Lazarus the Duck
A family golf outing turned into duck CPR27 total reviews
Comment from Gone but not forgotten
When a story makes me laugh out loud - or get goose (duck?) bumps - I give it a six. Yours did both. Your writing reminds me...of mine...though I don't seem to have quite the breadth of adventure you do, surrounded as you are by all those "let's go outside and play" kinds of people. But I start with the intro, usually something that's going on currently, as if it would be a "normal" essay. Then I wander far afield (oh, look, that's my version of going outside!) with how I feel or whatever else seems to catch my fancy...then I go back to the original treatise before I finish up. And speaking of finishing up...so glad you had a happy ending here! Thanks!
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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When a story makes me laugh out loud - or get goose (duck?) bumps - I give it a six. Yours did both. Your writing reminds me...of mine...though I don't seem to have quite the breadth of adventure you do, surrounded as you are by all those "let's go outside and play" kinds of people. But I start with the intro, usually something that's going on currently, as if it would be a "normal" essay. Then I wander far afield (oh, look, that's my version of going outside!) with how I feel or whatever else seems to catch my fancy...then I go back to the original treatise before I finish up. And speaking of finishing up...so glad you had a happy ending here! Thanks!
Comment Written 12-Jun-2016
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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Hahaha, thank you so much for that! This happening was featured in my family Christmas letter a few years ago...my son-in-law of less than a year at the time had to be wondering what the Sam Hill kind of family he married into as he witnessed the crazy bird lady in action!
Thank you for your RR&R, and the beautiful plus sign! I love seeing those 'rare birds' attached to my work! Thank you for hanging in for a long read too! Have an awesome Sunday!
Comment from Barb Hensongispsaca
Mouth to beak puffs...OMG
I laughed and laughed . I am not a golfer but this was absolutely wonderful.
No problems noted.
Did you think of changing professions?
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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Mouth to beak puffs...OMG
I laughed and laughed . I am not a golfer but this was absolutely wonderful.
No problems noted.
Did you think of changing professions?
Comment Written 12-Jun-2016
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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Thank you, Barb, for the commitment to a longer read, your review and rating. Much appreciated! I'm happy to build some endorphins :) Happy Sunday!
Comment from patcelaw
Mary, this is a wonderfully told story only in a style you could write it. I love the line "I don't physical, well."
The scene with the poor duck had me laughing. But Kudos you do CPR very well. Patricia
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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Mary, this is a wonderfully told story only in a style you could write it. I love the line "I don't physical, well."
The scene with the poor duck had me laughing. But Kudos you do CPR very well. Patricia
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 12-Jun-2016
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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Thank you so much, Patricia, for the RR&R, and commitment to a longer read! I appreciate your continued follow and excellent review! Have a great Sunday!
Comment from jusylee72
such a delightful story and so well told. I met my husband playing golf. It helps our marriage so much to get out there and enjoy life outside. Your story is delightful and I can see you running to save that duck. Great story.
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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such a delightful story and so well told. I met my husband playing golf. It helps our marriage so much to get out there and enjoy life outside. Your story is delightful and I can see you running to save that duck. Great story.
Comment Written 12-Jun-2016
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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This happening was featured in my family Christmas letter a few years ago...my son-in-law of less than a year at the time had to be wondering what the Sam Hill kind of family he married into as he witnessed the crazy bird lady in action!
Thank you for your RR&R, and the beautiful plus sign! I love seeing those 'rare birds' attached to my work! Thank you for hanging in for a long read too! Have an awesome Sunday!
Comment from Dawn Munro
This is nonfiction? This really happened? Do I want to tell you that poor duck might have been better off as somebody's dinner? (LOL) If it was swimming in circles... uh, never mind. We're friends. I will err on the side of tact...
I am without words. (I'm not really, but I am erring on the side of tact, remember?) I am trying not to laugh. I can imagine your family was too, especially as said duck was desperately trying to make its escape once it regained consciousness... (at the very least it had a concussion, which is why said little fishies made their appearance.)
(Oops, I promised to be tactful. I won't mention another word about brain damaged ducks, inter-cranial hemorrhage or other such nasty side effects of being whacked with a missile the size of your head at about seventy-five miles per hour.)
Oh hell, what can I say? This is my reaction to this story, "Ducks". Deal with it. (anybody bring the oranges?) Canard a l'Orange sil vous plait...(the foooooking golf ball WAS REALLY ORANGE?)
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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This is nonfiction? This really happened? Do I want to tell you that poor duck might have been better off as somebody's dinner? (LOL) If it was swimming in circles... uh, never mind. We're friends. I will err on the side of tact...
I am without words. (I'm not really, but I am erring on the side of tact, remember?) I am trying not to laugh. I can imagine your family was too, especially as said duck was desperately trying to make its escape once it regained consciousness... (at the very least it had a concussion, which is why said little fishies made their appearance.)
(Oops, I promised to be tactful. I won't mention another word about brain damaged ducks, inter-cranial hemorrhage or other such nasty side effects of being whacked with a missile the size of your head at about seventy-five miles per hour.)
Oh hell, what can I say? This is my reaction to this story, "Ducks". Deal with it. (anybody bring the oranges?) Canard a l'Orange sil vous plait...(the foooooking golf ball WAS REALLY ORANGE?)
Comment Written 12-Jun-2016
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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Hahaha, thank you so much for that! This happening was featured in my family Christmas letter a few years ago...my son-in-law of less than a year at the time had to be wondering what the Sam Hill kind of family he married into as he witnessed the crazy bird lady in action! Yes, all true to fact, and yes, my medic son-in-law diagnosed the concussion with the fish blowing symptom. :)
Thank you for your RR&R, and the beautiful plus sign. I love seeing those 'rare birds' attached to my work! Thank you for hanging in for a long read too! Have an awesome Sunday, Dawn! Let's hope there is pie at the end of both of our days!
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LOL. No pie, unless it's pizza pie...of course I COULD stop working and head over to the store...LOL.
You're very welcome. Well-earned.
Comment from Janice Horner
I have been laughing (sorry about the duck) all the way through! You remind me a little of Marian Keyes, with lots of humor. Laughter is a magical medicine Your writing is brilliant and I enjoyed every bit of this. I could never, ever imagine hitting a golf ball anywhere, because that is exactly what would happen to me, if there was anything living remotely close to where I would be hitting the ball out towards.
Your husband's 'You've killed it!' is also typical of what my husband would say!
Loved reading every bit.
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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I have been laughing (sorry about the duck) all the way through! You remind me a little of Marian Keyes, with lots of humor. Laughter is a magical medicine Your writing is brilliant and I enjoyed every bit of this. I could never, ever imagine hitting a golf ball anywhere, because that is exactly what would happen to me, if there was anything living remotely close to where I would be hitting the ball out towards.
Your husband's 'You've killed it!' is also typical of what my husband would say!
Loved reading every bit.
Comment Written 12-Jun-2016
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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Janice, thank you for your awesome RR&R, and for that beautiful 'plus' sign. I love seeing those 'rare birds' assigned to my work :) Thank you for the Marian Keyes reference, I am not familiar with her, but will definitely look her up. I appreciate your
wonderful review so very much. Have a wonderful Sunday!
Comment from kiwisteveh
Hi, Mary. Welcome to FanStory.
I don't usually review much prose, so I stumbled across this one, and read enough to see it was good, and then read more to find it was very good. Not surprised, on checking your profile, to find that you are a fan of Irma Bombeck. Yep, Irma has made it all the way to lil ol' Noo Zealand. I remember something of hers called 'The Grass is Always greener Over the Septic Tank', which is true as well as funny.
OK, to your story. It's long. FS reviewers don't handle long too well. You may get more reviews if you cut some - well, cut quite a bit. In particular, your intro is quite detailed, and if you wanted to get drastic, you could cut some, or even all, of it.
However, the both the story and your style are funny. Too many good bits to pick out favourites, but the Brunhilda inner voice is good (consistently) as is the re-naming of the duck. I also enjoyed the escalation of the incident and the increasing panic you describe.
Thanks for the laughs.
Steve
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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Hi, Mary. Welcome to FanStory.
I don't usually review much prose, so I stumbled across this one, and read enough to see it was good, and then read more to find it was very good. Not surprised, on checking your profile, to find that you are a fan of Irma Bombeck. Yep, Irma has made it all the way to lil ol' Noo Zealand. I remember something of hers called 'The Grass is Always greener Over the Septic Tank', which is true as well as funny.
OK, to your story. It's long. FS reviewers don't handle long too well. You may get more reviews if you cut some - well, cut quite a bit. In particular, your intro is quite detailed, and if you wanted to get drastic, you could cut some, or even all, of it.
However, the both the story and your style are funny. Too many good bits to pick out favourites, but the Brunhilda inner voice is good (consistently) as is the re-naming of the duck. I also enjoyed the escalation of the incident and the increasing panic you describe.
Thanks for the laughs.
Steve
Comment Written 12-Jun-2016
reply by the author on 12-Jun-2016
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Hi Steve, thank you so very much for your RR&R, and all the way from NNNNNNOOOOOO Zealand, no less! I find it most remarkable, really, that my work is being read all over the glove, and I am reading work from others in different parts of the world. Absolutely mind boggling. These stories of mine were mostly limited to my family and Christmas letter recipients :)
I completely understand what you are saying about the longer read. I do think this site leans toward poetry more than prose, and it is a struggle to get reviews, but I hasten to cut it back as I feel I would lose too much of the visual for the reader. But I do appreciate what you are saying, absolutely true.
That bright plus sign made me ecstatic!! Thank you so very much. I get excited when I get one of those 'rare birds' attached to my work. I am glad you enjoyed Brunhilda. She can be a real pain in the arse, but I love her.