the little girl extended her chubby fingers, giggling excitedly as the ducklings tumbled over one another, grabbing at the oat and seed mixture she'd 'helped' her mother make that morning.

'look Mommy!' she laughed, 'vat one is a gweedy butt! Shoo away, yew gweedy butt!'. Flapping her hands madly, she dances as the ducklings ignore her completely. Her gumboots, emblazoned with images of dragons, splash in the puddles as flecks of mud land on her white woolen stockings.

'Emily, you promised that if we saw the ducks after church you'd be sensible' sighs her weary mother. 'I'm sowwy Mommy, I didn't mean to, I wanted to dance wis vem', little Emily explained, nervously balancing on one leg. 'They're just so funny...' she trailed off, looking down toward the birds at her feet.

'ah well, I heard from the youth pastor that you worked very hard in Sunday school today, you deserve some fun, just be more careful, ok sweety?'

'I wiw Mommy, can I have morh ducky food please?', as her mother carefully scooped a handful of the mix out of its bag, she couldn't help but be grateful for little Emily, by all accounts a near perfect child. Since birth, she'd never been given to fussing (even while teething!), had been easy to toilet train and was fast becoming a sweet and thoughtful girl.

Emily ran around on the rocks, scattering the mix and laughing uproariously as the ducklings cavorted about - a true laugh, uninhibited, the kind that only 4 year olds and drunkards are capable of.

Her mother watched, still following her train of thought. Emily was a powerhouse of energy, she'd never regretted the decision to have a child at what most would consider a young age; but regardless of her relative youth, Emily's energy levels far outshone her own and she couldn't help but think that if she'd been much older when she first fell pregnant, her life would be a lot more difficult and a lot less fun.

Closing her eyes, she smiled as the sun played across her tired but modestly pretty face. Emily laughed somewhere before her, a bright sound in the glowing red landscape behind her eyelids. Red like the tulips Graham gave her on their anniversary every year. Red was her favorite colour.

Stacey sat fuming on the bench nearby, how fucking dare they monopolize the whole goddamn duck swarm! Some people were so selfish.

Since there was no chance of a good selfie before they'd left, she'd tried to film some brief clips for Snap chat but the brat kept squeeling and throwing her off. Ever since Chad had pointed out how negative her story often was (what a fucking asshole, Macey was being a gigantic fucking slut that week and she was venting to her friends about it. Typical fucking male, no support at all), she'd been trying to keep things upbeat and other than roasting the fat little shit, she couldn't think of an angle.

Still, it wasn't all bad. She stared from behind enormous sunglasses at the girl watching her daughter play. She'd gone to the same school, Stacey remembered her vaguely as a quiet girl, the younger cousin of a guy she'd had a brief thing with. 'what a loser' she thought, as her phone vibrated in her hand signaling the arrival of another text from Billy, 'she's younger than me and she's already shackled with that brat, that's what you get for being a fucking slut'.

Opening Facebook, she flipped onto 'friend requests', maybe Brad had added her? She wasnt sure she really liked him, but the silence from Tyrone and Chad had left a hole too large to be filled by Billy's validation alone. Scrolling down the list, she squinted a few times, accepting several. She didnt make a habit of requesting folk herself, which didnt matter in this case as she didn't know Brad's last name anyway.

Reaching the end, she glanced over the first few in her 'recommended' list, and saw that same girl, her profile picture showing her and her husband on their wedding day years ago.

Stacey's face broke into a huge smile - what a fucking loser, to have a pic that old as her main! She chuckled to herself 'hope you enjoy remembering the glory days bitch, cos that shit is gone forever'.

Stacey flicked across to new messages. Emily played with the ducks.

thanks to u/dogwoodcat for info on duck food