Thoe.....

   Linda called early Friday morning said her and Derrick were on their way out with 25 tiny baby ducks. For years I have taken care of (babysit) these little people. Saturday before the Jackson County Fair starts I take them over to their new home for the week. I teach them to go up the slide and I laugh as they go down.
  This year we were surprised that more than usual had not made the ride from the hatchery. They are shipped from a farm in Ohio and arrive at our Post Office during the night. We usually open the box and find maybe one or two have passed away. Not for sure what the problem was this year. Derrick placed them in the cage and helped me with their food and water. You have to dunk their little noses in the water a few times to teach them to drink. Since I'm now their Momma for a while I have to do what she would do. All you have to do is show a few and they all catch on. I noticed that two of them were not acting right, Linda and I wondered if they would be ok. One of them caught my eye as one usually does. He kept to his self and wouldn't huddle with the rest. I knew he was considered the outcast. I cuddled him for a bit and told him to he had to put on his big boy panties and make friends. I told the rest of them that they needed to be nice and to welcome him into the group.
   As I headed to the flower shop I worried about Theo. How many of us has been made to feel like an outcast. Been the last chosen to be on a team. Had our friends make us feel like we are not as good as they are. I have felt like Theo many times and so have you.
   When I got home Theo was cuddled with the group, I was glad they had been nice to him. I checked on him before heading to bed and they were all cuddled up asleep. This morning as I went to feed them I was heart broken that during the night they had turned on Theo. He was all wet where they had stepped on him during the night. I didn't think at first he was alive, as I picked him up he chirped, broke my heart. I held him and dried him off. I told him I was sorry and if I had known I would have taken him out and kept him inside last night. I placed him in a small box with a soft blanket and made him as comfortable as I could. I didn't know if they had injured him or just broke his spirit. I ask Thomas to keep an eye on him while I went on to the shop.
   When I returned he seemed a little better, I got him to drink and eat one little bite. Theo lived just a few more hours.
   Raising chickens and ducks I've learned that they are just like humans. There is a pecking order of who is the boss. If you don't measure up they will make your life unbearable. They will peck you to death. Thomas and I have seen it to many times. I'm not sure why the others didn't like Theo. The only thing I noticed was that his feathers were a little darker then theirs.
   As you journey through life be nice to everyone, you never know when you might meet a Theo...........