Summary of story: A girl who is devastated from her sisters death meets a duck which changed her view on life in many ways she never expected it to.

I close my eyes at 10:00 pm on Friday night.

_I see a vision of me, Ivy and dad going downtown. Ivy is extra excited because we are letting her show us the new slide that they just put into the park. Ivy loves slide and I hate them, but I’d do anything for that girl. She was by my side every second of my journey of cancer treatment. She was the one who chose out cupcakes for me after every hospital visit. She even cleaned up my room first me when I was too tired to do so. Luckily, my treatment is over now and we all get to go to the park together again _❤️_ _

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_Except for mom, she lives all the way in Australia now. Her and dad got divorced during my treatment. She was this amazing swimmer with blondish brown hair. I miss her so much, and I dream to swim like her one day.

We continue our walk to the park. “Are we there yet?” “Nnope just a little longer” I say “Tell me more about Frank” _

_Frank is this duck in a TV show that Ivy loves. He is known to be “her twin” because she thinks they share character traits. “If Frank were to live with us” she said “he could live in our backyard pond” Ivy said “ Ivy ducks unfortunately have to live in the wild.” I said “I know!” She exclaims “I just am imagining. Something in my brain says it could be real one day“ _

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_I laugh, but highly doubt it. Dad walks alongside and he smiles while Ivy talks moreabout Frank. We reach the big crosswalk this street is always so busy. Nonstop cars come. Ivy suddenly gets bored of talking about Frank and gets anxious about getting to the park again. We reach the stoplight and Ivy spots the slide in the distance. “Slide!” She screams and her hand slips out of mine and she runs across the street. Except she didn’t make it all the way across…_

I wake up in tears. I always have that stupid dream! It’s a clear reminder that one person who was the light of my dayis gone forever. Thst stupid black car. It’s been six months and I still can’t get that stupid thought out of my mind. Dad brings me tissues. He hasn’t smiled since the accident. I wonder if he dreams about her too. Who’s after our family. First, I get cancer then mom leaves and now Ivy _dies. Why does our family have such bad luck?!_

It’s Saturday morning and I had a terrible week at school. I’m not getting out of bed today.

Ding dong!

_Who is that?! Literally no one comes to our door now._

I could literally hear dad snoring all the way from upstairs.

_Well he’s definitely not waking up anytime soon, so I’ll get it._

I rolled out of bed and drag myself to the door.

When I turn the knob, I see a goose standing on the porch. I stumble backwards.

_Why the heck would a goose come to visit us ?!_

Hey friend! I’m Frank, im so excited to see you! I’m gonna need to come in though because I needa go to the BATHROOM!! Please? Please? Let me in!!”

_What the heck?! How can a goose know how to talk?! Their brains are the size of walnuts! And he sounds so much like Ivy when she needed to go to the bathroom._

Frank doesn’t wait for me to respond. He just bursts in the house and somehow pushes our backyard door open.

He gasped at the sight of the pond. “Omg this is BEAUTIFUL!!!” He started splashing and dancing in the pond.”I don’t need to go to the bathroom anymore “I’m having to much FUN!!” _All right._ I thought _He can stay in our pond for a little while. _I closed the door, and don’t look outside for the rest of the day.

The next morning when I wake up, Frank is STILL in our pond!! I walk out and say to him “uhh Frank? Don’t you have a home to get back to?” “No, my mommy kicked me out of my big pond” “She thought I was a threat to all geese because I could talk” That shocked me. “But how can you talk?” I ask “I was born with these powers, but not in a human body” “I sometines dream of being a little girl though. I dream of helping humans all around the world and making them happy”

I think in silence for a moment. After that, Frank says” so..do u wanna swim together?! Please?!” “It’s 6:00 in the morning right now, I have no social energy Frank” “Come on! Morning time is when geese are most active!”

Out of pity, I grab my swimsuit and jump into the lake. The cold feeling of water against my arms reminds me of when I was on swim team. Getting in the water for practice was a challenge because it was so cold, but I remember thinking to myself after that it was totally worth it.

I dip my head under water and start swimming. The feeling of power surged through my arms. _I remember this feeling. It’s the feeling of me swimming first meets! _I swam 4 laps without noticing. When I lifted up my head Frank exclaims “your such a good swimmer!” “I was on swim team last year” I responded “Why’d u stop?” He asks

“Because…My sister died… “Ivy?” He interrupts “wait how do you know her?”

“She’s the little girl who used to come by our lake” “She died?!” “Just six months ago, and I knew her not being there at meets to cheer me on was going to affect me” “But wouldn’t Ivy want you to keep swimming?” “She’s an angel watching over you now” “She’d be so sad if she knew you stopped swimming” ”I can’t go back now” I said “Hiw about trying out for next years team?” I stayed silent for a moment and Frank said “Well I’m going to rest for a bit” “I can’t rest” I say “I’ve gotta prepare for tryouts next year”

6 months later…

I’m about to jump in the water and race against my teammates. It’s my first swim meet. Most everyone I loved is here cheering me on. Even Frank. Because of him, I was able to make it on varsity girls swim team. I’ve never been on varsity before! Although it is challenging, I love varsity. You do so much more than JV.

Suddenly, the coach blows the whistle and we all jump in. I kick and paddle the hardest I’ve ever before. First lap done. I kick and paddle more for the second lap. Only 2 more to go. Franks cheering gets louder as I begin the third lap. I love his cheering. It’s the only thing that’s keeping me afloat right now. The third lap drains all of my energy.

Here comes the pain. It surged straight up through my arms. I begin to lose my breath. _Come on. Just one more. _I use all my last bits of power and kick and paddle until I reach the end. Swimming the fourth lap was an endless task.

I lift my head up. Everyone cheers. Frank cheers the loudest of course I won first place.

I walk back to meet my dad at the entrance. As I’m nearing the entrance I see that dad is with a women with blondish brown hair and pale skin just like mine.

_Mom?! _I run up there “oh honey!” She exclaims “I’m so proud!” “But how…” mom interrupts my question “Ever since your dad told me about Ivy, I’ve been trying to get visas to come home and see you guys.”she said “I finally got them, and I’m staying firm good!” “ I stayed in an hotel last night, so I could come and suprise you at your big meet today” Tears well upon my eyes. I wrap my around her and hug her tight fur whst feels like forever.

This is the happiest day of my life. If Frank hadn’t gotten me to swim that day, I wouldn’t have been here today. Then mom wouldn’t have gotten to see me be a star. Dad and I lived in a cave before. But Frank held a flashlight that shone bright guiding us out of the cave.

Just like Ivy’s flashlight guided us out of the cave that was firmed when I was diagnosed with cancer a few years back.

In the future, if another cave forms around my family, I will be the flashlight to guide them out of it. No doubt about that.

💕