Darling Duck was waddling home when she spotted something unusual in the grass—a small brown egg. She was used to sitting on large white duck eggs, but never one like this.
“It must belong to a Mother Hen,” she thought. “Poor thing. Where is your mother?”
Darling lowered her head to the egg. “You’ll surely need someone to protect you from the big, nasty world,” she told it softly. She remembered the many ducklings she had raised and how she never let them out of her sight.
“I suppose I must sit on this brown egg,” she said. “But first, it needs some color for spring—pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and even purple.”
Darling brought out her paintbrush, and her ducklings gathered close. Together they decorated the egg with delicate strokes. Every so often, Darling noticed them splattering paint on each other instead of the shell.
“Find your manners,” she said. “We’re painting the egg, not each other.”
“We’re looking for our manners!” the ducklings chirped, stretching their little necks as paint flew everywhere.
Darling sighed. “Well, keep looking. We have an egg to finish,” she said.
When the egg finally dried—shining with color like a springtime jewel—Darling rolled it into the meadow and built a nest with soft grasses, twigs, and petals.
Then, she settled onto the egg, proud of the springtime blanket that she had made.
She nestled her feathers around the egg, keeping it warm no matter what the sky decided to do. When the sun blazed, she spread her wings wide to shade it.
When rain pattered down, she tucked the egg close so not a single drop could touch it. Even when the wind rattled the reeds, Darling held steady, humming softly to keep the little life inside from feeling afraid.
Whenever black crows swooped too close, Darling puffed her feathers and quacked with all her might: “Get away from my egg!” She didn’t rest until they flapped off into the sky.
One morning, Darling felt a tiny shift beneath her. Then—crack! A line split across the egg. Her heart fluttered.
“It’s hatching!” she gasped, collecting the broken pieces.
First, a little head poked out. Then two feet. Then a round, fluffy belly—
—and then nine more!
Ten tiny chicks tumbled into her nest.
“Ten little chicks!” Darling quacked, hardly believing her eyes. “Why, it must be magic!”
Her ducklings stared. “Momma, why don’t they look like us?”
“Because they’re chicks,” Darling said gently. “And find your manners. Don’t talk about other creatures right in front of them.”
“We’re looking for our manners!” the ducklings said, poking the chicks playfully.
The chicks gave her ducklings plenty of chances to find those manners. And Darling kept the beautiful painted eggshell tucked safely away in her nest, a treasure she would never lose.
Much later, while Darling was out with her flock, a family strolling through the meadow found the colorful shell. Darling wasn’t there to see it, but when she returned, she noticed people visiting the meadow more often. They carried baskets of brightly painted eggs, admiring each other’s colors and patterns.
“They must have seen my beautiful egg,” Darling thought. “What a lovely idea—to paint eggs in the springtime.”
Darling taught her ducklings and chicks to paint any lonely eggs they found. After painting them, they left them tucked in grasses or under flowers for others to discover.
“These are Easter Eggs,” she told her children. “And out of them come the greatest miracles.”
Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters
LOGLINE
When Darling Duck discovers an abandoned brown egg, she protects it with all her heart—only to hatch ten magical chicks and accidentally inspire the very first Easter eggs.
PITCH
When Darling Duck discovers a mysterious brown egg with no mother in sight, she decides to rescue it, decorating the lonely shell with her ducklings and guarding it through rain, wind, and hungry crows. To her astonishment, the egg hatches into ten fluffy chicks—an impossible, magical surprise that fills her nest with chaos, joy, and endless opportunities for her ducklings to “find their manners.” Darling treasures the painted eggshell, and when a family later discovers it, people begin painting eggs every spring. Inspired, Darling teaches her ducklings and chicks to decorate any orphaned eggs they find and leave them hidden in the meadow, beginning the beloved tradition of Easter eggs and the miracles they hold.
Dedicated to my mother, Darlene Waters, for her love of Easter eggs.
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