Throughout the rest of my day, I find more miniature ducks everywhere. In my makeup bag. In my favorite pair of white platform sneakers. On the handle of the leashes for my dog-walking gig. In my sunglasses case. On my car seat. In the drink holder in my car.
By the time I pick Evie up from school, I’ve found at least twenty of them. She gets into my car, and I help buckle her into the booster seat. Evie giggles when she sees multiple ducks on my dashboard.
“You wouldn’t happen to know where these came from, would you?” I raise an eyebrow at her in the rearview mirror.
Her giggling intensifies until she’s full-on belly laughing. She reaches into her backpack and grabs a handful of the little ducks.
“Youhid them all?”
“No, I helped Uncle Ty do it.”
“How do you feel about helping me get back at your uncle?”
“We can do something that will make him laugh?” Her eyes are wide with excitement.
“Yeah,” I say. We’ll go with that. It’s not like a five-year-old is going to understand what a prank war is.
“Yes!” she exclaims. “Can we do it when we get home?”
“Afterhomework.”
Evie sighs. “Fine. I’ll be really fast. Like faster than recess.”
I smirk at her reflection in the mirror. We park in front of my house, and the second I unlock Tyler’s front door, Evie sprints to the kitchen table, whips out her homework folder, and gets straight to work.
While she’s distracted, I pull out my phone to do a little bit of sleuthing of my own.
ME
Any idea why I’ve found an entire flamboyance* of little ducks?
*parliament
*murder
*unkindness
What is a group of ducks called, anyway?
TYLER
How do you know the words for a group of flamingos, owls, crows, and ravens but not ducks?
ME
I remember all the funny ones.
TYLER
Of course you do.
I think the word you’re looking for is flock.
ME
…and the answer to my first question?
TYLER
