It was Saturday.
This Saturday was the Art Car Parade in Houston, Tx. If you don’t know what the Art Car Parade is, it is a gathering of unique people: those who have a different view and express it through their mechanical vehicles. It’s quite the event and Shadow and myself saw it as soon as we ran into downtown.
We rode about two miles before we got to the parade, but as soon as we were there, we knew we were in the right place. The crowds gathered and we slipped, like whispers in the wind, through the crowd. We took a moment to admire the ingenuity of the 32nd Art Car Parade, but as soon as the crowd got too thick, we ducked down into the shadows.
After walking for a while, we found ourselves underneath a bridge. The parade was going on behind us, but we found a soft solace away from the tourists and enjoyed sitting underneath a bridge.
The rain came.
It poured.
We sat underneath the bridge while the rain poured down. We could hear the people scrambling as they tried to find shelter. Umbrellas popped up and people began to protect themselves from the downpour.
Shadow and I sat under the bridge as the rain continued to pour down. At some point, after drinking in the rain we looked to the right. There was a mother duck sitting on a nest of eggs nervously eyeing the giant German Shepherd and the big man accompanying him. She had a bright red head and a soft white feathered body as she sat on her nest. We didn’t bother her, but the presence of a giant dog scared her to the point that she decided to fly away from her nest.
As soon as she flew away, Shadow and I inspected her nest, It was full of two dozen fresh eggs.
They were so fragile; all those eggs packed together. The rain continued to pour down over the underpass. Two dozen little babies sat there, completely exposed. The rain continued to pour down.
I looked to my left, my big dog by my side. There, scattered among a bunch of rocks, was a single egg. It seemed to be cast out from among the rest of the nest. It was ready to die, or become the dinner for the next raccoon, feral cat or whatever predator may come by this way in the next few hours.
I grabbed the egg and placed it back into the nest. Hopefully mama duck would take care of it.
Shadow and I walked into the storm and got soaked. As we walked off toward downtown, I looked over my shoulder and looked over the underpass. Mama duck was back sitting on her nest, glad that the humans and dogs had left.
I think about that lost egg and what it may become.