The duck walks at midnight

They all stood in a tight circle at the back of the barn. It was a small farm, so the circle was small, but it was about to get even smaller. Pig, Horse, Cow, Hen and Goat looked at Duck, who stood in the center of the circle with his beak hanging open.

"What do you mean, they are going to eat me?" he asked, confusion on his feathery face. "They love me."

The others all exchanged glances with each other. "Yes, well they will love you more with a nice gravy," Goat bleated, and the other frowned at her. "What? It's true. We've all seen it before; why coat him with lies about being coated with gravy?"

"Enough!" Horse snapped, stomping her hoof, dust from the straw puffing up into the air.

"Why would he eat me and none of you?" Duck asked, pacing in a nervous circle.

"I carry him to market, and pull his plow." Horse said, twitching her skin to scare off a fly that was annoying her rump.

"I give him milk for butter and cheese. And I've heard him say that with some chocolate my milk is delicious!" Cow explained, blinking her velvety eyes.

"I give him eggs." Hen said, "He eats those instead of me."

"I maintain his pastures, eating the grass down. Plus, I also give milk for cheese, and I've heard him said my cheese is very tasty on Hen's eggs," Goat waggled her stubby tail to punctuate her pride.

"And you Pig? What do you give him that I can't?" Duck asked, his shiny black eyes blinking slowly at the massive swine.

Pig was quiet a moment, his great, floppy ears bobbing on top of his head like flaccid pancakes. "I help him dispose of bothersome neighbors."

Duck needed no further explanation of that statement; he needed only to remember that Pig had huge teeth that could bite through anything, apparently that included bone. Duck shivered.

"Well then, I guess I need to run away. I could live in the wild."

Goat laughed, which earned her another glare from her friends. "Oh please, he's too soft to live in the wild. There's no one there to bring him his food; he wouldn't last a day."

Duck lifted his head and scowled at Goat. "You just watch me, I'm making a break for it tonight and I'll be just fine out there."

"My friends, the duck walks at midnight." Horse said, and they all bowed their head in a moment of silence.