The Tale of The Little Duck with Big Dreams

Podcast Intro:

Hi kids! I’m Jason, and welcome to another episode of the Ghosty Twist Podcast! Did you all have a great Christmas holiday? The library was closed for a few days, and I missed seeing your smiling faces around. But guess what? I made some sparkly new friends—the beautiful Christmas trees outside the library. They were so shiny and glorious that they inspired me to create a brilliant new twist for today’s story.

Have you heard of The Ugly Duckling? Well, today we’re giving it a little Canadian makeover. Get comfy, because here we go!

The Tale of The Little Duck with Big Dreams

Once upon a time, in a peaceful pond nestled in a quiet countryside, a beautiful swan sat on her nest. She was so proud, waiting for her eggs to hatch.

“Oh, I just can’t wait to meet my elegant little cygnets,” she said with a dreamy sigh.

Then, one egg started cracking—a little earlier than expected. Out popped the first baby… except, wait! This one wasn’t grey and fluffy like most cygnets. Instead, it was small, shiny, and… yellow?

“Oh my goodness!” said the mother swan. “You’re such a tiny little thing. You must have been in a rush to meet me! But look at you… so bright and beautiful. What a stunning swan you’ll grow into next year!”

The next day, the rest of the eggs hatched. Out came three big, grey, fluffy cygnets. They lined up beside their shiny sibling, and the mother swan beamed with pride.

But then, the shiny yellow cygnet puffed out her chest and declared, “I’m clearly the prettiest. You all should line up behind me from now on.”

The grey cygnets looked at each other and frowned.

“Who does she think she is?” one of them muttered.

Still, they lined up behind her. But it wasn’t long before their shiny sibling’s bossy attitude started to bother them.

“Do this! Do that! Why can’t you be more like me?” she would say.

The grey cygnets had enough. One day, they splashed into the pond and tried scrubbing their feathers, hoping to shine as brightly as their sister. But no matter how hard they scrubbed, their feathers stayed grey.

“This isn’t fair,” they grumbled. “If she weren’t here, maybe someone would notice us.”

The shiny cygnet overheard them. She felt sad, but she didn’t want to make her siblings unhappy. So she decided to leave the pond and find a place where she belonged.

After waddling for days, she discovered something amazing on the internet: a shiny phone lying near the pond’s edge. She tapped at it curiously and quickly discovered pictures of something magical: British Columbia. There were lakes everywhere, and they looked perfect! She even found an application for UBC Lake.

“Welcome to UBC Lake,” it said. “All birds are welcome here. We celebrate diversity!”

“That’s the place for me!” she quacked, and off she went.

When she arrived at UBC Lake, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Ducks, geese, loons, and even herons greeted her warmly.

“You’re so shiny!” said a friendly goose.

“And so unique!” added a chatty loon. “You’ll fit right in here.”

It didn’t take long for the shiny cygnet to realize something surprising: she wasn’t a swan at all. She was a duck! At first, she felt a little out of place, but the birds at UBC Lake loved her for her differences.

She decided to try something new. Inspired by the graceful swans she had once admired, she joined ballet classes. It wasn’t easy with her little duck feet, but she worked hard. Soon, she was performing pirouettes on lily pads and arabesques on the shore. Before long, she became the star of the lake’s ballet shows, playing the lead role in Swan Lake.

Years later, the little duck decided to visit her old pond. When she waddled back, her mother swan and siblings couldn’t believe their eyes.

“Look at you!” her mother cried, hugging her tightly. “You’ve grown into someone incredible, my little shiny one.”

Her siblings hugged her too. “We’re so proud of you,” they said. “You’ve shown us that it’s okay to be different.”

And from that day on, the little duck who was once too shiny for her pond became a beacon of pride for her family. She had found her place in the world and learned that being different was her greatest strength.

Podcast Outro:

And that’s the end of today’s story! Did you enjoy it? I’d love to hear what you think! Visit ghostytwist.com and find the magical recorder to send me your voice message. Who knows? Maybe I’ll feature you in the next episode! Until then, keep your stories spooky and your imaginations shining. Bye-bye, kids!