just knowing that the duck is alive and well is enough for him. Even though he was confused by the sudden growth, the proof that they are both alive and well is enough for him already.
"quack!"
"Ah… you're really adorable." Shac said, gently running his fingers over the duck's soft feathers. "I didn't expect you to lose your yellow feathers so quickly, but I'm glad to see how fast you've grown."
I didn't expect them to lose their yellow color so quickly. Shac thought, surprised by the speed of the change.
"I'll check on you later." Shac said as he returned inside the house to rest as he was completely tired from the day.
× × × × × × × × × ×
Another day has passed, another day of Shac managing to stay alive, and this is 7th day of being alive and escaping his death.
Every morning, Shac would go down to the backyard early in the morning to check on the duck, ensuring it was safe and well.
"Good morning."
It looks like it's still sleeping.
"Good morning!" Shac tried to greet the duck, but it didn't respond.
Huh?
"Hey!" Shac called out loudly, but there's still no response from the duck. "Is it… dead?"
No… that can't be…
Suddenly startled, Shac took a step back… He tries to breathe in and breathe out air, but it looks like nothing is happening. "I'm… okay?" To his surprise, he could breathe properly, it looks like nothing is about to happen.
It means… It's still alive!
Shac hurriedly approached the duck again, attempting to awaken it, but it remained motionless. "Huh?" The sight of the duck remained confusing to Shac.
It's dead? But… why I am still here? Nothing is happening…
Shac once again attempted to wake it, confirming if it is really dead, but it didn't respond to any of it.
This confirms it, The duck is already dead.
His legs lost their strength, and he fell to the ground. "What just happened? The duck died, but I wasn't harmed?"
Heavily breathing in and breathing out, he tried doing it multiple times, and there is one thing that he noticed, he realized that he could breathe normally.
But the duck… It died right? What's going on? Did… Did I make a mistake? Thinking that the death of the duck also means my death?
Shac believed that the death of the duck would mean his death too, but, that didn't seem to be the case. Once more, Shac glanced at the duck's lifeless form and noticed something he didn't expect seeing.
"Is that… An egg?"
Beneath the body of the lifeless duck, a single egg was left behind.