6-66. The Lost Day

Pluck woke up one morning earlier than usual. He could hear his friends outside singing, "Get up! Get up! It's a new day!"
     "What should I do today?" he wondered. "I could pick worms, glide through the air, or clean my feathers. But none of that sounds like fun."
     Pluck was not very excited about the new day. So Pluck flew off to the riverbank to visit his friend, Duckie.
     "Hi Duckie!" Pluck called as he swooped down to the bank.
     "Well hello, Pluck. What a nice surprise to see you!" said Duckie.
     "Do you have any exciting plans for today?" said Pluck. "I am bored and don't know what to do."
     "Hmm." Duckie had to think hard. "You could fly with me up and down the river, or we could dig in the mud to cool off our feet," he offered.
     "No, thanks," said Pluck. "Well, if we have nothing to do at least we can be bored together."
     So Pluck and Duckie settled into the bank.
     They watched the flowers opening their faces to the sun. The flowers bent their stems to get as close to the light as possible. "Ooh!"
     They watched the fish jump at the bugs, trying to catch some lunch. The fish jumped high out of the water and made a lot of ripples when they fell back in. One fish splashed so much that he got Pluck and Duckie wet! "Hey!"
     While Pluck and Duckie were trying to shake off the water, they heard a little voice below them start to complain. "Please stop! You are soaking my home!"
     They looked at the ground and saw a row of ants marching food into their hole. Sure enough, the water from their wings was getting the ground wet.
     "Oops! We're sorry!" Duckie said, and they moved to the side.
     "Those ants are really strong!" said Pluck, sounding very impressed. "Their food is five times bigger than they are!"
     After the ants left, Pluck and Duckie looked around. There was nothing left to see. Duckie lay down and stared at the sky. "That cloud looks like Big Farmer Parton!" said Duckie, sounding very sure of himself.
     "Yeah, I see him! And next to him is Dolly, his little girl!" said Pluck. As they lay there finding shapes in the clouds, the clouds began to turn pink and purple. This made the pictures in the sky even more beautiful and helped their imaginations find new shapes in the clouds.
     Eventually the pinkish purple colors began to turn to dark blue. While Pluck and Duckie were watching the clouds, the sun had begun to set. The flowers began to close their petals. The fish stopped jumping. The ants shut the door to their hole for the night. Pluck and Duckie could no longer see the cloud shapes.
     Pluck stood up and looked at Duckie. "Oh no! Duckie, we've wasted the whole day! We didn't do anything important!" he said disappointedly.
     "We didn't waste the day. We did nothing!" said Duckie.
     "What?" asked Pluck, sounding confused.
     "We don't have to be busy working to have an important day. Watching everyone else go about their day helped us appreciate the world around us. I had a wonderful time, but I won't be able to do it again for a little while."
     "Why not?" asked Pluck. He was starting to like the idea of doing nothing every day.
     "Because I have work to do tomorrow. Would you like to help?"
     "Sure," Pluck agreed. "Goodnight, Duckie," he said, as he watched him waddle home.
     "See you tomorrow for a brand new adventure," Duckie called back.
     Pluck flew home for a good night's sleep.