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Bibimbap wanted me to see the baby ducks before the storm. He told me they were his friends and he wanted me to feed them. I wouldn’t mind so much, except there are lines on the ground that can be hard to get around on the way to the lake. Lines where the concrete breaks. Bibimbap knows I don’t like walking over these lines because where they don’t meet is dark and I’m afraid I will fall in. And I don’t know if anyone would be able to hear me from the dark space between the concrete. So whenever I go out I am always careful not to step on the lines on the ground and because of this it took nearly twenty minutes for us to reach the lake in the middle of campus.

When we arrived, the park was already empty and the first drops began falling from the sky. All of the ducks were hiding in the bushes and under trees. Even they could tell a bad storm was coming.

Bibimbap didn’t care.

He led me to a tree on the edge of the lake where a turkey-like duck was sleeping next to four calico-colored ducklings. Three of the ducklings huddled together while the fourth one was separated from the group. Bibimbap said this one’s name is Derek. He said the others don’t have names yet because they lack personality.

When we approached, the mother duck raised her head and just watched me as I knelt down to get a better look at her babies. The three ducklings stayed put, but Derek hurried over to me, peeping excitedly. “He was lonely,” Bibimbap said, reaching down and petting the fuzzy baby. Derek seemed to like that, so I tried too. Derek looked alarmed at first but then accepted my affection eagerly. Soon, the other babies hurried over to me, too while Mom just watched quietly. I stayed, kneeling with the ducks in the mud until it really started to pour. Then I stood and waved goodbye to Bibimbap’s friends.

“Shouldn’t we get going?” I said, trying to stand in the driest spot under the tree. Bibimbap pointed out into the middle of the lake.

“Look at the ocean. Look how choppy the rain makes it.” He pointed to the fountain in the middle of the water. “Look.”

I stood there with Bibimbap and his friends and watched the ocean that wasn’t an ocean as it spit and tumbled and hissed at us in the rain until my clothes were soaked through and I didn’t even realize I was wet anymore.

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